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Three days later, Dr. Bell, Dee’s OB GYN of ten years, shot into the examination room with a huge smile on her face, clenching her clipboard.
Dee held her breath, awaiting the news from the test she’d taken a week ago.
“Congratulations, Dee.” The doctor beamed, red flashing through her triangular cheeks. “You’re going to be a mother.”
Everything went black for a few seconds and Dee assumed she passed out until she noticed the stunned looks on Lydia and Lisa’s faces.
Dr. Bell wobbled toward her on wedge heels and threw her short, musty arms around Dee’s shoulders. “I’m so happy for you.” She pulled away, her face dropping. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Dee’s heart pounded, knees quaked, and anxiety built into a skyscraper inside her stomach. “This can’t be.” She struggled to see through tears. “This can’t be!”
“Am I missing something?” Bell turned toward the others.
“No, um...” Lisa stood from the upholstered chair by the floor lamp. “May we speak to Dee alone?”
“Wait.” Dee grabbed Bell. “How did this happen?”
Bell inched out a grin. “You had sex.”
“I mean...” Dee shook out her hands. “I had my period.”
“You were spotting, which is normal for pregnancy. Women often mistake it for their periods. You can even get cramps and other symptoms of menstruation, but you’re pregnant, Dee.”
“Told you.” Lydia nodded, wagging her finger. “Google. Uh-huh.”
Lisa tucked in her lips, snickering.
“Dr. Bell, what is this?” Dee wiggled on the exam chair, holding her purse to her lap. “I’m not supposed to be pregnant!”
“According to the blood test, you are.” Bell’s fuzzy blonde hair frizzed around the sides of her ponytail. “I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to hear.”
“I can’t believe this.” Dee rubbed the thighs of her indigo jeans. “It’s not that I don’t want to have a baby but not now. There’s too much going on and my life’s a mess.”
“When Mother Nature calls, we have no choice but to answer her.” Bell shrugged. “I’ll let you calm down. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Dee scoffed, gripping the side of the chair. “I’m gonna need more than a few minutes.”
Soon as Bell got out the door, Lydia and Lisa bum rushed Dee.
“A baby!” Lisa jumped in place. “Dee, I’m so happy for you.” She hugged her. “This is great news.”
“Are you two insane?” Dee jumped from the chair. “You know damn well this isn’t the time to have a baby. I’m not ready for this. What will I do?” She touched the sides of her head. “My head is pounding. I can’t breathe.”
“Okay, calm down.” Lydia rubbed Dee’s back. “Take deep breaths.”
Dee did.
“You’re gonna have Winston’s baby.” Lisa touched Dee’s stomach. “Your love created something that no one can ever take away. Doesn’t that make you happy?”
“I love Winston.” She exhaled, swaying. “But, it isn’t the right time.”
“It’s too late to panic,” Lisa said. “You’re pregnant so the question is, what’s next?”
Dee gripped her hands. “How is Winston going to feel?”
“Winston will be ecstatic.” Lydia laughed. “He’s crazy about you.”
“Everything will be all right.” Lisa hugged Dee, kissing her cheek. “We’ll be there for you every step of the way.”
Lydia bounced on her heels. “That’s right.”
“Don’t worry about Winston.” Lisa stroked Dee’s hair. “He’ll probably propose to you when you tell him. He’s such a romantic.”
“I don’t want him proposing out of obligation.”
“At this point I’d take a proposal any way I could,” Lisa joked.
Lydia pointed to her. “Exactly.”
“I’m serious.” Dee paced in front of the peach cabinets. “What if he isn’t happy about this? It would crush me.”
“There’s nothing more Winston wants than to have babies with you.” Lisa smiled. “Call him.”
“Oh hell no.” Dee waved her hand from side to side, shaking her head. “I’m not ready yet. I’ll tell him soon but promise me you’ll keep your mouths shut. Don’t tell anyone.”
Lisa and Lydia nodded.
“I mean it.” Dee pointed at them. “Lisa, don’t even tell Jake. I don’t want this going out of this room, okay?”
“Agreed,” Lisa said. “Our lips are sealed.”
****
Donn Cho sat beside fellow K-Town Crips member Hoon on Hoon’s aunt’s roof three days later.
“Ain’t this nice?” Hoon hung his legs over the asphalt shingles and offered Donn a puff of his joint.
He waved it off. “Nah, man.”
“Something must be wrong with your ass. You don’t never turn down no weed.”
Donn watched the slow-moving traffic below. “It’s been a while since we hung out like this.”
“Yeah.” Hoon inhaled smoke, his slanted eyes sinking into his chubby face. “So much shit been going on with the crew and all.”
Donn tapped the sole of his black Adidas against the roof. “We need to talk.”
Hoon flicked ashes over the roof. “Then talk.”
“Did you guys do something to the Keng family?”
Hoon looked away from Donn, scratching over the K tattoo on his wrist. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, man.”
“You low-level, kid.” Hoon’s blue headband slipped on his forehead. “Means, you don’t have the privilege to be asking questions. Save that for when you become a real G.”
“This ain’t about the crew—”
“It’s always about the crew.” Hoon did a gang sign with one hand. “If you ain’t learned nothing else, you learn that.”
“Did the K-Town C’s hit that family?”
Hoon’s neck rippled when he swallowed. “No.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fuckin’ sure.”
“What about the money Normand owed us for slanging?”
Hoon took a lazy drag of the joint. “What about it?”
“Come on, dude. That hit got K-Town written all over it.”
“The Crips didn’t order that hit.”
“We also ain’t the type to let someone off the hook when they owe us money.”
“I said we ain’t do it and we didn’t do it.” Hoon’s arm muscles flexed. “Ain’t gotta prove nothing to your ass.”
“The cops been watching me, man. They think I did it—’’
“You better keep your mouth shut.” Hoon grabbed Donn’s shirt. “You hear me? Or homey or not, you’ll be our next hit.”
“Then you guys did do it.”
“We didn’t.” Hoon let him go. “I’m just saying don’t be talking to the cops. The last thing we need are the po-pos all up in our business. We thinning out as it is.” He stood, fixing his baggy shorts. “Keep your mouth shut, Donn. Your ass got a lot more to lose than we do.”