"Mama, do I have to go to bed? It's only like 8:30," Nasir whined as I tucked him in for bed.
"Tommorow's your first day at your new school and you have to be up and alert. So, yes you have to go to bed now champ."
"But Pops and Ms. Nina let me go to bed at midnight when I stay at his house last night." I furrowed my brow.
"Who's Ms. Nina, Nas?"
He shrugged me off and batted his eyes. "Pops lady friend I think. She's a nice lady." I chuckled at my son's dry snitching on his grandfather. I definitely would have to have a conversation with my father about this soon.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to have a talk with Pops about him letting you stay up at wee hours of the night." I got up from the side of bed and glanced down at my watch to see how much time I had to get to work.
"Hey, mama can I ask you a question?" I turned back around to face him to hear what he had to say.
"Talk to me."
"When's dad coming back?" he asked for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past three months since we left Florida. I sighed deeply and crossed my arms. I was trying to avoid really telling him the situation because he's just a kid and he looks at Christian like he's a super hero.
"Um, maybe when the baseball season ends, but you know what we'll call him in the morning before you go to school," I told him.
Nasir straight face dropped to a frown slightly, but he nodded anyway in reply. "Alright, go save lives at work mama." I smiled and walked to the room door to turn off the light.
"I'll try. Night, my baby."
I shut the light off and slowly closed the door. I peeked down at my watch and started to put some pep in my step as I went downstairs to gather my things for work.
"Mother!" I called out, trying to see where my mother disappeared off to.
"Stop hollering in my house, please," she waltzed into the living room in her robe and a wine glass in her hand.
"My bad. So, I just put Nas to bed and all I need you to do is wake him at 7:30 for me. I'll be back from work by then to dress him and take him to school."
My mother shook her head and waved me off. "Yeah, yeah...I know what to do. However--" I immediately rolled my eyes when she hesitated to speak becaus eit meant a mini-lecture was next.
"However, what?" I groaned with my arms crossed.
"You wouldn't even have to go to work or find babysitters, if you didn't abruptly leave your husband. I mean, I still cannot believe you walked out on a 100 million dollar man."
"I wasn't happy," I kept my response short and sweet.
"You keep giving me that answer, but it ain't good enough. Especially, if you not trying to get half of what's yours."
I was growing tired of us constantly having this conversation, but she kept reminding me that I was making a big mistake by leaving Christian.
"Mother, everybody not like you," I said, referring to the fact that she took half of everything my father owns when he filed for divorce. I'm talking 25 million dollars of his fortune.
My mother smacked her teeth. "You're right because if you were me then you would be in Florida by your husband's side." I mentally rolled my eyes at her. "Christian is a good man, so don't roam too far away from him for too long."
"Even if he's a cheater?" I threw a question at her. She shrugged me off and chuckled.
"If he comes home at night to you, does it really matter?"
"Christian! Babe, where are you?"
It my first day of class in the nursing program and I was so amped to tell him about it.
"Christian!" I yelled out his name hoping at some point he would answer me. I started going through each room looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
Finally, when I got to our bedroom I heard the shower running. I went to our bathroom and decided that I'd surprise him by hopping in with him.
I was caught off-guard by the moans that started to fill the room.
"Yes, papí!" I heard a woman's voice before turning the corner to see Christian penetrating in the woman's backside as they leaned forward on our glass with their eyes shut. Their faces displayed pure ecstasy.
I went in my side of the closet and grabbed a bat. I had no idea what I'd do with it, but I'm smashing the first thing I see.
With no warning, I swung at our bathroom mirror hoping to get their attention. Sure enough the bitch who Christian was pleasuring screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Oh, now y'all hear me?!"
I shifted my thoughts back to present day, not trying to dwell on the past.
"That's where we differ mother. Maybe you should marry Christian yourself and experience what I did." I told her without telling specifics.
Granted, I haven't told anybody about my husband being physically and verbally abusive. It just doesn't ever feel right to reveal that to anybody so I always told about the excessive cheating instead. Plus, I don't want to ruin his public image.
"Perhaps, if he was a few years older." My mother had a small grin on her face, but I didn't see anything funny about her comment.
"Bye, mother."
I grabbed my purse and strolled out of her house to my car. I needed too because I had stayed in there any longer, an argument would ensue...as it always does.
When getting to work, I clipped my badge on my scrubs, tossed my purse in my locker, and prayed for a peace of mind this shift.
"Hey, girly. You're late...surprising."
I playfully rolled my eyes at my co-worker, Gloria, as I washed my hands at the sink. "Got into it with the mother today. She always on my case."
Glo furrowed her brows and shook her head. "Ooh, spill the tea!"
Together we walked to the ER as I told her. "She basically doing what she always does. Trying to convince me that I need to go back to being a housewife and bow down to my husband."
"And let me guess, you're not having it..."
"Hell no! And being a housewife was never an issue for me. It was the fact that he thought it was okay to continously disrespect me because he paid all the bills."
"I hear you, boo."
"Anyway, any patients I need to be monitoring heavy tonight Glo?" I asked.
"Yeah, patient in 105, patient in bed two from 107 and another in 110. They should be sleep now, but they're due for meds in a few hours." I took their files and examined what had they prescriptions for.
"Alright, no problem."
"Yep. Other than that, it's been pretty slow tonight."
"Just how I like it..." I said with a smile while penning in the times that I would be going to visit each patient within the next few hours.
"Damnit, you jinxed it Lauren!" Glo sighed. I looked up to see a woman being wheeled in with a man not too far behind her. The doctors took her in a room to examine while the man was yelling at the top of his lungs.
"He's losing it. Let me go calm him down," I said, rising up from my seat.
Glo got a hold of my wrist before I could move. "Lauren, be careful with that one." I gave her a intrigued look.
"Sounds like you know him..."
"Of course I do. He's a detective and he tends to come in here with his anger bottled up. Haven't seen his fine self in a while though."
I shook my head and started to approach the man. "Only you would notice how attractive a man is, despite working in a emergency room."
"Hello sir. I'm RN Lauren Santos and if could walk with me to the waiting roo--"
"This girl is the only damn witness I have for this shit! I'm not going anywhere right now. Let me talk to her before she goes to surgery." He turned to face me directly and I furrowed my brows at him. I knew his face, hadn't seen in it forever but I was familiar with him.
"Bam?" I uttered with a smirk and he turned away, not answering.
"You know what, I'll come back. Can you just have someone call me when she's available to talk. I'm sure that Gloria still has my card."
He started to leave, but I jogged after him. "Hold on, wait up! You just ignore me." Bam kept walking until I finally caught up to stand in front of him.
"How can I help you?" was all he said.
"Bam, you don't remember me? Lauren, or bird legs as you used to call me." His face was blank like I couldn't read him at all. It was weird.
"I remember you. Now, can I go?" I stepped aside and watched him leave for a moment before going back inside. He was nothing like I recalled.
"Wow, you got him out of here quick. How you do that?" I shrugged.
"I went to high school with him."
"Oh, okay. Was he a mute back then too?" Glo questioned with her hands on her hips.
"Nah, he seems like a completely different person now."
"Life will do that to you. On another note, patient in 102 needs to take a piss. Have fun."
Vote, comment, and whatever else ;)
Do y'all believe that Lauren's mom is right about the Christian situation?
Most likely every chapter in this book will have a flashback or a therapy session in it. It gives you guys insight to why Brandon and Lauren are the way they are...hopefully, you like them.