fifteenth birthday, we went and got tattoos. I got “Niq” tatted across my thigh, and Nina got a trail of cookies tumbling down her torso to what our mama’s called our cookie jar. That summer was awesome all the way up until the day after we got the tattoos, when Nina found out that she was pregnant and threw up all over my mother at their (my mom shared the same birth date) birthday party.
Of course, Aunt Rayna flipped. She tried to keep Nina away from Ricque. Ricque was only going to be in San Diego for a few months, which was why Nina was so skeptical about falling for that boy when she first met him. He lived a very hectic life and endured a lot that Nina had no idea about. She’d lived a sheltered life compared to his. His own mother had a hit out on him after his testimony of her killing his father landed her years in prison. Nina watched that boy leave her, on his way back to stay with his foster parents in New York, knowing that she was pregnant with his baby. Despite the fact that Ricque’s aunt asked to keep Nina’s baby once the baby was born, Aunt Rayna made Nina have an abortion. I’ll never forget that bus ride home from the abortion clinic. Nina cried until she went numb. And I cried with her, telling her about the abortion that I had the year before. The saddest part about that day was that Nina’s abortion was done on the same day that my baby would have turned one. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any worse for the both of us, it did.
Nina’s abortion turned out to be incomplete, meaning the dumb-ass doctors didn’t see the other fetus inside of Nina. Nina was pregnant with twins. Of course, Aunt Rayna tried to force her daughter into having another abortion, but Nina refused, her soul already tormented by the first abortion she barely made it through. So, being the cold bitch Aunt Rayna was, she told Nina that, as soon as that baby was born, she would have to give the baby up. And worse of all, she’d be giving birth to her baby in London, England, half-way around the world. And the both of us were devastated. I had spent the first fifteen years of my life with Nina. She was the only person in my life who gave me hope. She was my crutch, and I was hers. We were complete opposites, but it worked for us. There was no shade between us. There was never any hate. There was only love. And I didn’t want to live without that girl, and vice versa.
Nina tested out of tenth grade before even moving to England. Her ass was going to the eleventh grade at the age of fifteen. Her momma tried to make it so we never talked to one another, but we kept in touch. My boo called me just about everyday, in pain. Not only from her pregnancy complications but from missing me and Ricque. She was going crazy with guilt. She had no idea how she as going to be able to give up her daughter, the twin that was left after the incomplete abortion.
Life in San Diego was no better. Mama was going through an array of emotions when her sister moved to London. Mama had lost her baby and her so-called fiancé, too. I will never forget that cold January night—the 25 th to be exact, that Mama came home with a baby. I was sitting at the dinner table, doing my homework, when I looked up to see Mama coming in the house with an infant car seat.
I stood from the table, looking down at my watch. “Hey, Mama.” I hadn’t seen my mama in about a week. She was supposed to be going to visit one of her sisters who lived in Hawaii. It was 11:30 at night, and according to her flight itinerary, her flight had landed at 5:00. “How was your trip to Hawaii?” I asked her as she sat the car seat on the floor.
Mama was paying me no attention. She uncovered the blanket from the car seat. Mama cooed down at the baby, removing her Prada jacket, tossing it over on the coat tree.
I sighed, walking over to my mother as she bent over to unbuckle the baby from the car seat. “Mama, whose baby is this? Since when do you baby-sit? When was
Of course, Aunt Rayna flipped. She tried to keep Nina away from Ricque. Ricque was only going to be in San Diego for a few months, which was why Nina was so skeptical about falling for that boy when she first met him. He lived a very hectic life and endured a lot that Nina had no idea about. She’d lived a sheltered life compared to his. His own mother had a hit out on him after his testimony of her killing his father landed her years in prison. Nina watched that boy leave her, on his way back to stay with his foster parents in New York, knowing that she was pregnant with his baby. Despite the fact that Ricque’s aunt asked to keep Nina’s baby once the baby was born, Aunt Rayna made Nina have an abortion. I’ll never forget that bus ride home from the abortion clinic. Nina cried until she went numb. And I cried with her, telling her about the abortion that I had the year before. The saddest part about that day was that Nina’s abortion was done on the same day that my baby would have turned one. Just when I thought life couldn’t get any worse for the both of us, it did.
Nina’s abortion turned out to be incomplete, meaning the dumb-ass doctors didn’t see the other fetus inside of Nina. Nina was pregnant with twins. Of course, Aunt Rayna tried to force her daughter into having another abortion, but Nina refused, her soul already tormented by the first abortion she barely made it through. So, being the cold bitch Aunt Rayna was, she told Nina that, as soon as that baby was born, she would have to give the baby up. And worse of all, she’d be giving birth to her baby in London, England, half-way around the world. And the both of us were devastated. I had spent the first fifteen years of my life with Nina. She was the only person in my life who gave me hope. She was my crutch, and I was hers. We were complete opposites, but it worked for us. There was no shade between us. There was never any hate. There was only love. And I didn’t want to live without that girl, and vice versa.
Nina tested out of tenth grade before even moving to England. Her ass was going to the eleventh grade at the age of fifteen. Her momma tried to make it so we never talked to one another, but we kept in touch. My boo called me just about everyday, in pain. Not only from her pregnancy complications but from missing me and Ricque. She was going crazy with guilt. She had no idea how she as going to be able to give up her daughter, the twin that was left after the incomplete abortion.
Life in San Diego was no better. Mama was going through an array of emotions when her sister moved to London. Mama had lost her baby and her so-called fiancé, too. I will never forget that cold January night—the 25 th to be exact, that Mama came home with a baby. I was sitting at the dinner table, doing my homework, when I looked up to see Mama coming in the house with an infant car seat.
I stood from the table, looking down at my watch. “Hey, Mama.” I hadn’t seen my mama in about a week. She was supposed to be going to visit one of her sisters who lived in Hawaii. It was 11:30 at night, and according to her flight itinerary, her flight had landed at 5:00. “How was your trip to Hawaii?” I asked her as she sat the car seat on the floor.
Mama was paying me no attention. She uncovered the blanket from the car seat. Mama cooed down at the baby, removing her Prada jacket, tossing it over on the coat tree.
I sighed, walking over to my mother as she bent over to unbuckle the baby from the car seat. “Mama, whose baby is this? Since when do you baby-sit? When was
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