Chapter Sixteen
Lucinda
I’d never thought I’d see the day that I was financially stable, in college, and had the man of my dreams all at the same time. But I did, and it still didn’t seem real to me. I’d watched the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, and I had to admit I felt when Will said, “Maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue, and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what.”
After the catastrophe at Aldris’s mom’s house, he tried to reassure me that everything was kosher, but how can you reassure someone who’d always fallen short of having all the things they wanted? It wasn’t from lack of trying, because besides being my man, he was my best friend. He made me want to be an all-around better person, and we fit hand in glove, but I still had difficulty believing that all of this was completely mine. It was like I was in a dream, waiting to wake up to my reality.
All of this was on my mind as I sat up in my bed, trying to do my homework. Obviously unfocused, I decided to take a break. Checking my mail, I nearly pissed my pants when I opened a letter with regard to Raul’s child support. After a three-month stint, he’d been released, and a total amount of $2,950 had been deposited into my child support account, which included his arrearage and the last three months’ pay.
“What are you smiling about?” Aldris asked me as he put down his copy of Black Enterprise magazine.
“Raul is out of jail, and I am $2,950 richer,” I laughed.
“What? For real?”
“Yep,” I confirmed.
“Well, it’s about time that fool made a move. He honestly thought he was getting out of jail without taking care of his responsibilities. He is a damn fool. I just don’t understand it. Nadia is a beautiful little girl, inside and out, and I would love the honor of calling her my daughter,” Aldris said.
His warm words immediately tugged at my heartstrings. “Aww, baby. You know just how to melt me.” I kissed him.
Still with his lips grazing mine, he spoke, and his lust was evident. “Are you done with your homework yet? Because I don’t know how much longer Mandingo and I can wait with you looking all sexy in those shorts and kissing me like this.”
“And I can’t wait for Mandingo either, papi. He whips me good every time. But if I don’t finish this homework, my professor is going to whip me too,” I joked.
He groaned and kissed my neck. “I love it when you call me daddy. I guess I can hold out a little while longer. I don’t want to interfere. I remember how it was when I was in college.”
“So, that’s why you won’t do my assignments for me?”
“Uh, yeah. Once was good enough for me,” he joked.
“Oh, you got jokes,” I laughed. “Yeah, but seriously, I better hurry up. It won’t be too long before I have to get Nadia from Ms. Ana’s house. I’m going to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. Do you want anything, baby?”
“Just you,” he said, kissing my shoulder.
This man knew just how to make me blush. “You’ll definitely have that. Just give me about thirty minutes,” I teased before I got out of the bed and headed for the kitchen.
On my way back, there was a knock on my front door. Doubling back, I answered it, and lo and behold, it was Raul. “I hope you got what the fuck you wanted,” he spat.
“Yes, I did. Just like you got what the fuck you deserved,” I spat back, crossing my arms. “Why are you here?”
“The court said I couldn’t apply for a reduction of child support right now. Seeing as how I don’t have no job, I don’t see myself paying child support until I get one, so you need to work something out with me,” he said boldly.
No, the fuck he did not. I was flabbergasted for a moment as he stood there looking like the epitome of “if ‘you got a nerve’ had a face.”
“You ballsy muthafucka. You got yourself fired for that bullshit you pulled at my job, and you know what? You got me fired too, so on the real, I ain’t hearing nothing you saying!”
“You better hear me, or you won’t get nothing,” he mouthed off.
“Oh, so you looking for more jail time, huh? That can be arranged. You must like being Pedro’s puto because that’s where you’re headed if you don’t pay me. You better get it the same way you came up with it the first time. ’Cause you gon’ run me my coins,” I fussed with one hand on my hip and the other in his face.
“Shanaya got her moms to cop it for me. She is a real chick. She’s down for me like four flat tires. I should’ve left you alone and dealt with her from the start. She knows how to be a good woman,” Raul blasted.
“And just how does a no-good-ass man know when to recognize a good woman?” I laughed at him. “You need to get yourself together, but as far as the child support goes, I want every penny of my $350 next month and right on time.”
Raul grabbed my arm. “Dios maldita! Now, you listen here, you bitch—”
Suddenly, I was pulled backward. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Aldris yelled in Raul’s face. The next thing I saw was Raul flying backward. Aldris had knocked the hell out of him.
“Who the fuck are you?” Raul asked, stumbling to his feet as he held his eye from the blow.
“Don’t worry about who the fuck I am. Just know this—your days of harassing Lucinda are over. The only contact you need with her about Nadia can be done through the courts,” Aldris said to him.
Raul laughed. “Who the hell died and made you God?”
“Nobody, but I suggest that if you don’t want to see God before your time, you leave Lucinda alone.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No, muthafucka, that’s a guaranteed promise.”
Raul laughed. “Oh, I get it. You’re supposed to be her new man. Lucinda wants to run into some nigga’s arms now like that shit is supposed to help. Let me put you up on game, nigga. I don’t give a fuck who you are—”
“No! Let me put yo’ ass up on game,” Aldris boomed, and Raul shut his mouth. “Lucinda is my lady, and I ride for mine. You don’t know me, and I don’t really give a fuck about you. But what I do need you to know is that I have connections everywhere. Your child support judge, Judge Cutliff, he’s my cousin, and I have plenty of friends down at the jail, including your arresting officer.”
Raul got extremely quiet and swallowed the lump in his throat.
Aldris scoffed and clapped his hands one time. “Yeah, I thought that’d shut you up. So this is what I’m saying to you, pa’ner. Make your payments, be on time, and most importantly, leave Lucinda alone, or that bid you did in county will be a cakewalk compared to what will be done to you if you have to go back. So, nigga, are we clear?”
Raul looked at him nervously and then back at me. “Yeah, whatever, man.”
“Good. Now get the hell away from here,” Aldris said.
“Fine. But there is something I think Lucinda should know.”
“No, you should know that you gon’ need something to put on the shiner that my man just blessed you with,” I snapped, standing beside Aldris with my arms crossed.
Raul huffed loudly and felt his eye, then looked at me with a smirk on his face. “When I go back in a few months for my reduction, I’m adding all of my children. Expect to get your money reduced.”
“You’re stupid. Judge Cutliff already accounted for Doodlebug and Raulina.”
Raul’s sinister laugh told me that I was about to be hit with some news I wasn’t expecting, and he most definitely delivered it.
“Well, the joke is on all of you, because I have two more kids. I have another five-year-old and one on the way. I plan on including them too and taking care of them.”
“Shanaya is pregnant?”
“Nope, the new baby and the five-year-old in question have the same mama, but it ain’t Shanaya, and it ain’t Boop.” He smirked. “Oh, and the next time you talk to your pops, tell him I said congratulations. Y’all be easy,” he said and walked away.
Aldris shut the door. “Can you believe that fool?”
Before he could turn around good enough, I was in his arms kissing him. “What’s that for?” he asked, staring down at me.
“For being my man. The way you handled Raul was so, so . . . sexy. I loved it, papi,” I said, holding him about his waist.
“I told you that you’ll never have to worry about a thing anymore. I’m going to take care of you because you’re my baby.”
“I see. I’m just wondering where this thug came from. I’m so loving your gangsta right now.”
“Don’t let the degrees, the GQ outfits, or the sex appeal fool you. I’m a man, Lucinda, and if anybody tries me on that, they get dealt with. You’re my lady, and it’s my duty to protect you and Nadia. And that, my baby, is exactly what I’m gonna do.” Immediately, I slid out of my shorts. He rubbed his hands together. “What are you doing?”
“Saying fuck homework. I got some other kind of work to put in,” I said while I slid his boxers down.
“Ay, mamacita,” he moaned as I began to massage him down below.
We kissed passionately. Then, Aldris said the one thing to me that made our relationship complete. “I love you, Lucinda.”
Instantly, I melted. Confirmation. For the first time, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was where I was supposed to be. Regardless of Raul, our different upbringings, or his friends’ opinions, this was where I was supposed to be. All I could think about was Will Smith’s line in The Pursuit of Happyness: “This part of my life . . . this part right here? This is called ‘happyness.’”