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“I’m dying without Winston.” Dee sat on her living room couch that night having Chinese takeout with Lisa. “Like I’ve lost a part of me.”
“Hell, both of you are being stupid now.” Lisa dipped her egg roll into the sweet and sour sauce. “Just focus on what’s important, which is that precious baby that’s inside of you. How you feeling?”
“Ugh.” Dee held in a belch as she chewed fried rice. “Besides being sick every hour? My boobs throb, my legs ache, and I’m always dizzy. Damn, I can’t put up with this eight more months.” She belched, groaning from the sour taste. “Ooh, and the gas.”
Lisa turned up her nose.
“I’m not lying.” Dee folded her leg underneath her. “Shoot, I’m passing more gas than Exxon.”
Lisa laughed, covering her mouth.
“Jesus.” Dee rubbed her bloated tummy. “I feel like I’m gonna bust.”
“Not sure I can help with the gas...” Lisa chuckled. “But, I’ll rub your feet for you.”
“Aw.” Dee smiled.
“Even though Winston should do that.”
Dee laid her head back. “What if I can’t handle this?”
“You can handle anything, Deidra Quarter.” Lisa stirred noodles with her chopsticks. “I’m happy for you, but I wish it was me.”
“It will be.” Dee rubbed Lisa’s thigh.
“I’d like to be married first.” She chomped noodles. “I was hinting to Jake about it again and he brushed off the subject.”
“Why do men always say they want to marry you and have babies until it happens?” Dee chewed a scrambled egg chunk. “Will we ever understand them?”
“Hm, probably not.” Lisa laughed, wiggling. “My phone’s vibrating.” She got it out her jeans and read the screen. “It’s Jake.” She spoke with him for a minute then got off the phone. “Girl, he locked himself out the house.”
“What?” Dee laughed.
“Uh-huh. He got home from work and realized he’d lost his house key.” Lisa sighed, setting the food on the table. “I got to go. Man. We were having good girl time too.”
“Yeah, we were.” Dee stood and pulled Lisa into a hug. “You always make me feel better.”
“I could come back.”
“Nah, I’m turning in early.” Dee stretched. “I’ll walk you out.”
She and Lisa went to the front door holding each other’s waists.
“In a few months you won’t be able to put your arm around me.” Dee touched her hips. “I’ll lose all this fineness.”
Lisa giggled as she walked to the stoop. “See you.”
“Good night.” She waited until Lisa drove away and heard a sound in the bushes before she went back inside. “Is anyone there?”
Jonathan walked from behind the hedges. “Hello, Deidra.”
“No!”
“Deidra?” He ran toward her with his arms out. “Wait.”
“Get out of here!” She ran inside and slammed the door. “I’m calling the police!”
“Are you pregnant?” he asked through the door.
She leaned against it, shivering. “Who told you?” she squealed.
“So, it’s true?”
“I swear to God if you don’t get out of here I’ll kill you myself.”
He shook the doorknob. “We need to talk.”
“Go to hell!”
“Is that how you treat the father of your child?”
She froze. “What the hell did you say?”
“Open the door and I’ll explain.”
Panting, Dee ran to her bedroom, got her gun off the end table, and returned to the front door.
“Deidra?” Jonathan knocked.
“I’m opening this door but stay your ass on that porch, do you hear me? I have my gun.”
“Okay.”
She parted the door. “Now what the hell did you say?”
“You’re pregnant.” He rubbed his hands, handsome face glowing. “This is wonderful news.”
“You said this is your baby?”
“Yes.”
She pointed the gun at him. “Just when I think you can’t get any more insane.”
“I’m not lying.” He glanced at her stomach. “I can feel it’s mine.”
“How can it be yours when we never had sex?”
“We did.”
Dee wobbled, lowering the gun. “W...what?”
“We made love, Deidra.” He touched the door, holding a glassy-eyed stare. “It was amazing.”
Nausea raced through her stomach. “No.”
“Those months with you were the best time of my life and we fell in love. You gave yourself to me mind and body.”
“No!” She covered her ears. “Stop trying to manipulate me.”
“It’s true.” He reached for her. “Let me remind you—”
“You’re lying.” She waved the gun. “I never would’ve let you touch me.”
“You wanted me, and I’m going to make you remember that.”
“Why are you doing this, Jonathan? Why can’t you let this go?”
“I’ll never let you go.” He stared at her stomach. “You’re having my child.”
“You don’t even want kids. You throw women out The Circle if they get pregnant.”
“Those women are nothing compared to you.” He closed his eyes. “You rule my heart and my soul, Deidra. I cherish our baby because it’s a symbol of our love. It’ll bond us for eternity.”
“This is Winston’s baby.”
He shook his head.
“You and I never slept together. I’d know it if we had.”
He inched closer. “You told me that being in The Circle was the happiest you’d ever been.”
“You drugged me. I wasn’t myself. The person who spent those three months with you wasn’t real.”
“No, this person is the fake one.” He gestured to her. “You’re hiding behind your outside persona but it’s not who you are.”
“I love Winston, damn you!” She shoved him. “I let your ass walk free, Jonathan. You should be in prison and you can’t let me have peace?”
“I’d rather be in prison if I can’t have you.”
“I’d never cheat on Winston even if I’d been drugged.” She cried, heart breaking at the possibility. “I hate you.”
“Whether you remember or not, you gave yourself to me.” His eyes widened. “You’re a member of The Circle and there’s nothing you can say to change that.”
She raised the gun to his forehead. “I could kill you now.”
His eyes switched to the gun.
“I’d have the best excuse.” She pressed the trigger. “I’ll say you tried to kidnap me again, and I had to defend myself.”
“Killing me won’t change what happened between us.” He wrapped his fingers around the gun, lowering it. “I was inside you and now my baby is inside you.”
She tore to pieces at his vile declaration. “No.”
“Oh, yes I had you many times.” He touched her hand with his fingertip. “And, I will again.” He blew a kiss and walked off into the night.
“Liar.” She slammed the door and slid against it, crying. “I didn’t sleep with him. I didn’t!”