Below The Belt

XIX|Full Disclosure

"You see right through me/How do you do that shit?" Nicki Minaj, "Right Thru Me"

"Nigga you in my business?" Giselle began to mug him. She was staring him down, but he knew better icy stare or not. New York bitches could lie better than the best of them under pressure. Something was nagging at him. His spirit was telling him something different.

"I asked you a simple question," Dame said, not backing down. Teyana ear hustled from around the corner. She was trying to see what was going on because she heard voices being raised. Teyana was worried he would find out that the pregnancy tests were hers. She hadn't even took them and they just started making up. She didn't want to turn things into a powder keg once again. Teyana knew how much Dame wanted kids. She didn't want him to get his hopes up.

"I got some Plan B, water, and a few other things for myself," Giselle said firmly.

"Hmm, really?" Dame said, with his arms folded. Before any of their eyes could register, Dame had snatched the bag and the contents fell out. Teyana stumbled her way over to them. She was shook once again.

"Plan B huh?" he said, looking over the First Step pregnancy tests. Teyana was flustered, as all she and Giselle could do was look at each other.

"Dame," Teyana said. Dame finally looked at her. Teyana felt like he could see through her. He always knew her true feelings, real emotions, it was hard to lie to him. He shook his head, and looked at the two of them.

"These yours? Y'all gone keep lying to me or be straight?" He asked, letting the bag drop to the floor.

They both were silent looking back at Dame. Dame had his arms crossed, waiting for an explanation. Teyana looked at the ground, then back up at Dame. She took a deep breath and finally open her mouth to speak.

"Before you even fix your mouth to tell me shit, tell me this, you still throwing up?" he asked. Teyana was blindsided. Giselle's mouth dropped wide open. They were all floored. It had went silent.

"I--I threw up this morning," Teyana stumbled to get her words together.

"You wasn't gonna tell me this shit?" Dame said, staring a hole into her head.

"Dame, I didn't think I was fuckin pregnant okay!" Teyana shouted, finally a tear came down her cheek.

"D, step off a bit...I pressed her this morning," Giselle stepped in.

"Okay," he put his hands up, "I'm gonna ease up, but she is gonna go in there and start taking these tests." He began picking the tests up and putting them in the bag. He handed Teyana the bag. Teyana said nothing and went to the bathroom closing the door behind her. She was worried about the results. There was a big chance. She wasn't on birth control and they stopped using condoms years ago. They had always been okay before, they had pulled out most of the time. Lately they had been slipping, the passion, the feeling, everything had threw them off.

She laid the box on the ground and sat on the toilet. She opened the first box and began reading the directions. "So your life can be made or fucked all in a matter of minutes," she muttered to herself. Teyana peed on the stick in hopes of a negative sign. She closed her eyes and waited. She heard the bathroom door open, and her eyes opened abruptly.

"Yo, chill out," Dame said, "it's just me, how long?" he asked.

"Five minutes," she said, holding the test up. Dame pulled out his phone and put on his timer. He leaned against the sink. He was making her even more anxious, but she didn't want to say anything. Teyana tried to close her eyes and find peace once again. Dame tapped his foot impatiently as they waited for the results that could change their lives.

Teyana began to take deep breaths in and out. She hadn't prayed or meditated in a long time, and this was as good as anytime. She was slowly, but surely finding peace because Dame was determined to keep her irritated and as anxious as he clearly was. She still felt like she wasn't ready to have a baby. Dame was the deciding factor because of how badly he wanted kids. Teyana was sure either way things would be okay eventually. She wasn't sure what kind of mother she'd be.

Her mother died when she was young, but she never forgot her. Her mother had died from health complications brought on by bad eating and heavy partying. Tiyone was a high functioning alcoholic to the very end. Tiyone was everyone's favorite party girl. Being a single mom didn't slow her down one bit. Tiyone and Teyana were twins. They would call her "the girl who stole her mother's face" because of how uncanny the resemblance was. Tiyone was a high yellow woman, average height of 5'7 and stacked with a curvy body that didn't end when she gave birth to Teyana. Teyana and Tiyone were close, but Tiyone was still not ready to be a mom. When her health started failing she had admitted it to Teyana and that was her dying regret.

Teyana visited her mom's grave only on mother's day and her mother's birthday to avoid the pain. Dame's mom had become hers and she loved her like she was her own. Dame's mom was a sweetheart even though she still had issues from her past associated with her health.

"What does the stick say?" Dame asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"Uh..." Teyana lifted up the stick. Her heart jumped, "Stick one says I'm with child." They look at each other and Teyana handed Dame the stick. He looked it over closely as if he was examining some dinosaur fossils. He squinted his eyes, "This can't be real. Take another one."

Teyana grabbed another one out of the bag and opened it. She quickly peed on it once more and Dame started the timer over. They were in for a long ride. Teyana placed the stick on the edge of the tub and waited once more.

"Is everything okay in there?" Giselle asked from outside the door.

"Yes," Dame answered, "We'll be out soon." Dame was still holding test number one. Teyana could see the concern and stress written all over his face. One hand was feeling his fade, while the other clutched the pregnancy test. She wanted to console him, one of them needed to be reassuring, but she was feeling the same way.

Teyana thought they had time before the babies started to come. There was still a great deal of things they wanted to do. She wasn't sure what having a baby was going to entail because none of her girls were mothers. Only one of Dame's people, Tee Money, had a kid and she spent little time around his son.

"Time," Dame said, taking the other pregnancy test out of her hand. He shook his head, "Another positive." Teyana pulled the last one out and they began the cycle all over again. The anxiety of the five minutes, internal conflict, doubt, and confusion. The two positives was just another thing to the list. They handled one situation just to hop into another one. This lifestyle was something that didn't seem fair, but life wasn't fair. Fame and money came with the invasion of privacy. Since Dame became famous their lives had been on the fast track and now it might have to slow down a bit, she wasn't sure how she was gonna handle that.

"That's it...you're pregnant."