“He’s coming, no worries. You know, don’t nobody in this hospital want problems with you, ‘cause then they're gonna have to see that mama of yours—shit got me scared just thinking about the hell she’d raise if she found out her bratty-ass daughter had to wait,” Amber said, side-eyeing me.
I caught that stray her ass threw. “Shut up,” I smirked.
Everything went quiet for a few—even the pain.
“What if he doesn’t make it, Ambs? What if all the promises he made were just him blowing smoke?” I asked, facing the opposite direction from my best friend. I didn’t want her to see the tears that slid down my face.
“Then we put his rich ass on child support, tarnish his name through the media, whoop his ass every chance we get, and raise that little girl to be better than all three of us put together,” she said confidently.
I was silent.
“Aye,” she said, causing me to turn towards her. She extended her fist. “To infinity and beyond, cowgirl?” she asked, lips pursed, waiting for my answer.
“I got a friend in you, bitch?” I responded.
“Don’t get any better than this,” she grinned, eyes wide.
Connecting my fist with hers, I let a few tears fall. “To infinity and beyond, space ranger.”
For a split second, I stared at her, really stared. My best friend. My rider. The same girl who threw a metal lunchbox at a Velcro sneaker–wearing bully trying to cut off my long braided ponytail in the sixth grade. Amber showed up for me like a damn superhero that day—and from that moment on, we’d been inseparable.
The love we shared was rare. Always pure. Never rooted in competition, only collectiveness. If one of us won, we both did. That was always the goal.
And in this moment—me on the verge of becoming a mother—I couldn’t imagine anyone else by my side, yelling and cussing people out, cracking jokes, or holding my hand tighter than Amber could. She was the friend I didn’t know I needed but always thanked God for. The godmother I knew would love my child like her own.
I couldn’t have asked for better.
“Alright, Dr. St. James,” Dr. Flores said, interrupting our moment. “Let’s get you comfortable.”
“I’ll be right outside,” Amber assured me.
I signed the required documents as Krista and Tiana prepared me for the procedure. Tiana held me tightly from the front, making sure I didn’t move as Flores inserted the needle into my lower back. A brief, electric-like sensation traveled through my body. The procedure was more uncomfortable than painful.
“Job well done, Dr. St. James. It’s easy street from here out,” Dr. Flores assured me as Krista and Megan made me as comfortable as possible in the bed.
The pain vanished, and I knew sleep was going to kidnap me soon.
Almost thirty minutes later, Amber came back into the room with a bag full of food. She pulled out a tray that contained fried catfish and French fries. It smelled divine.
“Here I am getting a procedure that, one wrong move, could cause paralysis—and your ass goes to the restaurant across the street to get food?” I asked.
“Bitch, hell yeah. I ain’t the one got knocked up, why I gotta be hungry while I wait for my niece to slide out your fast-ass vagina?”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You want to try Gage before you doze off?” she asked.
I nodded, not feeling confident enough for words. Unlocking my phone, I handed it to her.
“Please,” I asked, because she gave me the look silently asking if I was sure I wanted her to handle it.
She dialed, put the call on speakerphone, and by the third ring, I was sure this was a lost cause.
Then the ringing stopped. “Hello?” A rough, sleepy voice came through.
“Well, hello. If it isn’t Mr. Texture-Conscious himself. Why didn’t your ugly ass answer the phone the first couple of times we called you?” Amber dug in his ass as soon as he answered. I put Gage up on Amber’s personality a few months ago—told him that if she ever called him dumb, ugly, or anything that confuses you on whether she’s joking or being disrespectful, it’s all out of love. That girl has called me a Polly Pocket ass hoe so many times, I started to believe it. Mind you, I had no idea what that shit was.
All I could do was shake my head. Sleep was coming down on me fast. The epidural had really eased my pain, and my body wanted rest after all the trauma it had been going through.
