The Dopeman's Wife: Part I of the Dopeman Trilogy by JaQuavis Coleman

peacefully in his bed. He looked at the box with the Tiffany’s necklace that he held in his hand, his peace offering for the way he acted the night before. The sight of Nautica grinding against another man sent him over the edge. He bent over, trying to wake her with soft kisses. “Wake up, Nautica,” he whispered in her ear. He placed the pink box next to her face. Once he saw Nautica open her eyes, he left the room.
    Nautica flinched out of fear, seeing Zion over her. She quickly sat up and picked up the box on the bed next to her and opened it. The diamond hoop earrings blinged as they sat propped up inside the box. Although Nautica loved the earrings, she hated who they came from. She heard Zion leave the house. This nigga thinks he can buy me something and I will forget the bullshit he pulled last night? He’s gotta be out of his mu’fuckin’ mind .
    A feeling of queasiness overcame Nautica, and she suddenly had the urge to vomit. She got off the bed and rushed to the bathroom. She reached the toilet just in time to release herself, vomiting profusely.
    After two minutes of hovering over the toilet and gagging, she fell to the floor, lightly sweating. She took a couple of deep breaths before she stood back to her feet. “What the fuck is wrong with me?” she whispered as she braced the sink with both hands.
    Tears streamed down Nautica’s face as she rode on the passenger side of Khia’s car. So many thoughts crossed her mind. She had just left the doctor’s office, where she found out she was three weeks pregnant. She placed her hand on her stomach, thinking about the life currently growing inside of her.
    Khia maneuvered the Lexus that Quaye had just purchased her. “Whose is it?”
    “What the fuck you mean? It’s Zion’s crazy ass. I can’t believe this shit, girl.” Nautica was going crazy with the thought of bringing a child into the world with Zion as a father. “I can’t keep this baby, Khia. I’m not even feeling Zion like that. Especially not enough to be having the nigga’s baby. I don’t know what to do.”
    Khia reached over and placed her hand on Nautica’s lap.
    “It’s going to be okay, girl. But I think you really need to think about this before you do something you regret later.” She glanced over at her cousin and saw the pain and disappointment in her face.
    Nautica weighed the good and the bad about having a baby, and no matter how she thought about it, the outcome was a negative one. She knew that Zion was leaving for Baltimore in two days, which would give her time alone to make one of the hardest decisions in her entire life—whether to keep the baby or not. In the meantime, she would keep the news of her pregnancy away from him.

BALTIMORE LOVE THING
    Chapter Six
    Two Days Later
     
    Nautica and Zion pulled into a suburban area just outside the city of Baltimore. Nautica was half-’sleep as she leaned far back in her seat with her feet propped up on the dash. She felt Zion’s hand rest on her inner thigh.
    “Wake up, baby. We here.” Zion pulled into a five-star hotel that sat next to an extravagant upper-class shopping mall.
    Nautica sat her seat up and began to rub her neck and yawned. She still felt the pain from the fight they’d had a couple of days earlier. Zion leaned over and gently kissed Nautica on the cheek. She slightly turned her cheek and smiled on the outside, but she was burning up on the inside. This nigga always trying to act like shit all good after he pull some foul shit. She crossed her arms and remained silent. Zion had begged her to take the trip with him. He thought he could amend things on his trip to Baltimore. It wasn’t working, though, because Nautica had said barely anything to him the whole eight-hour drive there.
    Nautica got out of the truck and followed Zion as he entered the revolving-door entrance to the hotel. The sound of Nautica’s stilettos clicked on the marble floor as they made their way to the front desk to check