PRETTY BRIGHT (12 page)

Bright was so caught up in the moment, that she began speaking without thinking. “Ma, you gone be a grandmother too,” she said before she could catch herself. The once loud and happy table immediately fell into complete silence. Larry stood frozen where he stood. He and Bright had agreed they would tell her privately.
What was she thinking?
He thought.

“You're what!?” her mother said, slamming her fork in her plate.”
Bright just stared at her mother, speechless. “I'm-hummm, I'm, I'm pregnant, Ma,” Bright stuttered.
Rosette’s eyes filled with tears. “I knew the day would come that my failure in parenthood would show in you, I just didn't know when,” she said with her arms folded across her chest, rocking and nodding her head. “I should of been there for you more, Queen Bee, this is all my fault,” she cried. “I took ya youth straight from under your feet.” Rosette was filled with guilt.
“Oh, Rose, don't say that, girl, you are a wonderful mother,” her friend of many years, Gale, said as she gave her a comforting pat on the back.
“No I'm not, Gale! I put my work over my kids, and Bright damn near had to raise herself and her sisters and brothers,” Rosette said, wiping her tears away.
“Hey, you think you a bad mother because you work, Rose?” Gale asked with a look of disbelief on her face. “And because you don't mind working damn hard to take care of your children? To keep a roof over their heads and to keep food on the table. Look at me,” Gale said, turning her friend’s face to hers. “You give your last to your children, you provide for them the best you can by yourself, and you’re always there for them!” Getting misty eyed and emotional Gale continued. “Bright did this because she's growing up, Rose. We did the same thing, remember?” she was hoping to bring her friend back down to reality. “And I know I had me a good Mama...God rest her soul!” she remembered telling her mother that she was pregnant at the tender age of sixteen. “So we not gone go there with the blame game, Rose, you only did what any other mother would have done: work hard to take care of her children. And I say you did a damn good job at that!”
She wiped Rosette's tears, then gave her a long, tight hug. After the two friends shared a hug, Bright knelt down beside her mother.
“Mom, you've always done the best that you could do with us, so please don't blame yourself, listen to Gale,” Bright said nodding her head. “I got pregnant because I wanted too, me and Larry both wanted this baby,” she cried.
Larry knelt down next to Bright and chimed in, “I'm gonna always be there for, Bright and our baby, Moms,” he said, giving her a sincere look. “And that’s on my life,” he promised.
“Well, I guess, I’ma be a Grandma,” Rosette said, forcing a smile on her face as she hugged her daughter. “And Larry, I’ma hold you to your word too,” she assured, making direct eye contact with him.
“I'm a man of my word, Moms,” then he joined in on the hug and kissed both Bright and her mother on the forehead. “When I get drafted to the NBA your daughter and grandbaby are gonna be set for the rest of their lives...just watch.”

Part Nine
A

fter, Larry dropped Bright off at home, he secretly headed out to look for a part time job so that he could contribute and start buying the baby things.

Bright didn't want Larry to work; she wanted him to keep his head in the books and work hard toward his career in basketball. Bright told him that she could afford to take care of them until he was drafted to the NBA. She had lied and told him that she received a healthy monthly lump sum from her father's estate. Before, he didn't mind her treating and splurging on him and keeping money in his pockets, but now that she was carrying his baby, he knew that it was time to step up to the plate and take care of his responsibilities like a man should. But because he knew Bright would fuss, complain, and stress about him seeking employment, he decided that it would be in his best interest to keep it a secret from her.

Larry had been all over the city looking for well-paying work, but with no real work experience, the only opportunity he had was a job at fast food restaurant. So when the manager at McDonald's hired him on the spot, Larry took the job and ran with it. The job was thirty minutes away in the valley, so he was confident that Bright wouldn't find out. And he planned on saving every last dollar that he made for Bright and their unborn child. Larry knew that with school, basketball, and work that he would have less time to spend with Bright and that she would complain, but he knew that his hard work and efforts would pay off in the long run, and that he was doing the right thing.

**********

After spending Terrence money on her boyfriend and their baby, Bright and Treasure decided to have lunch at Subway in the Lakewood mall. Treasure had met a new boss baller named Rafael (a.k.a. Monster), that kept her pockets fat, hoping he would get her in bed soon. He gave her money every time she mentioned she wanted or needed something.

“What you gone tell Ice about you being pregnant,

Bright?” Treasure asked curiously.
“That it's his baby, what you thought?” Bright said,
swallowing a huge chunk of her tuna sub. “Can't just be
giving up money,” Bright said, pulling a bankroll out of
her bra.
“You said y'all used protection all the time, though,
Bright,” Treasure said, confused. “So how you gone pull
that off?” she wanted to know.
“I ain't but four weeks now, so when I see him I'ma
let him hit raw dog and then four weeks later, I'll tell him
I’m pregnant. That simple,” Bright said, feeling good that
she had come up with a master plan.
Treasure nodded her head. “I hope this brilliant idea
work out for you, girl,” Treasure said in between sips of
her Diet Coke.
“It will. I’ll almost be eighteen by the time I have the
baby, and me and Larry plan on getting married and
moving in together on my birthday. So I'm not trippin’,
I'ma dump Terrence, tell him the baby is not his, then get on,” Bright summed up. She had been going over the
plans all night.
“You better hope and pray that fool don't kill you,
Bright,” Treasure said with a serious look upon her face. “He gone have to find me to try to kill me,” Bright
laughed.
“Alright, it’s your life,” Treasure shrugged.
“I personally think you got yaself a good dude in Larry
and that you should just stop fucking with Ice, now,” she
said, giving Bright direct eye contact. Ice had a
reputation for being crazy, and she didn't want Bright to
get hurt or chance losing Larry.
Bright stood to dump her tray. “Trust me, Treasure, I
gots this,” she said confidently. After they caught the bus
back to the Norfside of Long Beach, Treasure and Bright
went their separate ways.

**********

“Hey baby, how are feeling,” Bright asked Terrence sympathetically once she answered her phone.
“Where you at?” he asked her.
“Just walked in the house from shopping.” She put

her bags on her bed, then took a seat to rest her feet. “You sound a little better baby, does that mean today has been a better day for you?” she asked again.

“I wanna fuck, can I come pick you up?” he asked.

Bright sighed with an attitude. “Terrence, why are you coming at me like that, and why the hell are you avoiding my question?”

“Look, I'm alright, Bright.” He paused. “I wanna see you and I wanna fuck, now can I come pick you up?” he asked, getting straight to the point. He was heartbroken and messed up in the head over the passing of his wife, and he just didn't want to talk about it; he wanted to fuck. Bright was ready to snap, but reminded herself that he had just lost his wife, so she rolled with the flow. “Pick me up down the street from my house in about an hour, daddy.”

“I'll be there in an hour,” Terrence replied, then hung up.
Quickly, Bright hopped in the shower and threw on a pair of booty shorts and an “I Love Hot Guys” fitted T-shirt. She fixed her side pony tail, threw on her sandals, and then left out the door. It was her mother’s off day, so she didn't have the responsibility of her siblings that day.
Terrence pulled up in his truck, looking physically and emotionally distressed, and Bright could tell from his weight loss that he hadn't been eating. She wasn't gonna make him feel bad about it, but she was definitely gonna get him back together, starting with washing and braiding his hair, then she planned on fucking the life back into him. And with Larry's tight schedule, she knew she'd have the time to do so.
“Hey, Daddy,” Bright climbed in and said in a comforting tone, then she reached over and hugged him real tight and planted soft kisses all over his face.
Terrence forced a smile. “We gone go back to my place,” he said, pulling off her street, bumping his music. Bright nodded her head in agreement and tried reaching for his hand, but he pulled it away.
Terrence’s mood was so dark that he couldn't see the light. He tried breaking out of it by reminding himself of Tameka's last words to him: “I'm not afraid to go, I'm hurting here and I'll be in a much better place,” but nothing helped. He knew she had to go, but he just wasn't expecting her to go before he came back with her ice cream.
On the ride to his house, Bright tried her very best to comfort and cheer Terrence up, but he kept drowning her out with his music, which caused her to fall asleep. When they arrived at his house, he awoke her by squeezing on her pussy.
Inside Terrence's four bedroom luxury suburban home, Bright thought,
Wow this would be my life if I didn't have, Larry.
His house was decked out modernly and he had all the newest house appliances and electronics, his all-white living room suit looked as if it was hardly ever sat on. Terrence sat on the couch and flipped the television on, then began to roll up a blunt. “Want me to roll it for you?” Bright asked, wanting him to be able to relax and clear his head.
“Bright, I'm good, don't start treating a nigga like no baby and shit,” he said, looking in her direction. “That’s the last thing I need right now, just chill out,” he said, then got back to rolling the blunt.
“Say no more,” Bright said, backing off with her hands in the air. “Now, where's your bathroom? I'ma run you a good bubble bath.” She paused, looking at him. “Can I at least wash you up and give you a massage, Daddy?” she smiled seductively.
“That’s more like it! Go upstairs, down the hall and to the right. I'll be up there in a minute.” He hoped getting some pussy and head would relieve a little of his stress.
“Bring the blunt up too!” Bright yelled down to him.
After rolling the blunt, Terrence went upstairs and climbed
inside the hot bubble bath that Bright had drawn up for him, then they shared a blunt. Bright gave Terrence a good bath. She washed him up, massaged his shoulders, and even climbed inside for foreplay. She rubbed her fingers through his hair and passionately kissed him like she never did before while she straddled him. Once they got out, she dried him off from head to toe, then landed on her knees where she used her mouth to suck a nut out of him.
“Oh shit, Bright!” he moaned. “That shit feel so good,” he said, holding the back of her head. Bright worked him, causing him to explode in her mouth. “Swallow it,” he looked down and told her. As instructed, Bright swallowed it then licked her top lip, hungry for more. Then he led her to one of his guest rooms. In bed, Terrence climbed on top of Bright without using protection, just as she hoped he would. Then he penetrated her hard and fast, making the headboard slam up against the wall with each pump. “This shit feel so good, Tameka, make slow soft love to me, Teddy Mama, just one mo time” he moaned with his eyes closed.
Instantly, Bright was turned on hearing Terrence call her another woman's name, so she grinded her magic on him soft and slow, gripping him as if her mouth was on him. Nice and tight. “Oh, Tameka!” he said, burying his head in the pillow with Bright’s legs held high over his shoulders. Bright kept at this rate until he begged her to go faster, and seconds later he came inside of her. She felt bad for letting him come on top of her baby’s head, but it was all a part of her plan.
After a few more, rounds Terrence told Bright to cook him something to eat. She fried up a batch of chicken strips, made a couple of loaded baked potatoes, and boiled some corn on the cob. When he finished eating, he gave her props on her cooking skills, hit it once more, then took her back home. Before she climbed out of his truck, he passed her a roll of money.
Terrence liked spoiling his women; it made him feel good, and kept them loyal to him. At least, that's what he thought he was doing with Bright. “Buy yourself something nice,” he told her, feeling better than he was before he picked her up.
Bright smiled, “You know I will.” Then she closed the door and made tracks in the direction of her house.
Stepping out of the courtyard, Cordell spotted Bright getting out of Big Ice from the east side’s Escalade. He wondered,
what is Bright doing with Ice?
Then he hit the corner to catch up with his partners.

************

“Hurry up, Bee,” Treasure said after their first day back to school. “Nicole gone meet us at Burger King then drop us off at home.” As usual, both girls were the best- dressed females on campus, representing the Norf’s baddest. Every guy in school had their eyes on them, and the females hated.

“Nicole, Nicole, Nicole,” Bright said in an irritated tone. “Didn't her ass graduate from high school, or can’t she find any friends in college?” Bright hissed.