"What a beautiful day..." Tracey thought as she looked up at the baby blue sky filled with fluffy, white clouds. The sun was shining brightly but it wasn't really hot. There was just the right amount of breeze blowing making the temperature just right.
If only the happenings of the day matched the weather. Her morning had been everything but beautiful. She'd had court that morning for the domestic abuse charges she and Punkin had filed against Andre. After calling the police the day Tracey caught him at Punkin's house, he was picked up and taken to jail, but his mother got him out right away.
Andre was scheduled to be in court today, but he was a no show at the hearing. To make matters worse, so was Punkin. A warrant was issued for Andre's arrest and the hearing was rescheduled. Tracey left the Justice Center frustrated and pissed off. Finally, she had the strength to put Andre in jail, where he belonged, and the whole plan was falling apart. She knew that Dre was scared to death of going to prison, but she refused to let him get away with all the hurt he'd caused in her life.
Because the both of them skipped the hearing, Tracey's first thought was that Punkin and Andre were somewhere together. So once she left she called Punkin and asked where she was and why she skipped the hearing.
"I'm not ready to face Dre yet. I'm sorry, girl, but I just couldn't do it." Punkin explained. "What happened in court today?"
"Dre didn't show up so, nothing really. The judge just issued a warrant for him and gave us another court date. Where are you? Can we meet up?" Tracey asked Punkin.
"Ummm... Yeah. I'm at home right now. Where you wanna meet at?:It gotta be somewhere Dre don't go. I can't take a chance on seeing him somewhere."
"How about Cain Park? You know he don't mess around in the heights."
"Cool. I'll see you in a little bit."
So here Tracey was at the pond in Cain Park. She sat on a park bench and watched people feed the ducks as she waited for Punkin to arrive. There were a few huge ducks that started fighting over food. The squawking and commotion going on with the ducks reminded Tracey of her life with Andre. She shook her at the ducks then focused her attention back on the sky. She noticed a Monarch butterfly fluttering in the distance. She smiled at the sight. The black and gold insect was her favorite of all the butterflies.
Tracey looked around the park to see if Punkin was coming. She scanned the path winding through the park and didn't see anyone she recognized at first. As she continued to look she noticed a girl that looked like Punkin coming towards her so she stood up to get a better look.
Sure enough, there was Punkin walking towards Tracey. She was shocked to see that Punkin has a round belly poking out in front of her. Her nose had gotten a little bigger and spread widely across her face. "She's pregnant!" Tracey said to herself and from the size of her belly, Punkin looked to be about four months along.
When Punkin noticed Tracey standing there she waved at her. Tracey waved back.
"Hey. You look like you seen a ghost." Punkin said giggling.
"Yeah I do. A pregnant one! I thought you weren't pregnant. What happened?" Tracey reached out and rubbed Punkin's belly. It was real. Punkin wasn't lying this time.
"Girl, let's sit down so I can tell you."
They said down on the bench and got comfortable. Tracey couldn't help staring at Punkin with a bit of jealousy. Even though she was over Andre, the fact that he was having a baby with another woman made her a little upset. She quickly banished the thought from her mind and focused on what Punkin had to tell her. "So what's going on? Tell me why you told me that Andre made you lie about your pregnancy."
"Well, I didn't wanna say nothing because, frankly, you were the enemy at the time. Dre was real good at making me hate you. When he got mad at me he'd tell me that when my baby was born he was gonna get full custody and he was gonna marry you and y'all would raise the baby."
Tracey was shocked. "Really? And you believed that?"
"Don't act like that man didn't have you brainwashed, too." Punkin laughed. "Yeah, I believed anything he told me at the time."
"You're right. I was stuck on stupid when it came to him. But damn! I didn't know he was this crazy." Tracey said shaking her head. "They gotta hurry up and find his ass so he can do that time before he find another dummy to use and abuse."
Punkin's eyes got wide with horror. "That's right! You did say he ain't come to court today. Fuck! I almost forgot!"
Tracey put her hand on Punkin's shoulder. "Don't worry about his ass, girl. He won't come nowhere near you. He too scared to go to jail."
"Naw... He gon' try to come for me. I know it. He want this baby. I can feel it, he's not done with me. That's why he ain't go to court.... I gotta go, Tracey." Punkin stood up to leave.
Tracey stood up and grabbed her hand. "No! Please just wait a minute! We gotta stick together and put his ass in jail. That's the only way we can be safe, for real. Look, you can come stay with me. I jut moved and Dre don't know where I live."
Punkin snatched her hand away. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have a family member I can stay with." she lied. "I'll be okay. When's the next court date?'
"Next month on the 12th. You gon' be there, right?"
"Yep. I'ma make sure I put it on my calendar so I don't forget." Punkin reached out and grabbed Tracey in a big hug. "Thanks for being here. I'll call you and let you know where I'm staying."
Tracey hugged her back. "Okay. Make sure you do that. We can get this nigga, Punkin. Don't worry."
"I know..." Punkin said then turned and walked away.
Tracey sat back down on the park bench and buried her face in her hands. "Wow..." she muttered as she replayed the encounter she just had in her head. She knew that she'd have to to tell Sandra about this so that she could help her plan her next move.
She stood up from the bench and started walking towards her car. Her cellphone started to vibrate so she removed it from it's holder that was clipped to her belt and answered it.
"Hello."
"Tray, don't hang up! Please..." It was Andre.
No comments:
Post a Comment