Geren was straddled over Dvontè, who was beaten to a bloody pulp, getting ready to land a punch that would inevitably shatter his jaw to bits. Geren took a good look at him and his two swollen eyes and said, “Fuck it, man! You’re not even worth it!”
He got up and barreled out of the apartment, wanting to get as far away from there as possible.
He was getting into his car when Dvontè appeared on the balcony, screaming at him. “Get the fuck out of my life! Tell Janessa to call me if and only if she wants some money to get rid of it. Otherwise, tell that skank bitch to kiss my black ass!” Geren glared up at him and rolled his eyes. “Besides, who are you to judge me, man? You haven’t even told Tempest the truth about you, have you? How dare you judge me if you haven’t walked in my shoes?”
Geren couldn’t help but notice all the kids staring from the pool and their mothers shaking their heads in disgust. He could only hope the next generation of brothas would know how to be real men. He started his car up and left.
CHAPTER 24
facing demons
“janessa, you really don’t have to do this,” Tempest said, turning around to stare at Janessa, in the backseat of Geren’s car. “Let’s just go back to my place, and you can stay there for a few days.”
Geren had agreed to drive Janessa home despite Tempest’s objections. He was sitting in the driver’s seat, trying to keep his mouth shut. He was still severely upset about his fight with Dvontè.
“Tempest, stop treating me like a child.” Janessa stared out of the window, elated there wasn’t a bunch of riffraff hanging out in front of the crack house across the street. A pleasant change. “I’m not one of those teenagers from down at the center. I’m a grown woman.”
“I understand that, Janessa. Of course you’re grown. I’m not trying to sound condescending, but you and I both know how your parents are going to react to your pregnancy. Especially your mother.”
“Oh, well, such is life.” Janessa sighed. “I’m just gonna have to deal with the drama.”
“I have a suggestion,” Geren said, interrupting their conversation against his better judgment. “Why don’t you just hold off on telling your parents until you can clear your head and make some final decisions?”
Janessa had to fight the urge to slap Geren on the back of his head. Instead she unlocked and opened the rear door and got out. She leaned down so she could glare at him.
“Are you implying I should kill my baby?” she shouted. “That is what you’re saying, right?”
Tempest flung off her seat belt and jumped out of the car just as Janessa slammed the back door as hard as she could. The entire car shook.
“Janessa, calm down.” Tempest grabbed Janessa by the elbow so she couldn’t walk away. “Geren didn’t get you pregnant. Dvontè did. The two of you created this predicament, not us.”
Janessa yanked her arm away from Tempest. “Hmph, I see. I forgot you were Miss Perfect.”
“Janessa, I’m not per—”
“Then again, you don’t have jack shit to worry about anyway. After all, there isn’t a chance in hell of anything like this happening to you.”
Janessa’s expression turned cynical as Tempest met her gaze. Tempest felt like her heart had just been ripped out. They both fell silent.
Geren yelled at them through the ajar passenger door. “You ladies please stop fighting! This isn’t going to solve anything!” He got out on the driver’s side and joined them on the curb, touching Janessa lightly on the shoulder. She flinched. “Janessa, I wasn’t implying you should have an abortion. On the contrary, I think a child is the greatest gift a woman could ever give to a man.”
Neither Janessa nor Tempest would even look in his direction. They just stared each other down, but Geren continued anyway. “I’m just saying that all of this is new. Everyone’s emotions are still riled up. If your parents are likely to make things worse, which is the impression I’m getting, then you might need to wait a few days before you compound the issue.”
Geren waved his arm up and down in between Tempest and Janessa. Still no visible reaction. They didn’t even blink.
“I’m in shock myself, and I really don’t have shit to do with it,” Geren added, taking a few steps away from them and sitting down on the hood of his car. “I’m not so shocked that you’re pregnant. You and Dvontè have been going at it pretty hard, and these things happen. What I can’t get over is Dvontè’s lackadaisical attitude.” He crossed his arms and cupped his elbows. “My best friend and I got into a fight toda
y,” he said, shaking his head in disgust. “A fistfight, at that.”
“Dvontè is a piece of shit,” Tempest hissed, finally breaking away from Janessa’s stare to look into Geren’s eyes. “Don’t even start blaming yourself for what happened today. I’m glad you gave him an ass-whupping. He deserved everything you laid on him and then some.”
“Right now, I can’t dispute that. Hopefully he’ll come to his senses. I think Dvontè is more scared than anything.”
Tempest threw her hands up in the air and then slapped them loudly on her hips. “And Janessa’s not scared?”
Before Geren could respond, Janessa said, “Look, I’m about to get this over with. Tempest, I’ll holla at you tomorrow.”
“You sure?” Tempest asked, raising her right eyebrow. “You don’t have to do this. You can just go in there and pretend like nothing’s happened until we can talk about it some more.”