The Golden Question

And so I graduated. I’d reached a huge milestone, being the first of the 8 to finish college. And by now, both my brother Keo, and my sister India were enrolled at B-CC. India followed my footsteps and joined the Marching Wildcat Band, becoming a 14KT Gold Dancer.

Amber and I lived with the reverend and his wife for a couple of months, but eventually moved into our own spot. I was more than excited. We found a quaint two bedroom apartment in South Daytona. And in a hurry, we made sure it was fully furnished. We both had bedroom sets and managed to find a large sofa and love seat for the living room. And although the left top end of the sofa was worn, exposing metal, it was perfect. The reverend’s wife had given us this gold, circular, glass coffee table. It was super cute as it would either fold to create three stacked tables or open to create three separate tables. I preferred the separate tables so that they could be topped with pictures and plants.

I’d kept my job at the local Nursing Home where I worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and then Registered Nurse once I graduated. But because working in a Nursing Home could be grueling (especially for a new graduate), I immediately started looking for work elsewhere. And as I hoped, I was hired at Halifax Medical Center, on the telemetry unit. My starting salary was $24, 979/year. Boy, I thought I was rich.

Working to maintain activity and my medium sized frame, I had joined the gym, Beach Street gym. One particular day I was accompanied by good friend at the time, Red. She was about 5’10” tall, fair skinned and outspoken. She always reminded me of Ya-Yow…not only because of her physical traits but also because of her personality. Red was a former Bethune-Cookman nursing student that failed a course during the latter part of the program. She settled by changing her major rather than sitting out an entire year, at which point, the course would be offered again (another one of the program’s challenges).

Leaving the gym, I spotted him. Standing near the free weights, he was a very tall, muscular guy that, from my point of view, was extremely cute. As we passed him, Red and I chuckled, wanting him to see and hear us. Once we got into the car, Red suggested that I go back into the gym and get his number. I refused. Doing so would make me see “hard up”, “thirsty”. So, she went in. (I seriously don’t know why that was any better.) She walked back into the gym and returned to the car with something better, him.

He walked over to my side of the car, and bent over so that we were eye to eye. Directly, he asked if I wanted his number, and of course, I replied yes. I’d asked him to take his hat off so that I could better see his face. And if he wasn’t as cute with his hat off I wasn’t going to call him. He followed directions and unknowingly passed the test.

Within a week or so, we’d slept together. He’d come over to visit one night and what started on the sofa ended in my bed. Surprisingly, I don’t remember having much to say afterwards but I do remember him looking at me asking, “What does this mean?” It appeared to me that he was passive-aggressively saying that we were a couple. I replied by saying, “This means we’re together.” (All I can do is shake my head as I sit and write this.) And after that night, we were indeed a couple.

We hung out, met each other’s family, and made love…. you know the things that new couples do. He’d been working at Sam’s Club for more than 10 years and like me came from a huge family. His mother had 13 children. He drove a mauve colored, four door Cadillac that was his pride and joy, despite the fact that it had began to rust and the “pleather” seats were beyond cracked. I forgot something, though. I forgot to ask a very important question.

About 2-3 weeks later, on the way to my place, he turns my car radio volume down, looks at me and asks “What would you do if I told you I had two kids?” I respond by repeating what he’d just asked…as if I didn’t hear that shit the first time. I then ask an even dumber question, “What do you mean?” By now you all can guess what this conversation was about. This negro had not one but two children and I was just finding out about them. And in my usual fashion, I accepted it.

Immediately, I wanted to meet them. I needed to get comfortable in what would be my new role, step mom. He had a daughter that was about 5 years old and 3 month old son. Yes, 3 months old. Which means what…..yes, you guessed right, the mother of these children was still in a relationship with him, even if he didn’t admit it. And to make matters worse, she was right under my nose.

Three months later, I was pregnant……