Page 43 of Surrogate For My Best Friend’s Man 2

My chest tightened. “Malik…”

“I can’t forgive you. You broke something I can’t fix. You know what trust is?”

I didn’t answer.

“It’s believing somebody ain’t gone play in your face. You did that shit every day. I can’t trust you anymore.”

I cried harder.

“And once the trust is gone…” He paused. “…what the hell we got?”

I couldn’t speak.

“Maybe you and Deuce should be together.”

My head snapped up. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s not what this was.”

“You are carrying his babies, you lied to your best friend and lied to me. Sound like you and that trifling ass nigga got more in common than I thought.”

“Malik, please.”

“Thank God I dodged that bullet.”

I froze and he continued. “I don't want kids with somebody who can do sneaky shit like that anyway.”

That broke something inside me. I covered my mouth. “You don’t mean that.”

“I do, I meant every word.”

I was crying so hard I could barely breathe. “I love you.”

“I don’t care.” The words came out cold. “I don’t trust you and without trust, love ain’t enough.”

I heard him breathe into the phone then he said the words that fucked me up. “You made your choice, Shante now live with it.”

After that the line went dead. I sat there holding the phone against my ear. “Malik?” I slowly lowered it. Then I looked around my bedroom, all he left me was a bed, my clothes and all the babies stuff. I slid off the bed and hit the floor. The tears came harder as I screamed into my hands.

I cried for Malik, and Alisha and the lie I've been telling all these months. I grabbed the pillow and held it against my chest. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.” But nobody answered me, Grandma Lorraine wasn’t here, Malik wasn’t here. There was nobody to tell me it was going to be okay.

Just me sitting in an empty ass house, realizing the secret I’d thought I could carry had finally cost me the one person who trusted me with his whole heart.

MALIK

Isat in the middle of my new living room staring at the damn wall. This was supposed to be a happy time for me. I had just bought this house for me and Shante. A whole damn house, I was supposed to surprise her with it after the babies came. Tell her it was ours, our fresh start. Now I was sitting in that same house by myself trying to wrap my head around how the hell I got here.

I looked around, everything was brand new. Upstairs was the nursery with two cribs sitting side by side. I hand picked that shit out myself. I spent nights putting that shit together thinking I was preparing for my kids. I leaned forward and rubbed my hands over my face, the shit still didn’t feel real. Shante had been lying to me for months.

I shook my head. “Man, fuck Deuce.” I already didn’t like that nigga, never did. But this shit took it to another level. Somehow he got his own sister mixed up in his bullshit. I couldn’t even begin to understand it. Then I thought about Shante agreeing to betray the people who fucked with her the most, that’s what kept eating at me.

She could’ve told me what she was doing instead of trying to be on some sneaky shit. I mean I know I wouldn’t have agreed to allowing her to carry another man’s baby. I don’t give a damn who Deuce is to her! That’s some weird ass shit! I could see if she was carrying for Deuce and Alisha and even then I would have said no. Instead, she let me believe I was about to be a father.

There was a knock at the door, I sat there for a second, then whoever it was knocked again. “Malik.” My best friend Dre yelled. I got up and opened the door, Dre stood there holding a couple food containers. “You ate?” He asked.

“Nah.” I replied.