A L I J A H
2 months later
That's so cold" I whined as my doctor put gel on my stomach. Looking up at my mom she was fanning her eyes making me sigh, it's like she was the one having a baby and not me. This was why I was hesitant at first to invite her because I knew she'd be all emotional.
"Is this the father to be?" Dr. Davis asked and I made a face as I looked at Darius and he quickly shook his head no.
"Nope she's like my sister, I'm gonna be the god daddy though" he assures her and she smiled as she began looking at the baby. It was still sinking in that there was a baby in my stomach, an actual living thing.
Darius was being a sweetheart lately driving me to my appointments and just making sure I was okay while I was in the process of moving into my home.
I've decided to take a break from Cal and everyone and I'm having Marco and Zaire run my side of the organization because I knew that's what they'd want to do and I didn't want to give Cal the opportunity to push them out.
"When am I gonna be able to find out the sex of the baby?" I asked looking at the screen and seeing the baby.
"Your halfway through three months so hopefully next appointment" Dr. Davis said causing me and Darius to share a look.
He, Ember and I had made a bet with Cal, Eli and Zaire that I was having a boy even though they swore up and down it was going to be a girl. I wanted girl but I felt like if I hoped for a boy it'd come out a girl.
I don't know if that's crazy or not but usually when I want something I get the exact opposite so hopefully that works in this case.
"Is the dad as excited as you are?" Dr. Davis asked causing me to bit my lower lip. I stayed quiet trying to not grow emotional.
"He is he's just busy right now that's all" my mom said covering up for Jesse. My uncle and fathers were pissed and I literally feared for his safety.
You know it's bad when my daddy was talking about coming out of hiding and back to California to whoop his ass and uncle O was talking about if he gets out of prison soon he's gonna castrate him.
When the doctor finished checking out the baby she wiped my stomach off and let me sit up. I dressed in fitted sweat pants and t shirts now. I had completely stopped caring what I looked like and it made guys finally stop approaching me trying to get my number.
"What are your eating habits like? You been eating healthy like we talked about?" Dr. Davis asked and I frowned.
"Do green M&MS count as being healthy?" I asked and everyone in the room began to laugh. I hadn't put on that much weight but I couldn't stop eating.
"I cooked Spaghetti last night and she ate four bowls with lots of cheese" Darius said throwing me under the bus and I hit him.
"No that's not fair I would eat that much even if I wasn't pregnant, I love pasta" I mumbled watching Dr. Davis write something down.
"Try eating salads Alijah, I'd also recommend a yoga class if you have free time and you say your bored at home a lot there's lots of mother to be classes you can take" she said catching my attention.
I looked at Darius with a smile and he made a face. He was the stand in daddy for this pregnancy while Jesse was God knows where. We hadn't spoken since the day I threw all of his shit out.
I found out a couple days after I broke up with him that the same night we broke up he fucked some stripper and it honestly made me not regret my decision to end things.
I've had time to myself and even been painting and having fun reading books. Darius and I weren't interested in each other sexually and the reason I chose him was because I knew if I spent time with Marco he'd start to fall for me again and everyone else was busy.
"Jesse gon have to pay me for all this" Darius mumbled helping me off the table as my doctors appointment came to an end.
"Let's go get something to eat I'm starving" I mumbled making my mom laugh as she held the door open for me.
Darius and I got in the car with her as Moriah sat in the front listening to music. He didn't want to go inside because he said doctors offices make him afraid.
"You find out what your having?" He asked looking behind him at me stomach as I tried to get comfortable in my seat.
"Nope next time though, you should come in next appointment" I tell him and he nodded and turned back around as my mom pulled out of her parking space.
I was still angry, hurt and upset at Jesse but I couldn't help but miss him and how it made me feel. I wanted things to go differently and I keep blaming myself for what happened.
"Do you think I overreacted?" I asked Darius as he played flappy birds on his phone and he looked up at me after he died.
"Nah overacting would be you refusing to let him be in his child's life. You called him out on his bullshit and it needed to happen, the only reason he's upset is because he knows it's the truth, you could be the bigger person and call him first" he said and I made a face.
"No he should call first I don't want it to seem like I'm not mad at him because I am, he doesn't even want this baby" I mumbled and Darius smacked his teeth.
I watched him dial Jesse's number on his phone before tossing the phone in my lap and I quickly picked it up and placed it to my ear feeling my anxiety kicking in.
"Hello?" I covered my mouth hearing a female answer the phone and quickly tossed the phone back to Darius who looked at me like I was crazy.
"A girl picked up" I whispered feeling hurt as Darius put the phone to his ear.
"Yeah, can I speak to Jesse?" He asked as he eyed me for a moment like I was still crazy or something.
"It could be family or something don't jump to conclusions" Darius warned and I rolled my eyes as he handed me back the phone.
"What's up D?" Jesse asked and I froze hearing his voice, I felt like such a creeper right now. Taking a deep breath I decided to speak.
"It's actually Alijah" I said quietly as the car stopped in front of in and out burger.
"Ion think we should talk over the phone, I'll be back tomorrow morning and I'll come see you. We got a lot to discuss" he said emotionless making me feel stupid for even calling.
I hung up annoyed getting out of the car along with everyone else to go eat. Food was the in,y thing that made me happy nowadays.
C A L V I N
I looked the trap house we'd just taken over and smirked. This shit was too easy and I was beginning to feel bad for them niggas in Houston.
"You think you won don't you? Tee and Tory are just getting started and the twins got something planned for your ass" one of their workers shouted making me laugh.
Not even bothering to respond to the nigga I shot him in the head and shared a look with Marco who'd finished off the last of the guys.
"I been meaning to talk to you about some things" Marco said as we exited and I sighed and glanced at him.
"What's up? Is this still about me not putting you to work?" I asked already knowing it was about how he, Zaire and Darius don't work as much as everyone else.
"Look im not trying to be greedy bruh but I get the feeling you trying to push us out of our spot and that's not right we helped you build this shit just as much as Eli and Jesse did" he said and I smirked.
"You think I'm not being fair?" I asked him as I stopped walking and gave him the death stare and he chuckled.
"No but what I'm saying is you aren't the same Cal I grew up with. You changing man and you getting power hungry and that's the same mistake lots of people make. Why the fuck are we playing with these niggas instead of taking them out its like you trying to start another war to prove yourself and most of us barely made it out alive last war we had!" He snapped making me eye him for a moment.
"Stop sugar coating shit nigga and just say what's on your mind" I said walking towards my car and he shook his head.
"I'm not trying to fight but Zaire and I talked about it and if you don't start treating us like you treat everyone else than Elias, Darius, Zaire, Alijah and I are out and you can deal with this war by yourself and see how far you get" Marco said and I squinted my eyes at him.
"Is that a threat bruh? We don't need yall" I said growing angry and he nodded as he backed away from me going to his car.
"Nah it's a promise, we just want some appreciation that's all but if you don't need us than maybe we should take our options elsewhere, half of this drug shit belongs to Alijah don't forget that shit and you already know O will side with us" he smirked getting into his car making me sigh in frustration.
I wanted to run business the way I wanted to and whoever didn't like the way I did things could step, them included.
I wasn't trying to be controlling but I had a certain vision of the way I wanted things to work and things seemed to be working perfectly fine.
An unknown number called my phone and I squinted my eyes before figuring it was my father calling for his daily check up.
"Yes sir?" I said into the phone and he chuckled. I started up my car and pulled onto the road keeping the phone at my ear.
"Guess who about to be paroled?" He asked causing me to nearly have a heart attack. My father was about to come home.
"Foreal? Who told you? When?" I asked not taking a breather and he continued to laugh at my excitement.
"Don't worry about that all I know is that I should be home by the end of this month, I talked to Alijah earlier" he said making me roll my eyes knowing she had snitched.
"And what did she say about me this time? She's pregnant and I'm giving her time off I'm doing all the hard work all she has to do is sit and look pretty and make money" I mumbled.
"It's not about that Cal let her run her side the way she wants if I didn't want her involved I would of gave everything to you. I know what Alijah is capable of its you that's underestimating her and her crew" he said.
"I got to much pride to apologize, I get that from you" I mumbled and he sighed.
"Your gonna find out the hard way you actually need them, you better hope they don't have to much pride to come and help your ass when you need them because trust me you'll need them" he said before hanging up.
I didn't understand why everyone was just trying to fault me. I mean well and I have everyone's best interest at heart but I've never been good with sharing.
What Marco was saying earlier really got to me though, was I not the same Cal as before? I don't want everybody to see me as the bad person.
Z A I R E
"You gon let me give you a wax?" Elias asked Ember as we sat in her nail shop and he looked over everything you could get done there including being waxed.
"In your dreams, lil dick ass" Ember smirked making him roll his eyes and flick her off. My lil bruh was determined to fuck her one day and I knew he was gon do it. I think she was so hesitant to mess with him because he's Alijah's brother.
Marco walked in moment later looking mad as fuck. He sat next to me playing with one of his dreads as I tried to figure out what was wrong with him.
"Cal still on that selfish shit so we going on a strike" he mumbled and I raised an eyebrow and nodded.
I was done trying to beg this niggas for some work if he didn't want us to help out than I was done. I been wanting a break anyway so I'll chill and relax now maybe even go on vacation.
"Let Alijah know that whatever she wanna do when she ready we down" I told him as my phone began to ring and I noticed it was Jesse, the nigga who never calls me.
"You done being an ass?" I asked and he smacked his teeth.
"Nigga fuck you, I just need you to do me a big favor, I'll be back tomorrow morning but I need this shit done now" he said making me curious.
"What you need? Somebody killed? You acting mysterious as fuck" I mumbled and he smacked his teeth again.
"Alright, I bought a house, I'll text you the address for it. Take Alijah there and pretend you bought a place and have her furnish it tonight, make sure she sleeps there so I can find her easier" he said hanging up not giving me a chance to say no.
I stood up from my seat and left out with an attitude and them calling after me. I was always chosen to play the middle man all I know is this house better be nice as fuck or I'm telling her everything.
I sent a text to Alijah telling her I had an emergency and needed her before my phone beeped with a text from Jesse I assumed. I had just helped this girl move into a house two months ago and she was just talking about how she was getting settled in.
I used the address he'd sent me and drove to this nice ass two story home. The house was gray and big as fuck and I already knew I was gonna be crashing on they couch from time to time.
I got out of the car and walked up to the front porch and took the spare key from under the mat unlocking the door and stepping inside and it had that new home smell.
When my phone beeped again I knew it was Alijah so I just sent her the address without even responding before walking around the house.
It was a five bedroom and he didn't go overboard, it was easy to find your way around. I opened one of the bedrooms upstairs across the hall and smirked.
Sitting in the middle of the room floor was two pairs of baby shoes one blue and the other pink and he had someone spray paint on the white wall "I'm ready".
I applaud my nigga for stepping up though, this was something they needed to go through together and he needed to know that just because your afraid of something does not give you the right to run from it.
I closed the door back knowing that she probably wasn't suppose to see it and made my way back down stairs into an open kitchen, that Alijah fat ass would love.
You could see the big ass backyard in the back and the pool that was surrounded with gates. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something blue and glanced down at the light sockets that had blue covers on them.
Someone knocked on the front door making me jog to the door and opened it for Alijah who was breathing deeply.
"I rushed over here because I thought you were dying, why aren't you dying?" She asked placing her hand on her hip as her stomach stuck out making me laugh and pull her shirt down to cover some of her belly.
"My bad I just need you to decorate my new crib" I tell her and she stepped in side and covered her mouth.
"Oh my god Zaire this house is beautiful I want it! If only Jes- never mind" she said stopping herself as she walked into the big empty living room with a fire place.
"Can you imagine when me and the baby come here for holidays? We can gather around the fire and sing Christmas songs! Oh my god Zaire I finally have someone to share my love of Christmas movies with" she said excitedly making me make a face.
"You can't just force your baby to watch those dumb ass movies" I tell her and her face turned into a mug as she pushed me away.
"What does your kitchen look like?" She asked skipping to the other side of the house happily making me smile.
My little sister had been upset a lot and I basically had to keep cheering her up and letting her know everything was gonna work out. She ain't deserve how Jesse was treating her but I ain't think she was going to kick him out like she did.
"Oh yeah we on strike from Cal he still being selfish" I tell her watching her look around the kitchen with a smile on her face.
"Who cares I'm done trying with him. I think I'm done with that part of my life all together" she said catching me off guard making me take a step back.
"What do you mean Alijah? It's AMZ for life" I remind her and she frowned and looked at me sadly.
"It's not how it was back then Zaire im about to be someone's Mommy someone is going to look up to me and I don't wanna put myself in the risk where I might die every time I go to work that's not a life I want to continue to live, and you shouldn't either" she tells me.
"So you gonna let Cal win, let him fully take over?" I asked leaning on the counter as my eyes drifted to her stomach taking in what she had said.
"I'll help you all whenever you need it but let me make this choice for myself, you can't be a hustler forever unless your my uncle" she laughed and I gave her a smile and nodded.
Maybe it was time for me to start looking at my other life options as well. I had a clean record and could be anything I want to be.
J E S S E
I pushed open the doors to my fathers office were a pregnant woman stood in tears begging him for something and I shook my head, he must of knocked up somebody else.
My father called security and escorted the woman out before turning his attention to me and walked over giving me a hug as I stood completely still.
He handed me a set of papers and I looked down realizing they were divorce papers and I quickly looked up at him like he was crazy.
"Sign those and than I can have them hurry up and end the marriage, the girl is coming tomorrow" he said carelessly and I looked him into his eyes before ripping the papers up in front of him.
"I'm about to be a father, I'm in love with my wife you can't just do this shit man" I said throwing the scraps of paper on the ground and he looked at me in shock for a moment.
"Jesse this is a business, if it weren't for me you would of never met the girl" he snapped and I shook my head.
"Your right, this is a business this is MY business now not yours so you don't get to dictate my life and make me do shit you think will benefit me only I know what makes me happy" I snapped and he took a step closer to me hoping I'd back down but I didn't.
"You got her pregnant and now you think your suppose to stay with her? Make her get an abortion it's half your kid too" he said making me snap and punch him in the face sending him flying to the floor.
"You really are fucked up, I will never be like you. All my life I've been looking to be like you to make you proud of me and it sucks that now I realized you are a worthless individual who will never be happy. So thank you for showing me how not to be, thank you for introducing me to my family and my wife" I said with a smirk as he held his face.
"I'm your father Jesse, you have no right to talk to me like that. I'll let that hit go but your talking crazy" he said and I rolled my eyes.
"When's my birthday? If you can answer that question than I'll divorce my wife and marry the Russian hoe" I said looking into his eyes and he cursed under his breath looking away from me.
"My wife is three months and two weeks pregnant and I will continue to know shit like that until my kid is born. The reason why I run from my problems is because I see you do it all the time and I thought it was right, but I know I'm wrong now" I said as I began to have an epiphany.
He looked at me shocked as I walked out of his office. I had nothing else to say to him and that's the last conversation I ever plan on having with him.
I pulled out my phone dialing Zaire's number as I climbed into a car and the drive pulled off towards the airport.
"What? I'm trying to eat" he snapped into the phone and I laughed looking at the clock in the car, it was only eight at night.
"Can you put Alijah on the phone" I said reaching into my pocket pulling out a small box I'd spent a lot of money on and pulled out the engagement ring looking at it.
"You gonna ask for a divorce over the phone instead of in person?" She asked making me chuckle.
"When we met I could not stand your ass, something about you I Hated more than anything but now I know it's because I knew I'd love you and I wasn't ready for that yet" I tell her honestly.
"What are you talking about Jesse, if your just gonna sweet talk me into taking you back you can forget about it" she snapped.
"I'm sorry for everything I've ever said and done that has hurt your feelings. I want you to know that nobody can affect me the way you do and I'm sorry for not being there to hold your hair back when you had morning sickness I tried to take the easy way out by running baby and I'm so sorry I did you like that, can you let me make it up to you? I'll do anything you want me to but it's been two months and I can't keep living like this" I said into the phone and could hear her sniffling.
"Promise me you won't yell for the remainder of my pregnancy and stay home at night with me four days out of the week and the other three you can go out with Cal" she said and I smiled.
"Can we do all this the right way though? We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for five years with a wedding certificate basically" I remind her looking down at the ring.
"I guess that's true"'she said quietly.
"Will you marry me and than we can do this the right way no more cheating no more arguing, we gon take parenting classes and pick out baby names and I'll tell you every night how much our baby will look like me and then you gon get mad" I tell her and she laughed.
"Nope I've been waiting for this moment since I was a little girl, so you need to get down on one knee and say all of this to me not over the phone" she said making me laugh.
"Alright I'll be there in a few hours hopefully, try and wait up for me" I said.
"Fine but I gotta go Zaire's trying to eat all the food" she said and than I heard her screaming at him in the background.
"Alright, I love you" I said with a smile.
"Love you too, and I find it funny how you only listen to me when I yell at you" she said with an attitude before I hung up.
For the first time in my life I was making my own life choices and it felt good. I thought about he fact that my mother was only nineteen when she had me and Alijah's parents were in their early twenties too so if they could do it I knew I could too.
Only Alijah and I would do it better.
AUTHORS NOTE
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