Please Read Again This Is All New
"Naomi" I got up in excitement to embrace her hug. I continued, "You don't need to cry babe I'm here" I coughed to suppress the tears, which I failed miserably as I felt the wetness of my cheeks.
"He is just soo beautiful Dami" She cooed, before sitting beside me on the bench and grabbing the piece of tissue from her pocket to dry her eyes. "I've missed you so much Dami. How can you leave us all like that?"
"Nae, not only was I homeless. Isaiah was under so much stress. Worst of all I had none," I sighed looking away from her.
" At the time I was shocked. My mum found out and she didn't want me to be around you. Which I obeyed for some time, until I called you but your phone went straight to voice mail. I really did try" Naomi shock her head in disappointment and continued "And I'm really sorry, I was naive and dumb. But do you know how much me and Riah missed you?"
"I'm sorry" I apologised. In a space of two years, Naomi had not changed at all, still dressed modestly in her black leggings and african printed peplum top that brought out her perfect petite frame.
"I'm sorry that you had to deal with all of that alone" she smiled and continued "I'm here now and won't leave without a fight. Can I hold my nephew now?" She asked and I nodded getting up from my seat which caused her to comment on how big my "bum" had grown and my "breast"
Handing her a sleeping Isaiah, which resulted in him waking up from his nap and squeeze his face. "I hate to say it, why does he look like Dwayne so much? " Naomi confessed, taking out her phone to take snaps of him.
We had been sat at the park for hours catching up. Naomi even went to then tell me all about everyone in our ex friendship group. She told me about how much closer she had gotten to Riah and how well Riah was doing for herself and pursuing her dream career as an architect. Because of how divided the group had gotten, Naomi could not tell me much about how Leslie and Samantha were doing other than the fact that Samantha was now on YouTube. She then told me about Tion's mums depression and how much it changed him, as he has had to turn to Dante, (Dwaynes' brother) for a living. She also couldn't tell me much about Darnell, Jemal and Micah as she rarely saw them and no longer spoke to them.
"I haven't seen Dwayne in some time. All I know is that his brother is in pen" Naomi commented. I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious or slightly intrigued to know what he was up to like the others. "Everything changed after you left" She added pushing Isaiah in his buggy, whilst I held hands with her younger cousin Junior licking his ice-cream. It was almost a mission impossible to get a stubborn junior out of the park, he cried, screamed, ran. There was nothing junior did not do to remain in the park. Only when bribed with sweets and ice-cream did he finally listen.
"I know" I sighed, as I tried to process everything she said and could not help feel guilty and accountability for the crumbling of our friendship group.
"It's not you fault babe. Let's go drop this junior home, before he throws another tantrum. I need to see your house" Naomi determinedly stated, walking in the direction of her Aunts.
*
"Now that I've seen your house and your number. Don't think you can get rid of me easily" Naomi chuckled as she ate the last honey glazed barbecue drumstick I made.
"Must you chew so loud NAOMI. The question is how can two shreks, make such a beautiful baby. Are you sure that is yours?" Riah jokingly commented on loud speaker, which caused us all to cackle at her insult. We had just come out of a long roasting session, where Riah demolished Dwayne with her insults with Naomi adding her two cents. Riah even went to the extent to involve for his currently girlfriend Tianna into her session.
"Riah your an idiot" I exhaled, trying to grab my thoughts together and suppress my laughter.
"Dwayne can lie and continue to live in denial all he likes, but the DNA don't lie" Naomi muttered which Riah agreed "mhmm" in agreement.
"Fuck that Ghanaian anyways, I'm Isaiah's Father" Riah yelled, which caused me to giggle at her silliness. It also made me feel guilty. Like how can I abandon such supportive friends that cared about me this much.
"So am I, thats my youte" Naomi commented, as she took both our plates to the kitchen which she then proceeded to wash.
"Im sorry for leaving you guys. I love you both" I sighed. I knew I was unhappy and missed them. Speaking to them both made me realise the severity of how much I missed them and it's extent.
"We love you too and I will only forgive you when I see my son!" Riah snapped.
"She can come and see big bum. You should see Damis figure Thick thick" Naomi joked in her Nigerian accent, as she came out of the kitchen with a glass of orange juice in her hand.
"Big batty gyal since when?" Riah asked,
"It's called pregnancy fat. I want to return to my size 8 please" I snapped back at them both. I hated my pregnancy fat and how much bigger I had gotten. No matter how much Cynthia commented on how much better I looked, I just didn't see it that way myself.
*
It was the following morning and Naomi had left last night. If it had been up to her, she would have stayed longer and even slept over. However her Mum had phoned her home, to babysit her younger sister Charity and cousin Junior. After our long conversation with Riah on loud speaker, Riah proceeded to create a small groupchat on WhatsApp, where she added both me and Naomi in. A groupchat that was starting to occupy all my time.
I was currently sending Riah pictures of Isaiah of which she did not hesitate to post one of them on her profile picture covering his face with a heart. Something I asked of her to do. I was not ready to yet show Isaiah to the world. He was too precious and the repercussions of putting his face on social media would be too dangerous.
Riah💎: Too cute Omds. 😭😍🥺
Naomi💎: I want a baby man 🥺🥺😍
I rolled my eyes, whilst shaking my head at Naomi response.
Me; Trust me, labour ain't easy. 🤕Them contractions 🤒😴. I'm waiting a solid 10 years for another
I would by lying if I said labour was easy. Isaiah was a stubborn baby and came out a couple of days after his due date. After punching and kicking my stomach, Isaiah had me in labour for almost 24 hours crying. Even when it came to pushing him out, I found myself giving up after every push which my midwife was there to encourage me and motivate me to continue. Though my mum was not there, I was lucky to have my older cousin Cynthia that held my hand throughout, massaging my back and fanning me with a magazine. My labour was also natural and unmedicated where I was left feeling every single contraction.
Riah 💎; Raah🤕, condom and protection is the way.
Naomi 💎; I can come steal him whenever right?
Me; ofcourse, come take him. He has been nagging me all morning 🙃
Riah 💎; I need to come and kiss those chubby cheeks soon 🤪😫
"Who you chatting to?" Cynthia came into the living room, holding Isaiah on her hips and a plate of toasted bread on her other hand.
"My friends" I smiled, whilst going back on my phone to see what they were going to say next.
"Friends?" Cynthia asked, with confusion on her face. With all her time living with me, she didn't know me to have any friends and would sometimes tease me, by referring to me as a "loner" to get me to socialise with her friends whenever they came over. Which I hated. Cynthia's friends were too loud, ghetto and hungry for sex. I liked to be around people, that I could build intellectual conversations with and a relationship where I would be learning as well as educating the person.
"Yeah, Naomi and Riah" I smiled, which caused her to choke on her toast before asking me "since when?"
"Since yesterday, I bumped into Naomi in the park down the road" Taken back by the facial expression Cynthia made, as though she wanted to say something but insisted on staying quiet which caused me to ask her "What's the problem?" Eyebrows raised, I was ultimately ready to jump at Cynthia to defend myself.
"How can you forget everything that happened though?"
"What do you mean?" I stated with a dash of attitude, before turning to her so that she could see I was being serious.
"Well, they were never here for you. Never defended you, even when your business went public. Ghosted on you. Deee the list can go on?" She stated, exhaustedly whilst taking a bite into her last piece of toast. If only you guys could feel the burning sensation in my heart, I was beyond livid that even my facial expression could not hide my anger. It really killed me how someone that couldn't even handle their own relationship, felt the audacity to comment on mine, whilst her own she had no control over. Though everything she said had a hint of some truth to it. Truth, that I had questioned both Riah and Naomi, who explained to me how they were scared at the time and did not know how to react or feel. Something they accepted their faults and apologised for their wrongdoings. They also both expressed their regrets for not supporting me sooner and how they would be making it up to me. We were all 16 at the time, having a pregnant friend was not the norm.
"Woow, so you've never heard of an apology. Ofcourse, I did not let them back into my life without any apology, they explained, we spoke and that is all" I snapped back at her, my tongue was too sharp. I was seconds away from dashing Samuels name into the fuel.
"So an apology is supposed to fix years of pain" I felt my heart dip again. Once again, Cynthia was trying to play the "hero" with a perfect relationship that we should all envy.
"Well it's a start. Did you want them to go on their knees? So that it was substantially enough for you" I stated sarcastically, which caused her to regard me as though I was mad.
"I'm only lookin out for my baby cousin. No need to be defensive" Cynthia giggled, which made me want to punch her in the throat. She knew exactly what she was doing and how much it was killing me in the inside. Despite how much it triggered me whenever she spoke about my friendship, apart of me was left wondering whether she was right about the whole situation. Was I really making a mistake by letting Riah and Naomi back into my life?
Hey lovelies ❤️, thanks for reading this chapter☝🏾. What do you guys think of Naomi and Riah? Do you guys think we should trust them? And are you guys enjoying this first person narrative because I surely am? 🤪🤪 lets get this to 50 views please.