“Yesss,” she stated. “Your story. Siblings? Kids? Your last relationship?”
Diric focused back on the road. “I was a rape baby. My moms used to be fast as hell, and my grandma couldn’t do shit with her. When she would put her on punishment, my moms would just sneak out the house. Her father was sick, and he couldn’t do much either. My grandma was already stressed from having a husband with health issues and at one point, she had to let my mom do her. One night, my mom was at a party, got fucked up, and got raped. She doesn’t even really know how many dudes it was, but she thinks it was two of them. She was sixteen then and when she found out she was pregnant, she couldn’t afford an abortion. Being raped straightened her up though. Two months after I was born, her dad died. She just did what she had to do so she wouldn’t keep stressing her mom out. My grandmotherhelped out with me and when my mom graduated from high school, she went to college and became a teacher. She now has a husband, and I have a brother.”
“Damn. I’m sorry she had to go through that, but at least it changed her for the better.”
“True.”
“So, you don’t have kids?”
“I had a son.” Diric cleared his throat. “He was born three years ago. He died when he was two months old of SIDS.”
Raven’s heart sank into her stomach. She hated that she had even asked. Having two miscarriages at one point had her on the brink of insanity, so she couldn’t imagine losing a child that had already been born. “I’m so sorry. I’m just going to stop asking questions now.”
“I’m good shawty. Life goes on. That shit hurt like hell. Losing my lil’ man had me on some real angry shit for about three months. I just didn’t understand why he had to go like that. But, eventually, I had to come to terms with the fact that people die every day. We’re all gonna die. Some just sooner than others. His mom was really messed up behind it. She started begging me to get her pregnant again, but I wasn’t gon’ get her pregnant just because. Another baby wasn’t going to replace my lil’ man. Eventually, she found someone to give her what she wanted. I’m just glad that she’s happy.”
Raven truly felt bad for him, but she was glad that he seemed to be doing well. “Do you want more kids one day?”
Diric shrugged passively. “Probably. I don’t think about it that much. I might have to find a woman first. Why? You want to give me a baby?” he joked.
“I can’t even give myself one. I lowkey wish I could afford a surrogate. Knowing that there is a child growing inside of you then one day just hearing a doctor say it’s gone, that shit is hard. I’m not sure I can go through that again.”
“You do know that women miscarry every day, right? I’m sure it hurts, but it happens. How will you ever know that you can’t have a kid if you stop trying?”
“I get that, but you don’t understand the mental anguish women that suffer multiple miscarriages goes through. It goes from what did I do wrong, to what’s wrong with my body, why I don’t I deserve a child? It’s a lot.”
“I don’t doubt that. I’m just saying. A surrogate might be a reach unless that’s what a doctor suggests. It’s painful, but two miscarriages doesn’t mean that something is wrong with you.”
Raven gave a light head nod. She appreciated him trying to comfort her. Diric wasn’t such an asshole after all. They arrived at the restaurant and got to know each other even more over dinner. She found that his favorite sport was soccer, and his favorite food was steak and potatoes.
“I’d be wrong if I slapped that bitch,” Raven mumbled after their waitress brought Diric the bill. She had been flirting with his ass the entire time while acting like Raven barely existed.
Diric chuckled. “You jealous, ma?”
“No. She’s just rude and bold as fuck. Not only is she playing with her tip, but she’s playing with her job. Her customer service toward me was horrible. If I was a petty bitch, I’d complain to the manager.”
“What you want me to do? Leave her a shitty tip?”
“Yeap,” Raven replied adamantly.
“Bet. I’ll leave her a two-dollar tip.”
Raven smiled. “Really?”
“Yeah. That was kind of fucked up. What if you were my lady? I don’t do that disrespectful shit. She acting like it’s okay to disrespect a nigga’s woman in his face. She won’t be lusting over my ass when she sees that tip.”
A wide grin stretched across Raven’s face. “That’s what her ass gets.”
They stood up, and Raven was satisfied. She didn’t want to be the stereotypical black girl and start some shit in the restaurant, so she could appreciate how he had handled it. She had to admit that their date was fun. In his car, he looked over at her.
“Your company wasn’t hard to tolerate today.”
She laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. “Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
“I’m fucking with you.”
Raven bit the bullet. “So, you gonna ask me out again?” No, she wasn’t going to wait for him to ask. He was fine as hell, and she liked him.
“Sure. When we going out again?”
