"I'm home," Sabrina informed Chantelle over the phone. She had called her best friend and stayed on the phone the whole ride home.
Chantelle sighed in relief, "Alright. Call me if you need anything." She told her, "And don't go nowhere else."
"Okay okay," Sabrina promised before ending the call.
She walked inside her bedroom and began rearranging her pillows before kicking off her slides and climbing into bed. It took no time at all for her to fall asleep.
She stirred awake a few hours later with her stomach growling. She stretched, looking around her dark bedroom, and searched for her phone in the bed but couldn't find it in all the pillows. She clicked on the light on her nightstand to see Nick sitting at the foot of her bed with his back to her.
"Is it true, Sabrina?" He asked, calmly.
"What you doin' here?"
"Answer my question...please?"
Sabrina's eyes searched the room as quickly as she could then mentally cursed herself for ending up in this situation again. Defenseless. She had to think quickly. "What are you asking me?"
"You pregnant?"
Sabrina said nothing. She knew the hoodie she was wearing hid her swelling belly as she sat up fully in bed still looking for her phone.
He stood up and turned around to face her with bloodshot eyes. He looked like he hadn't been sleeping. "Answer my damn question." He said, keeping his voice low.
When she still didn't answer him, he nodded his head, slowly, "So you went off and married this nigga, and gon give him a baby." He laughed, humorlessly, looking at Sabrina in disappointment. "Nothin' like a woman scorned."
Sabrina's face contorted in anger, before she asked, "You think I did this as a getback?"
"I ain't marry you when I should've so you go and marry him. I asked you to try again, but you gave my chance to him. Make sense now that I know why." He looked away briefly, then shouted, "THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE US!"
She flinched back, before responding, "Nick that couldn't be us. You gave your family up for alcohol, drugs, and women." She said, harshly. "Your loyalty wasn't to me."
"I got help!"
"You still need help, Nick." She said, honestly.
"You don't get to tell me what the fuck I need when you abandoned me. I needed you!"
She scrunched her face, as the compassion left her, "I abandoned you?" She stood up and squared her shoulders, ready for a fight, "Nigga, you put me in the hospital. I almost died."
"You bein' dramatic." He waved her off. "One concussion ain't gon kill you. I got my shit rocked for a living, week after week! " He pounded his hand on his chest with his words.
Sabrina had had enough. She snatched her scarf off her head, showing him the scar that was barely covered with hair. Long gone were Sabrina's long coils, replaced by short curls. "Dramatic? I had to have brain surgery. I was in a coma, Nick."
Nicholas approached her slowly and she shrunk back, "You afraid of me?" He asked.
She looked at the floor, not wanting to look him in the eyes as hers began to water standing in front of him like this. Vulnerable and weak.
"You know I wasn't tryna hurt you, Sabrina."
"I believe you, but you're hurting, so you don't see what you're doing to the people around you."
He stepped closer, causing her to take a step away. "Stop doing that!" He shouted. "Stop runnin' from me."
"I'm not doin' nothing wrong. I have to protect us." She nearly cried, as her heart raced.
"Us?"
Sabrina sighed and decided, fuck it. He was going to find out eventually. She lifted her hoodie, exposing her small baby bump to him.
Nick fell to his knees in front of her, "Sabrinaaaa, why man?" He started to cry. "Why would you do this to us?"
She fixed her clothing, "Why would you do this to us? We were fine. I tried to be there for you, and look what you did to me?"
He stood up sniffing, "Can't you get an abortion?"
"What?" She looked at him, seeing how delusional he truly was. She hurried past him out of her room, feeling like being trapped in that space might not be the best idea.
He followed behind her, "We can fix this. We can. Divorce him, and we can fix it."
"I'm not divorcing him, and I won't abort our babies for you."
Nick looked at her like she'd sprung a second head, "Babies?" He stopped, "That's crazy. So you could abort my kid, but you'll keep his?"
"Nick, that was different and you know it!"
"Was it?"
"We slipped up. We agreed we were done after Niko." She reminded him.
"No, you said we were done because you hated pregnancy, so I got the vasectomy, for you!"
"As if I was the only one you fucked raw. Don't blame that shit on me. You did it for you!" She scowled, "Why the fuck would I continue a pregnancy for a man who made me spend my first pregnancy alone?"
"I wouldn't do that to you."
"You already fuckin did. Niko was still a baby, I was still in school. I couldn't raise two kids alone like that."
"Where you at you now? Pregnant and alone again." He replied, without thinking.
"No! This ain't that." She exclaimed, with tear-filled eyes. "I keep pushin' that man away. You got my head so fucked up that I don't think I deserve him."
Nick stared at her in silence. Had he done so much damage to Sabrina that she felt like she didn't deserve happiness?
"Brina I—"
"Don't do that. Don't fuckin pity me now." She cried, "Amir was nothing but good to me since the night we met. He showered me with love, consideration, and patience, and I pushed him away. Because of you, I keep waiting for something bad to happen."
A knock at the door caused both Nick and Sabrina to stop arguing. Sabrina grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen and wiped the tears from her face then opened the door. As soon as she saw it was Amir, she started crying all over again.
Amir was standing there in surprise at the way she'd answered the door. He could hear her arguing from outside but thought she was on the phone. Once he saw Nick, he saw red. He charged the man, punching him in the face and knocking him down.
"No!" Sabrina yelled, trying to stop him, "Amir no!"
The men began to scuffle on the floor shifting Sabrina's furniture all over trying to gain the upper hand on the other.
"Amir stop!" Sabrina screamed and he stopped, looking up at her with his chest heaving and his eyes wild. "Please."
Amir looked down at Nick, who was bleeding from his mouth and nose. He immediately felt like shit for losing control, "FUCK!" He put his hands on his head. "I'm sorry, Sabrina."
She walked over to him with her hand outstretched, "It's okay. It's okay, just get up."
Amir stood at his full height and took her hand, looking down at Nick as he picked himself up off the floor.
"You feel big and bad now?" Nick said, spitting blood.
"On God, if you wasn't Niko deddy, I would've ended yo shit," Amir told him getting in his face.
"Sonny!" Sabrina scolded him pulling his arm.
"Nah. What this nigga doin' here anyway?"
"I came to talk to her," Nick admitted.
"Ow, shit" Sabrina winced, putting a hand on her stomach.
"You aight?" Both men said in unison.
Amir looked at Nick in disdain, "Don't worry bout my wife. I got her." He then turned his attention back to Sabrina. "Have you eaten?"
She dropped her head. The reason she woke up from her nap in the first place was because she was hungry.
"Come on. I was gon bring you food, but you wasn't answerin' the phone."
"I was so tired when I got here that I went straight to sleep, and I can't find it."
"Why did you leave the house?" He asked, sternly.
Sabrina remembered their argument before leaving the house and looked away from him, seeing Nicholas who was standing there bleeding. She went to the kitchen and grabbed a hand towel wetting it. She walked over to Nick and handed it to him. "Do you need some ice?" She asked, ignoring Amir's question.
Nick sat down on the couch wiping his face. He sighed, "I'm fine, mama."
"You bein' funny, nigga? She gotta name." Amir expressed angrily. He had little patience for Nick and his antics.
"I been callin her that since the first time she was pregnant by me." He said, standing his ground.
Sabrina looked at Nick and Amir, "Do y'all really gotta do this?"
Amir sighed, "I don't understand how you expect me to be cool 'round this nigga. You may not remember what he did to you, but I can't fuck wit no nigga who can go that hard on a woman and not have that same energy for a man."
"So what you gon do tough guy? Sucker punch me every time you see me?"
Amir started walking toward him, then stopped short, "Nah, you not even worth it, 'cause I got everything to lose but you got nothin' to gain."
Nick stood silently, he didn't know what else to say. Amir was right.
"Yaw wanna talk? Talk. But I'm not leavin'." Amir stated, clearly.