She took a deep breath and then stared down at me. “Raven, the damage is done. You can tell me anything.”
“Well…the only person that I’ve ever had sex with is…Jah.”
“Jahrein? My son?” she asked as she pointed at herself.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“I mean, how? When?” She asked with the saddest look on her face.
“I had to get pregnant like the first time we did it, because they say that I was around six or seven months and that’s exactly how long I’ve been staying with y’all.”
“So, Jah took your virginity?”
“Yes.”
For a few seconds she placed her face in her palms and breathed loudly, as she shook her head. I could tell that she was holding back tears. “What the fuck was y’all thinking?! Do you know what Ray-Ray is going to do to y’all?” she ranted as she paced the floor. “Just hold up.” she halted, before leaving the room. My mind was racing as I thought about what was about to go down.
Minutes later she came back with Jahrein. I stared at him, trying to imagine what had to be going through his mind.
She took a deep breath, as they both stood at my bedside. “Raven just told me some far out shit. Now, I’m hoping that you can help me to understand this shit. And please do not lie to me. I’m only going to ask you once…Is that your baby?”
He looked at me then at her. He swallowed hard. “Yes, ma’am.” he nodded slowly.
“Jahrein Ty Braxton, you are eighteen years old. Youknowbetter. You are too old for her, and you could’ve at least worn protection.” Red vented. “Oh my God, how didn’t I see this? All that jealous shit you be on. All those damn passion marks. Boy, shit works in mysterious ways. Cause you know that if Ray-Ray would’ve been here you would be six feet deep right now.”
“I apologize, mama.” he offered in a tone that said that he was anything but sorry. Red flipped out and popped him upside his head.
“You apologize?! Nigga you gotta come better than that! You now have a mouth to feed, son. And how the fuck am I going to tell her people that my eighteen year old son got this fourteen year old child pregnant?”
“Red, don’t talk so loud.” I whispered, not wanting my grandma to hear. “We’ll just tell them once we leave the hospital.” I tried to reason.
“Yeah, I guess that’s what we’ll do. But you better pray that her mama don’t press charges against your ass.” she gritted at Jah. “With your stupid ass!” she swung at him again.
“Mama, calm down.” he grabbed her hand. “I know that you mad. But I’m going to take care of my son. You aint even got to worry about that.”
“It’s not just about you taking care of the baby, Jahrein. Raven is my boyfriend’s daughter and you didn’t have no business fucking with her!”
“That’s why I apologize. But I know that that baby is mine and I aint gon apologize for that.”
I sat silently as Red had to take a second to look at her son. He had some nerve, but at the same time I secretly admired the love that he already had for his child. She looked like she was about to go off again, but instead a huge smile crossed her face and then she said, “That’s the attitude your ass better have about yours. But you still gotta deal with Ray-Ray and you’re on your own with that one.” She shook her head. “I knew that the baby looked too much like your ass. I kept trying to convince myself that I was tripping. That’s what I get for being in denial.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Jahrein stayed at the hospital with me day and night. He was there for me the entire time and it gave me a sense of security. It was such a scary time for me and it was comforting to know that he was there for me. I didn’t have to deal with such a huge responsibility alone. He would sit in NICU for hours just staring at our son, praying that his lungs grew stronger. I was also grateful for how Red treated me. After she got over the shock of the situation, she just vowed to be here for me. I didn’t have to suffer through her complaining about being disappointed.
A few of our friends came to the hospital to see how the baby was doing. Shell stopped by damn nearevery day, until he was released. She would sit and watch me and Jahrein kid around. Sometimes I’d see an uncomfortable look on her face, and I figured that it was because she didn’t like people being all affectionate in her presence. She had a new boyfriend that was crazy about her, so I knew that she wasn’t sweatingmyJahrein.
Jahrein Jr. stayed in the hospital for a month, before he was able to go home. He gained well over two pounds. People couldn’t believe that he was even three pounds at the time I gave birth, or the fact that I went all that time without knowing that I was pregnant. He was considered a huge baby for the circumstances. It was all new to me, but I was trying to adjust. The baby was so fragile and I didn’t really know how to hold him. Red had to help me with everything, but not once did she complain.
Not soon after Ray-Ray found out about the baby his friend, Big Mike, the older cousin of this cutie named Amir who I kind of had a crush on, stopped by and gave Red over a thousand dollars to buy the baby everything he needed. Junior had a playpen/bed, walker, swing, high chair, stroller, and a load of diapers.
We actually didn't need the help, because Jahrein had gone out and purchased the baby a majority of the things he needed. I ended up with almost two of everything, which left me wondering how was Jahrein able to do that.
Needless to say, my daddy knew the entire deal. Red said that he was pissed, but also realized too that the damage was done. Tisha, however, had a history of being a less understanding person, so she was the last to find out. Of course, she tried to raise hell,but the drama was short-lived when she realized the alternative for us. She barely raised me, so she sure as hell wasn’t trying to take care of my baby, too. That was her motivation to just let shit go and let me “lay up with a grown ass man” as she liked to say.
The things Jahrein provided for the baby shocked me at times. All I knew was that I never had to open my mouth and ask for anything, when it came to my baby. He'd gone out and boughthisbaby Jordans and Nikes. He was so attached to Junior, and was spoiling him rotten. It was like he couldn’t believe that he had a baby, judging by the way he’d hold him, and stare at him for hours. Sometimes I had to ask him if I could just hold the baby. That baby looked like the spitting image of him, which didn’t help with the infatuation Jahrein had with his son. I couldn’t stop him from proudly parading our little boy around the neighborhood.
Once I had his baby the whole game changed. There was no more hiding or sneaking around, and he openly slept in the bed with me and his son. We became a couple without ever even discussing it. It was just assumed.
