“Heyyyy!” Simi yelled as he was tossed into the alley like the drunken bum he was turning into. Stumbling to his feet he dusted his clothes off and headed toward his car.
Chapter 16
It was Saturday morning. Minx had decided to join the group this morning on their run. Since Glenda was no longer jogging, Minx figured she would be able to keep up at this rate. She’d even bought a new outfit and gotten her nails done for the occasion.
“You are insane,” Glenda said, admiring Minx’s expensive manicure while waiting for Glen and Tim to arrive.
“I’m going to see what’s got you smiling all big.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Tim Hannon,” Minx purred with her eyes closed.
“Minx, stop it,” Glenda gushed and giggled. Minx gawked at the response.
“Girl look at you,” she blurted and then patting Glenda’s tummy she leaned in close. “Do you hear your mama acting a fool over here?”
“Do you think I’m being foolish?” Glenda asked, sounding more than serious. “Do you think it’s just because I’m pregnant.”
“Do I think what is because you’re pregnant?” Minx asked.
“You and Glen . . . you guys miss so much,” Glenda chuckled, shaking her head and walking past Minx to gather her MP3 player and earphones.
“Miss what?” she asked.
“Let’s go. Tim had to work, he’s not coming,” Glen blurted, sticking his head in the door before noticing Minx. “And this is so not a beauty contest,” he then smarted off noticing her new haircut too.
“Thanks for the compliment, son,” Minx purred.
“Why do you call me that?” Glen asked. It was as if the question had burned a hole in his head.
“What?”
“You always call me son. Why do you do that? Why can’t you just call me Glen?” he growled. “That son business bothers me. I don’t have a mother and so, therefore . . . yes, it bothers me.”
Minx looked at Glenda who too was trying to find the root of Glen’s true frustration.
“Well Glen, I’m sorry I . . .”
“No, it’s me. My dad is getting divorced again. Damn, he just . . . damn it’s just very frustrating.”
“Oh Glen,” Glenda said, stepping toward him. Glen stepped back, avoiding her embrace.
“No, I don’t want to hug your . . .” he pointed at her belly. “But at least that guy is gonna have a mother.”
“You’re being foolish,” Minx fussed now. “You are just upset. You’ve always needed a mother and I feel bad about that, but you can’t take it out on Glenda’s baby.”
“How would you know how I feel? You don’t have kids; you don’t know.”
“I so know. I know exactly how you feel. I’ve known you your whole life. I know you very well,” Minx explained. “I . . . I know you,” she stammered as if she wanted to say more but suddenly couldn’t. Glenda noticed. “Your father is an idiot just like Simi. Neither of them would know a good thing if it crawled up in their drawers and bit them on their butts. Your father has had the blessing of having his son and yet he’s spent your whole life trying to pawn you off on one woman after the next instead of just raising you. Men never know when they have the best, easiest life laid right out there for them.”
“Life’s tough, but it’s tougher if you’re stupid,” Glenda mumbled her mantra, which seemed apropos at this juncture.
“I’m sorry Auntie,” Glen said, giving her a big hug and then to Minx’s surprise he pulled her into a tight embrace right after. Glenda noticed Minx hesitating before she patted his back affectionately.
Tim was speechless. He read the name over and over again. Simi Dixon. This was Glenda’s husband. He wasn’t dead but he was sure banged up pretty bad. He had been brought in the night before. He’d been walking while intoxicated and was hit by a car. He didn’t want to be a DUI so he decided to walk home from the bar where he was drowning his troubles . . . one being the loss of his wonderful wife. He was awake now and that was all he had said over and over again, making Tim sick to his stomach. He all but wanted to tell Simi to shut up, the way he kept calling Glenda his woman, his wife . . . as if she was a possession. Glenda was a flower, a beautiful petal who only needed love to bloom. He’d seen her change so much over the last few months. Changing from an uptight corporate boss to a sensitive woman, who giggled like a little girl at the sensations of her unborn child’s movement and melted under the touch of his strong hands massaging her back and shoulders and feet. Normally he never had any kind of sexual rise from a client but with Glenda he all but caught afire during their sessions. Immediately he had to turn her over to Stephanie, claiming one excuse or another for being unable to touch her. Glenda’s pregnancy had her glowing and beautiful, happy and full of life. He was falling in love with her and now the fantasy was going to end. Her husband was hurt. There was no way Glenda would not come to him. She was that kind of woman . . . good and faithful.
“Have you called his wife?” the doctor asked him. Tim was snapped back into the now.
“No, uh, I haven’t. I’ll get right on it,” he lied.
Glenda didn’t mean to overdo it. Maybe it was having Glen on her mind or maybe her crazy-ass brother or perhaps it was Minx and the way she started crying after Glen hugged her, canceling the trip to the track, maybe it was all that on her mind that caused her quick walking pace to turn into a jog this morning, but after one time around she was cramping heavily and bent over in pain.
“Come on Glenda, hang on to me,” Glen panicked.
“It hurts so bad Glen,” Glenda cried, easing down to the ground with Glen’s assistance.
“We were both really stupid today and I’m so sorry I didn’t stop you.”
“It’s not your fault, Glen. I’m grown and knew better,” she said between pants and groans. Pulling out his cell phone and dialing 911, Glen then called Minx and then his father. Glen hesitated for only a second before he next called Tim.
The ambulance came quickly, whisking her off to the closest Kaiser.
Reaching the ER, they were greeted by the triage team, one of which was Tim. This was turning into a devil of a day for him.
“What’s happened?” he asked Glen, whose face was pasty in color.
“We were jogging and . . . I didn’t think we were doing all that much, but she keeled over and . . .”
“Okay fine . . .” Tim said, quickly assessing the situation. “She’s twenty-seven and three!” he told the triage team. “AMA,” he added in case her youthful appearance hid the fact that she was, indeed, Advanced Maternal Age. Glenda cried out in pain.
“Get her up to L and D,” the doctor ordered, abbreviating the name for labor and delivery. “Thanks Tim,” he said patting him on the shoulder.
“I’m so sorry,” Glen said to Tim as they both stood out of the way, watching Glenda loaded into the gurney preparing to be wheeled up to the labor and delivery floor.
“She knew better,” answered Tim, sternly. Glen caught his expression of concern that showed beyond his harsh words.
“We all should have known better,” Glen said. “And that’s not what I’m sorry about.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’m sorry for getting all crazy when you fell for my aunt. She’s a beautiful woman and . . .”
“I . . . I didn’t fall for you aunt. I’m just working with her during her pregnancy. I . . .” Tim stammered and then looked over his shoulder at the triage team disappearing into the hospital.
“Please man, you should have seen your face when they took her out of the ambulance. If you don’t love her you need an Oscar.”
“No, you’re wrong.”
Just then Minx rushed up, her expression was wild and crazed. She dropped her purse and scrambled to pick up the contents and then as if deciding nothing was as important as getting to Glenda she cursed while abandoning the rolling lipsticks and other small items. Glen and Tim hurried to meet her. Tim ran after her
rolling items while Glen comforted her. She was nearly hysterical.
“The baby . . . is the baby okay?” Minx asked, nearly out of breath.
“I don’t know,” Glen answered. “We haven’t gone up.”
“We would be in the way. Trust me, the doctor knows what he’s doing and . . .” Tim attempted to explain.
“Oh paaalease,” Minx exclaimed, looking Tim up and down as if he was a stranger. “I’m going up there,” she insisted, struggling on her high heels to continue her hurried pace into the ER, twisting her narrow hips quickly while trying to rush in her heels. It was obvious she had dressed in a hurry and hadn’t planned out the outfit as well as she normally did.
“Simi’s here!” Tim called out in her wake. Minx stopped dead in her tracks, spinning on her heels. Her mouth hung open.
“Don’t lie to her like that,” Glen said to him. “Just let her go up.”
“I’m not lyin’. I forgot to tell everyone. Simi came in last night. He was all banged up. He got hit by a car last night.” Tim’s voice sounded sad for the first time.
“Oh my God,” Minx gasped.
The three of them suddenly realized that after all these months standing by Glenda, Simi’s presence at this hospital right now could now change everything.
Chapter 17
Simi couldn’t believe his eyes. It was Glenda lying there in the bed. A bed in the maternity ward!
The noises coming from the monitors were a little confusing too . . . all the sounds—the quick pace of the metronome.
“Glenda,” he called softly.
She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him. Glenda always smiled when she saw him. He didn’t deserve her and now, realizing she was pregnant, he knew he surely didn’t deserve this.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked in a quiet voice. She glanced over at the monitor. She could see her baby girl clearly now. Until today they had only guessed the sex of her child but it was clear today. She was a little over six months and in labor. Because she was high risk the clinic doctors had watched her closely. She ate right, exercised, and made sure she never missed an appointment and now after all this time developing a relationship with this unborn child for it to come to this moment—she wanted to cry. But there was no way she was going to show Simi any emotions. He didn’t deserve it.
“I didn’t want you to know,” Glenda told him flatly.
“But why? This baby is mine too,” he said, almost sounding like it was a question.
“Simi, we stopped sharing things when you took what was ours and gave it to Candy,” Glenda told him, her eyes narrowing to slits—more like darts from where he sat.
“Glenda, please, this is no time to talk about the past.”
“The past . . . since when is a couple of months ago the past? Simi, a nearly thirty-year marriage is a past . . . phsst.” She smacked her lips and turned her head away from him.
Simi grew immediately frustrated at her refusal to negotiate this situation. What was wrong with her? Never had he ever had to work this hard to get her to forgive him—for anything stupid he had done. But then again, had he ever hurt her this badly before? No.
“Glenda, I’m sorry for what I did.”
“Did? Oh so Candy is gone,” Glenda asked, turning quickly back to him, her eyes, staring, unnerving him. He turned away. “Look, I made a mistake. I thought something was going on with that woman that wasn’t and . . .”
Glenda burst into laughter. Simi sat up straight in the chair. He was hurting. His wounds ached. Thank goodness the driver of the car was parking and he was only hit at about five miles an hour. It was all the rolling off the car into the street that had him all bruised up—all the stumbling to regain his footing while drunk as a skunk is what had sprained his wrist and twisted his knee. “Don’t you give a damn about what happened to me last night? I was thinking about you when this happened.”
Glenda laughed even harder now. “Simi, if you were thinking of me you would have never left home.” The laughter helped but still her heart was sore. She wished he would just wheel himself back out the door that he had come in. If she wasn’t hooked up to so many monitors she would have done the honors.
“I understand that now. I realize a lot of things now. I’ve lost my job and . . .”
The smile left Glenda’s face and her laughter died away. She knew how much Simi’s job meant to him. More than her job meant to her . . . that was clear. She was planning to take her maternity leave as soon as she was released and she was thinking about not going back after her daughter was born. She was going to buy that house in Half Moon Bay, make jellies, and maybe live her dream of being a clothing designer . . . maybe even fall in love with a younger man.
“Glenda, did you hear me!” Simi snapped.
“No, I wasn’t listening. What did you say?” she asked.
“I said, I need to come back home. I need you to forgive me so that we can get all this behind us. We have a child to raise and . . .”
“What if I told you this baby wasn’t even yours, Simi?” Glenda teased the question. She didn’t really know why it came out, but now that it did she waited to see what he would answer.
“What the hell?” Simi yelped and then clutched his wrist that hung in the sling. “Whose is it, that young punk I’ve seen you with? I’ll kill him. I’ll . . .”
“You’ve been spyin’ on me?” Glenda asked. Shock was showing. “You’ve had the gall to spy on me and now you accuse me of an affair? You are the biggest dog I’ve ever had the unfortunate fate of owning.”
“Owning? Have you lost your mind! Girl I’ll . . .”
“You’ll what? What?” Glenda screamed. Suddenly, the monitors exploded with sound and within seconds the nurse came into the room.
“At least I was discreet!” Simi yelled.
“Mr. Dixon, we think you should leave,” the nurse told him, taking hold of the back of the wheelchair.
Glenda was speechless. Simi was truly insane.
“Glenda, you have to calm down,” her doctor said, quickly putting on his stethoscope.
“I need my doula,” Glenda insisted. “Please somebody call him!”
Chapter 18
“What?” Minx asked. She was shocked at what Glenda told her about Simi and how he had acted and what he had said to her. “He’s a fool. Between Simi and your brother . . .”
“Girl, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this mess with my brother and his wife.” Glenda began. “I know Glen is trying to pull you into it, but don’t go there.”
“I don’t want to talk about him,” Minx reneged, walking over to the monitor and touching it softly. “I always wanted a daughter,” she said. Glenda noticed her melancholia while looking at the baby, whose movements were jerky and sporadic.
“Why didn’t you have one?” Glenda asked. Minx turned to her.
“I’m not the mother type. You know that. I’m too selfish,” she admitted.
“No you’re not. Stop saying that.”
“No seriously, what kind of mother gives up her baby to some man,” Minx said.
“You did that?”
“Yes, Glenda, I did that. And I know how you feel about that kind of thing. I’ve heard you for years talking about Glen’s mother and how you felt about her.”
“I never really met her. I just said what everyone said . . . and I’m wrong for that,” Glenda admitted. She was young when all that happened and there was no way she was able to comprehend people making mistakes . . . acting human. But she understood it all now. Simi’s affair was a human act, one done out of disregard for anything except for the moment. But it was going to cost him—a lot. It was going to cost her even more. Glancing at the monitor, Glenda realized she had learned more in the last few months than she had in years.
“You’re just saying that because I just told you I gave up my baby
.”
“No, I’m saying it because I really am sorry for talking about that girl as if I truly knew her. I didn’t know her. I only knew my brother. I knew he was scared but took on the responsibility of Glen because my parents said he had to. I understand now why he got married so many times . . . he was scared of going it on his own. Scared and weak are too different things. And maybe that girl was scared. Hell, I know I’m pretty scared right now.”
Minx moved over to Glenda’s bedside. “I was scared, Glenda. I was scared because I was young . . . too young to accept responsibility for both mine and someone else’s mistake. He was older and had come from a good family and I felt my baby would stand a better chance if his family raised him. There were more of them than me.”
“I understand, I am so scared that if I had to give that baby right there to Simi, I would die. I mean I made myself sound like a whore just to get the thought out of his mind that he has any parts of my child. It’s amazing what you do when you’re scared.”
“You did what?” Minx laughed.
“I gave Simi the impression that I messed around on him and maybe the baby isn’t his.”
“Girl you are a mess . . . but I know the feeling. I allowed my baby’s daddy’s family to say whatever they wanted to say about me so that I could see him my way on my terms.”
“Wow Minx, I never knew that. I mean, we met so many years ago, I never thought that you had a son . . . and you see him.”
Minx smiled mysteriously. “Yeah, I see him just about every day.”
Chapter 19
“How are you feeling?” Tim asked, sitting by her bed. She had been dozing and didn’t realize he was there.
“Hi,” she mumbled. Her mouth was dry and pasty. The contractions had started up again and they had medicated her in order to stop them. The baby’s heartbeat was strong but Glenda’s pregnancy was not going well. “They are going to give me a cerclage tomorrow.” Tim nodded.