“How many months?” Geren asked, a little too casually for Tempest’s liking.
“How many months? Is that all you have to say?”
Geren shrugged. “It seemed like a logical question. What else am I supposed to say?”
Tempest stood up and took off like a bat out of hell down the stairs. Geren caught up to her at the bottom.
“Tempest, come on, baby. Don’t be like this.”
“Like what? Concerned?”
“I know you’re concerned. So am I, but what’s done is done. The only thing left to do now is live with the consequences.”
“That’s easy for you to say. Janessa’s been so excited lately, making plans for her future. She was all set to enroll in college in the fall, and now this.”
“
Well, there’s no reason why she still can’t go.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, and you should know that better than anybody. You see this every day.”
“You’re right, I do, and as much as I hate to admit my failure rate, a lot of the women who come to me for help have to let go of their dreams when a baby enters the picture.”
Geren chuckled. Tempest didn’t see a damn thing funny.
“Tempest, those are young girls. Some sorry-ass boys that are still sucking on their mommas’ tits knock them up. They don’t know anything about responsibility. At least Janessa got pregnant by someone like Dvontè. He might be a playa at times—well, most of the time—but this will settle him down. He’ll do the right thing by her.”
Tempest smirked. “Well, obviously you don’t know your boy half as much as you think you do.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Tempest started pacing around Geren on the sidewalk. “It means Dvontè told Janessa to basically fuck off and die.”
Geren was speechless.
“He told her that he never wanted to hear from her again unless it was to accept the abortion money he offered her,” Tempest added snidely. “He even put her ass out of his car on the Fourteenth Street Bridge.”
Geren grabbed Tempest by the wrists to hold her in place. “That must’ve just been his initial reaction. Dvontè’s never been through this before.”
“Neither has Janessa!” Tempest snapped back at him. “I should’ve known.”
“What?”
Tempest tried to free her wrists, but Geren tightened his grasp.
“I should’ve expected this. You’re making excuses for him.”
“No, I’m not!” Geren let go of her wrists and hugged her around the waist. “Look at me, baby!”
She did. “How can you stand here and defend him? You know what I think about shitty-ass men like him. Men who abandon their children.”
It hit Geren like a ton of bricks. The problems between Janessa and Dvontè might possibly cost him the one woman he’d ever truly loved.
“Listen to me.” He placed his forehead on top of hers. “Promise me that no matter what happens, this won’t affect our relationship.”
“I love you, Geren. I do, but—”