Changing Seasons

Seventeen

****

Krist was enjoying life at the time, not a single care in the world. He had a fine ass girlfriend, wasn't worrying about school or finding a job, he just spent all his time doing as he pleased. When Nina would be working, he would go next door to Michael's and get high. Jeordie had recently gotten a car and license so he would come up with Cami to chill as well. Atira had become an afterthought to him.

Nina had introduced Krist to her family almost immediately, she was excited for them to meet him and they'd welcomed him with open arms. That made him feel good. Her parents, Esteban and Gladys, were first generation immigrants from Mexico. Together they had four children, Marisol, the oldest, followed by Fernando, Karla (yes, that Karla) and Nina. Fernando and Karla were generally not home when Krist visited. At that time, Karla had two kids, Junior and Sofia, who were always home.

"My sister is an awful mom," Nina admitted to Krist when he'd asked why her kids were there but she never was, "Fabian ruined her life."

Nina had described Fabian as a drug addicted gang member who got her sister hooked on drugs. He'd met her through Fernando when she was barely fifteen and hadn't been the same since. Marisol had argued that Karla had been on a downward spiral for a good year before she'd met him, not that it made much of a difference.

He met Fernando before he met Karla. The first time he had been so fucking gacked out of his mind that he didn't realize Krist was even in the room. He was hyper focused on piecing together a bike in their living room, their parents did not approve but were too afraid of him to say anything. The second time he'd seen him had been in passing, he'd given Krist a nod and a "sup" before getting into a burgundy Monte Carlo.

"My mom prays for him and Karla every night," Nina had told him, "They've broken her heart."

Krist had been with Nina for over three months when he met Karla. He'd slept over, something her parents did not necessarily condone or like but didn't stop. Nina had asked him to grab her a glass of water, she was feeling sick that night. Karla and her homegirl were in the kitchen together. Both of them were fine as fuck. He didn't want to stare but goddamn.

"Ooh, are you Nina's little boyfriend?" Karla had taunted, oozing sexual energy. The two girls exchanged glances, smirking.

"Yeah," he replied, filling a glass of water and hurrying back to his girlfriend. He'd never really been intimidated by females but Karla had managed. He knew he was good looking and was used to being swooned over, Karla made him feel inexperienced and unsure of himself. As much as he cared for Nina, he found himself preoccupied with thoughts of Karla every time he encountered her. He would even fantasize about her when he had sex with Nina.

He and Nina were constantly fucking two, three, four times a day. He couldn't get enough of it. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that Nina's recent illness was actually morning sickness. Nina was pregnant and it was his.

Based on the timing, she had to have gotten pregnant within the first few weeks of them dating. Nina was cautiously excited to be a mother, she had doted on Karla's kids and had told Krist several times that she wanted one of her own. Krist felt sick over the whole thing. He had been reckless and now they were going to be bringing a baby into the world.

He tried to match her enthusiasm for the pregnancy, going to her appointments with her and her mother, looking at baby items but he just couldn't find himself feeling the way she did. He hadn't even told anyone other than Michael, Jeordie and Cami about the baby.

"Krist, you need to stop fucking around and be there for her," Cami had told him bluntly, "Stop worrying about yourself and having fun, you're in this with her." She was right but Krist was selfish. As her pregnancy progressed, he found himself spending more time partying with Michael and his girlfriend, Athena, while she worked extra hours to prepare for their baby.

Nina was almost five months pregnant when Krist ran into Fernando at Michael's trailer. He'd heard that Fernando could be violent and was a bit of a loose cannon, he was concerned her brother would trip on him for getting high while she was pregnant. Fernando was pretty chill (for a tweaker), "What up, your Nina's dude huh?" Krist nodded, "Shit I didn't know you got down like that," he pointed the glass pipe in front of him.

"Hell yeah," Krist told him.

Michael looked confused, "Your girlfriend is his sister?"

"Yeah," Krist told him.

"How'd I not know that?" Michael was weighing out a few bags for Fernando, one for personal use and the rest to sell.

"I ain't really talk about her," Fernando said, "No need to." He turned his head in Krist's direction, as Michael handed him the small bags, "So you and my sister got a baby on the way?"

"Yup," Krist replied apprehensively.

"Shit, I know that feel, I got one myself and another on the way," Fernando carefully loaded the shards into a brand new pipe, "I didn't know what I was getting myself into with the first kid and this new one..fuck, man, I dunno." He flicked his lighter beneath the bowl, cracking that shit back until it liquified. He blew down the stem and let it crystallize in the bowl. He didn't have to complete what he was saying, Krist understood the sentiment of what he meant.

After that day, Fernando appointed Krist as his sidekick, causing a rift between him and Nina.

"So you've been running around getting high with my brother now?" Nina wept, wiping the tears from cheeks, eyeliner smeared.

"Dude, you're fucking tripping," Krist snapped at her.

"Don't lie to me, you're high now! We have our anatomy scan tomorrow, you can't go like that."

"I told you I'm not even high, chill the fuck out," he raised his voice.

"You know what, Krist? Go. I don't want you there anyway," she sobbed.

So he left.

Nina didn't speak with him until the afternoon, several hours after the anatomy scan. She sent him a text that said "They're admitting me to L&D, please be here soon."

Still high, he knew it wasn't a good sign and took his dad's spare car to head to the hospital, stopping at the gas station.

And that's when Karla needed a ride.

He cheated on his girlfriend with her sister while she was being induced to deliver their dead baby.

****

By the time Krist arrived at the hospital, Nina had given birth. She was sitting in the hospital bed, cradling a small bundle with her mother and Marisol on each side. The tension was thick in the air, the women knew he was high and that he hadn't been there for Nina because of it. He hadn't just failed her, he had completely disrespected her in the least low ways.

Krist Esteban Hernandez-Samson had been born sleeping at twenty weeks gestation. He was 9.58 ounces with perfect facial features and all his fingers and toes. He was perfect. They never had a clear answer as to why he passed, just that his heart had stopped beating a few days before the ultrasound. He'd been cremated, Nina had kept his urn. It was only right.

He wallowed in his grief, ignoring that Nina was struggling with her physical and emotional health. He lost himself deeper into drugs, deep into self destruction. He continued sleeping with Karla every chance he got. He was hooked.