Chapter Nineteen
Lydia was cooking dinner when Ladelle came in from work. He had been home on work release for eight months. He had a board coming up and he prayed he made that board. This was his third state bid and he was hoping they didn’t hit him. He was seven and zero now and doing everything he was supposed to do be doing. He had found a job as a cook in midtown and he was bringing home legal money. He saved every dime he made because Lydia was six months pregnant.
Ladelle had made up his mind that he was done with the game. There was no turning back; he had a child on the way and no matter what, he wanted to live to raise it. Lydia had stuck by him and every time she came to see him, she set him out so that his locker stayed full of everything. Yeah, Ladelle was done with the game and anything involving it.
Lydia called him into the kitchen to taste the pepper steak. ”Is it too spicy?” she asked him.
”Nah, ma, its perfect. But put some more green peppers in it...wait, I’ll cut some up. Have a seat and let daddy do this,” Ladelle said kissing Lydia on the neck. In addition to cutting up more green peppers, he added red peppers, onions and added more seasoning to the pepper steak. Truth be told, Lydia couldn’t cook for shit. She fucked up hard boiled eggs, burned the bagels, made the rice too mushy and the Kool-Aid too bitter. She was a danger to food, and Ladelle preferred that she just make toast.
Ladelle added the extra items to the meat and lowered the flame to let it simmer. Lydia began making a salad to go with their meal. Ladelle started to tell her that he’d make it, but he kept quiet. He went into the bathroom to take a shower but decided to holla at Petie first. That was still his man and he was grateful that Renee did-n’t run her mouth. Renee called Lydia the whole time he was locked up, threatening her and talking shit. Lydia handled everything like a woman; she never threw anything up in his face about this or that. Renee had come to see him a couple of times, too, threatening him with the bullshit. This bitch is nuts, he’d think.
Ladelle was glad when Petie answered the phone instead of Renee. ”Yo, what’s good, my nigga?” Ladelle said.
”Ain’t nothing, dick. I seen Share walking her dog and snuck up on her ass. Yo, La, she looked like she seen a ghost...bitch froze. I started to snatch her up and drag her ass in the house. Her fucking pit saved her bitch ass,” Petie said, remembering the look on her face.
”Why you keep holding on to that shit? Fuck that ho. What’s done is done; let that shit ride. You know she a police lover. You better hope she didn’t tell them muthafuckas you ran up on her and was harassing her or some shit,” Ladelle said, hoping to get through to Petie. They talked for a few minutes more until Lydia called Ladelle to eat. Before hanging up, they made plans to meet up on the weekend and play some ball.
Ladelle took his shower before sitting down with Lydia for dinner. This is the way shit is supposed to be, he thought. Come home from work, eat a meal and lay back with wifey for the night. All that running the streets and shit don’t even feel right anymore.
The pepper steak was good, thanks to Ladelle, but the salad was a little soggy. Ladelle didn’t complain. He and Lydia cleared the table, and he washed the dishes while she dried them. She wiped the stove and countertops as Ladelle prepared two bowls of ice cream. Lydia’s was strawberry with peanut butter and whipped cream, and Ladelle’s was butter almond. Lydia always wanted strange foods now; she ate jelly sandwiches with mayonnaise and pickles with fried eggs, and she would sometimes make pancake mix and add a can of corn to the batter. It was bad enough she couldn’t cook, but seeing her eating all this strange stuff was a little overbearing for Ladelle. Lydia would always tell him it wasn’t her; it was the baby.
Lydia sat propped up on the couch and Ladelle sat beside her and rubbed her belly, hoping to feel his child move. He was so excited about the baby, and he couldn’t wait until he or she was born.
Lydia was even more beautiful to him now; her complexion was like honey, and her hair was thick and down to her shoulders. She had stopped wearing weaves and ponytails and kept her hair braided. She was a shorty—5’1” and 148 pounds. She was thicker now, and Ladelle hoped she wouldn’t have any stretch marks.
Ladelle was 5’11” with a stocky build, cut up arms and legs, a six-pack and a chipped tooth, which made his smile unique. His sideburns were trimmed into L’s, and he had a thin moustache and grey eyes. Ladelle and Lydia looked like they belonged together.
Lydia graduated college with a degree in marketing while Ladelle was locked up. But she was in no hurry to get back to work until the baby was at least a year old. There was always something on TV about nannies or babysitters abusing children, and she knew she would never leave her child with a stranger; she wouldn’t trust anyone with her baby except Ladelle’s mother or her sister. But if it came down to her staying home until her child was in school, then so be it.