I drop down onto a strawberry-shaped chair cushion on a bright-blue-painted kitchen chair, but then I startle when I hear the soup boiling.
“Fuck.” I jump up, turn the burner off, and let the soup cool since Stella said not to give her anything too hot or too cold.
I do the math in my head. If Violet is nine weeks pregnant, and we were together just over four weeks ago… Was she pregnant when she met me? Is the baby even mine? I rack my brain, remembering what she said when we were together. The time we fucked without a condom for just a minute before I came all over her tits. She’d said she was about to get her period. That means she shouldn’t have been fertile. I suppose she could have been pregnant then, but…
I pick up the phone.
“Stel, I need help.”
I explain the situation to her.
“So, does that mean the baby’s mine?”
“Oh, Shadow.” Stella sounds so happy, I am already braced for her to tell me it is mine. But I listen anyway. “Pregnancy math makes no sense, and yeah, it’s possible that if she was with someone in the week or two before she met you, then you could have a paternity question going on. But the math works for it to be yours, based on what you’ve told me. Did she tell you you’re the father?”
“She’s asleep,” I tell her. “We haven’t talked. She puked and passed out.”
Stella and I talk for a couple more minutes, and I swear her to total secrecy. I don’t need anybody knowing about this before I know what Violet’s intentions are. For all I know, she won’t want to carry it. Won’t want to keep it. I’m gonna keep my cool until she’s well enough to talk.
I make a second call. Phantom doesn’t pick up, and I don’t leave a voice message. He calls me back a minute later.
“Sorry, was on the shitter,” he says. “I don’t take my phone in the can.”
“Didn’t need to know that, but thanks for calling back.” I tell him I have a family emergency and I’ll be out of pocket for a couple days, won’t be coming home. “I may not have a chance to get much work done,” I say.
I know I don’t have to explain. Phantom runs a tight club. He knows who owes us money, when it’s due, and who’s assigned to collect.
“What do you want me to do? Give him more time, or send somebody in?”
“Your call,” I tell him. I like to let my prez make the decisions. “But we gave him an inch last month, and this month, he’s taking a mile.”
“Noted. Maybe I’ll go myself. If Malcolm thinks he was shitting himself today…”
I laugh. “Thanks, brother.”
“Take care of family. You need anything, you call.” He hangs up without saying goodbye, and I walk over to test the temperature of Violet’s soup. It’s still hot, so I fold back up the doctor’s notes and put the prenatal vitamins back in the bag where I found them.
If Violet feels strong enough to get up, maybe she won’t automatically assume I saw them. I’ll give her time to tell me the news herself. I need some time to process it too.
“Another sip.” I hold the spoon out to Violet.
She opens her mouth, and I feed her the broth. “I can’t believe how good this is. What did you put in this?”
“Salt,” I laugh. “Good old-fashioned salt. Although you got some fancy shit in that strawberry shaker. At first, I thought it was sugar because it’s pink.”
She swallows, closing her eyes and humming as the plain, tepid broth goes down. “Himalayan salt,” she explains. “So delicious.”
I lit a few candles in her bedroom and brought in clean towels so she’d have a supply in case the soup came back up, but she’s managed to tolerate it so far.
I hold out the mug of ginger tea. “I’m gonna order a sandwich,” I tell her. “I didn’t know how long I’d be here, so I didn’t shop for me. I’ll eat in the kitchen so the smell doesn’t bother you. Unless…” I lift my brows. “You think you’re up for solid food?”
She covers her mouth and shakes her head. “Not yet. Let’s not tempt fate. The fact that you got this much into me is a miracle. Today was a rough day.” She falls silent, and I sit beside her on the bed.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. Sounds like you’ve been in some kinda way for a while now.” I give her a little opening. A chance to spill what she knows about the baby, but she looks away.
“Shadow, this isn’t how I wanted things to go. As much as I wanted to see you again…”
I hold up a hand. “Well, I’m here now. Let’s make the most of the time we have.” I get up and collect the dishes. “I’ll bring water and more tea when I come back. You want anything? Some of that sports drink?”
