Andrea raises a brow. “Bump big fi five months, enuh.”
I smile. “You not the first to say that.”
“A true,” Mama agrees.
“Look like yuh due next week,” Mrs. Andrea adds, chuckling. I open my mouth to respond, but my phone starts ringing. Nickoi.
“Weh yuh deh?” he asks.
“At Mama,” I answer. “You?”
“Mi a come fi yuh.”
“Okay,” I say with a smile, hanging up.
***
“Yes, dem seh it big. Mi probably affi ask Doctor Jacobs wah she think,” I mumble to Mummy. I’m stretched out on the couch, a towel over my legs, my hand resting on my belly. It’s been about two hours since Nickoi dropped me off. He couldn’t stay, he had ‘work’ to finish but he made sure I wasn’t alone. So, Lizzy came. She’s in the kitchen now, humming while fixing something to eat.
“Well, everybody different,” Mommy says gently. “Mi nuh want you a worry yuhself ‘bout it.” I nod, eyes on the TV, but the worry already sits down inside mi like a weight.
“Yeah,” I whisper.
“Mi a go talk to yuh later, yuh hear? Kace a carry mi out,” she adds, sounding like a schoolgirl again. I smile, warmed by her joy.
“Awww. Enjoy! Tell Mr. Kace mi seh good night.” I say and she chuckles, already calling him.
“Kace… Zara seh good night.”
“Good night, pumpkin,” Kace replies over the speaker, voice full of warmth. When the call ends, I lean back into the couch,hand automatically caressing my belly. Lizzy calls out from the kitchen.
“You want nuttin else fi eat?”
I laugh. “Mi belly full enuh!”
She giggles. “Aight. If yuh need anything, just call me.”
Fifteen minutes pass. The movie wraps up. I’m scrolling for something else when the power cuts. Again? But this time… something feel off. I freeze. I don’t know what it is but my bones, my chest, even my baby feel it. My hand fly to my phone. Without thinking, I tap Nickoi’s name, my emergency contact. I don’t call yet. Just hold the phone, just in case. My breathing quickens.
Then…creak.
Footsteps. My heart lurch. My body stiffen. I whisper, “God… please.” I shift back slowly, eyes wide, hand tight on my belly. The house feels… heavy. Nickoi’s house is supposed to be safe.
So… how—wait, where’s Lizzy? Where’s Joe!?
I glance toward the archway and there, half-silhouetted by the moonlight seeping through the blinds… is someone. A figure. Standing still. Watching me. My throat dry. My voice barely come out. “…Who dat?” I ask, trembling.
The person steps forward. I grab the lamp behind me just in case. “Put it down, Zara,” the voice hisses. My stomach drop. Juaqína. Jesus. So she did turn off the light yesterday. My legs go weak. She’s been targeting me… my baby.
“Y-Yuh don’t have to do this,” I whisper. “I… I didn’t even know he was with you before…” I know I sound desperate but I’m trying to survive. My grip onnthe lamp tighter now.
“Mi seh, put it down,” she barks again. But mi nah let go. If mi go out tonight, mi a go out fighting. For my daughter. For me. For Nickoi.
“Mi nuh understand wah ‘bout you so,” she starts pacing now, her voice twisted, venomous, sounding like a villainstraight from a LMN movie. “Mi lie to him ‘bout aborting a child and yuh know what? Him still never come back. Him still deh wid you. Him banish mi from the gang because a you!” She stops. Stares at me like I’m her curse.
“You think you a go just tek ova, with baby and rich life and mansion… with my man?”Who raised this hoe? Nosah.
She takes a step forward. “Mi done. Mi done watch you win. So mi a go end it.” Another step. “Mi a go kill you…” she whispers, “…and mi a guh kill him.”
