On the Line by Donna Hill Page A

had every man’s head in the place turning. She seductively worked the room and I could feel her lustful eyes on me.
    Raven and I connected and things were good. I had my cake and ate it, too. It was early June when I got the call that Jessica had missed her period and was pregnant. She promised that she would not keep the baby. She knew I didn’t want children and neither did she and she wasn’t trying to trap me. I felt relieved. For the most part we always had used protection and other times I had not pulled out in time, but had been lucky, up till now.
    I remember one morning, about a week later, Jessica called to inform me she had talked with her sister and decided to keep the child. Of course, I was furious. I did not want another child, but my thoughts were not her concern. She asked me when I was moving in. I told her she could not be serious. We were just having a fling. I told her I would take care of my responsibility, but there would be no us.
    I fell into a selfish depression, never taking her feelings or situation into consideration. I guess that was the day she decided that she would be the closest thing to hell in my life and that’s exactly what she was. I never understood, until now, why she hated me, but I thought she understood the rules of our relationship. We had discussed it. But women never understand once emotions and feelings are in the way. I was too foolish to understand it, either.
    It was hard as hell working with her at the post office. She soon leaked that I was the father of her unborn child once she started showing, but this did not stop women from wanting to be with me. It’s funny now, to think that other women knew I had a woman at the job pregnant and they looked past that and still wanted to give me some play.
    Jessica had our child and I was there. She put me through pure hell most of the time. At birth, my son was named Vance Legend Jr. Two weeks later, one of Jessica’s fat-ass, no-good, know-I-didn’t-like-her, trifling friends came up to me at work.
    She placed her large hands on her plump waist and tilted her head arrogantly with disdain. “So, how’s Jessica and little Howard doing?”
    I looked at her, puzzled. “Who?”
    She placed her fat fingers to her lips with a look of surprise. “Ohhh, I guess Jessica didn’t tell you that she changed Vance Jr.’s name to Howard. Well, I suppose the cat’s out the bag now, huh?” she said as she smacked her contemptuous thick lips, rolled her thick neck and waddled off.
    I stood there as my blood boiled. I went to the phone and called Jessica’s home phone, but she did not answer. I knew she was home on maternity leave and it was too soon for her to be hitting the streets. I took off sick and jumped into my car and sped to her house. I beat on her door, but she knew not to answer. I was so mad and had so much hate in my heart that I’m not sure what I would have done to her.
    I calmed myself and left her house with a newfound hatred for her. I later thanked God for not letting her open the door, because I’m sure I would be in jail right now. I had never even had the thought of hitting a woman, but only God knows what I would have done if she had answered the door that night. I’m so glad she didn’t. I’m sure that God intervened. I went home to my apartment that night and cried.
    When Jessica did come back to work, she taunted me, telling me and her friends that I was working for her and I had better keep working overtime in order to support the new car she bought and the hefty child support she kept taking me to court for.
    Every time I got a raise, she took me to court to increase my payments. She cursed me every time I went to get my son, but I would not retaliate. I took it. She tried to have me jailed years later for whipping my son because of cursing. She even went so far as trying to get me fired from my job with the same claims.
    Jessica has