I hoped one day he would put his foot down and finally be the man of the house in the mansion he paid for. Until then, I let my parents continue to be who they were. There was nothing I could do to change them, and they damn sure couldn’t change me.
Reason loved me just as much as my father did, maybe even more, and that was all that mattered at this point. That man would do anything and everything for me without me having to lift a finger.
There was only that one issue that stood in our way—him wanting a fucking baby.
CHAPTER 9
EMBER
It was washday, and I sat moping around in the bootleg area the owner of the apartment complex called a laundromat. Two out of six of the machines worked, and everything looked janky. Trash littered the place, the vending machines containing washing supplies were out of order, and I didn’t know if they ever worked. The change machine constantly got stuck when we put coins inside, and somehow, we never got our money back. Then there were the homemade ‘Not Working’ signs plastered on the dirty graffiti walls.
Along with being in a room where things barely worked, my morning had been eventful. I got into a shouting match with a tenant who wanted to wash her clothes while I was washing. She claimed I was hogging up the washer and dryer all morning. I woke up early enough to start a load, and she could’ve done the same.
These days, I was snapping on everyone, and I didn’t enjoy being in this state. I did everything to not feel sorry for myself, but my attempts were anything but successful. I needed a break badly. On top of that, I couldn’t stop replaying my last encounter with Shane.
I still couldn’t believe the way he was lusting after a child… my child. It felt like someone was punching me in the gut whenever I thought about what could’ve possibly happened if I hadn’t caught him staring at her.
I kept beating myself up and trying to compensate for what happened. I poured extra love into Rhema, promising that I’d do anything in my ability to keep her safe.
My daughter came before any man, and that was the one thing I would forever stand ten toes down on.
I got up from the crate I was sitting on to put the last load into the washing machine. As I tossed the clothes inside, I checked the pockets, half hoping I’d get lucky and find some forgotten cash, half making sure I wasn’t about to wash something that had no business in there.
I dug into my work vest pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.
Damn, I forgot about this.
It was the paper that Cassie had given me with the surrogacy information. I was supposed to discard it the same day she handed it to me, but it slipped my mind. With the tip of my finger, I traced the company name on the paper,Little Miracles Surrogacy. Then I balled up the piece of paper and threw it into the garbage can that was already overflowing with trash.
Surrogacy wasn’t for a woman like me. It never would be.
BANG! BANG!
I stirred in bed, wondering who was knocking on my door after I had just finished having a whole breakdown. Slowly, I got out of bed, put my robe on, and grabbed a few tissues todry my tear-stained face. Then, I walked toward the front of my apartment.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“Who is it?” I inquired without opening the door.
“Your trash!”
Confusion seeped in. “Huh, my trash?” I said in a low tone.
I didn’t have a peephole, nor did I have a window facing the front of my apartment. So, I had no idea who the unfamiliar voice belonged to, but I opened the door anyway, hoping curiosity wouldn’t be my downfall.
In front of me was a woman who looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and the first thing on her mind was coming to see me. Next to her stood a cute little brown skinned girl who looked to be about the same age as Rhema, and behind them was the last person I wanted to see.
Shane.
Trying hard to ignore him, I gave the angry woman my attention. I studied her face as my focus zoomed in on her tired, droopy eyes, her dark smoker lips, the stiff, flaky weave thrown on top of her head, and then my eyes traveled down to the stains on her tank top, the see-through biker shorts, and her worn out slides.
“How can I help you?” I asked after taking in her appearance and brushing off my annoyance with Shane’s presence.
She smirked hard and looked back at Shane. “I thought you’d never ask. You can help me by taking this bum ass nigga back.”
“Girl, what?” Now I was the one smirking and rolling my eyes.
I didn’t have time for any of this shit. It felt like they were already here too long. I glanced at the little girl; my heart softened a bit thinking about my own daughter. Forget finding out that Shane had been cheating on me; I worried about thisgirl’s safety, and I wondered if her mother knew what she was dealing with.
