tell her that heâs dead. With her believing that he is, that may change the game, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, Iâll keep my distance, yet pray that everything will work out for you.â
Trina walked away, leaving me stunned yet again. A baby? It didnât even dawn on me that the baby Evelyn was carrying was Cedricâs. I thought it was her ex-boyfriend, Marcâs, child. I mean, really? If Iâd had a gun, I would have gone back there and made sure Cedric was dead. My anger turned into hate. I just couldnât stay there any longer.
Jacoby was still on his cell phone, talking to Adrianne. When I walked up to him, he told her to hold.
âWhat did the officer say?â he asked.
âNothing important. But, uh, if you donât mind, I need to get out of here. Iâm not feeling well, and being here is making me sick.â
Jacoby frowned. âWhat about Cedric, Mama? Donât you care about him? Donât you want to know if heâll survive? I know youâre upset about all of this, but heâs your husband andââ
âAnd Iâm his wife,â I shouted. âI am his fucking wife and that bastard cheated on me, got another woman pregnant, and had the audacity to buy another one a house! To hell with Cedric, Jacoby! If you want to stay here, please do. As for me, Iâm going home! I need to get the hell out of here and go home!â
Jacoby wiped away sprinkles of my spit that landed on his face. He slowly lifted his phone and told Adrianne heâd call her back. âThen go,â he said to me. âAdrianne is on her way up here. Iâll call you later to keep you posted on Cedric.â
âDonât bother,â I said, looking around at the many people staring at me as if I was crazy. It definitely wasnât my intention to put my business out there like this. I was totally embarrassed. âIâm sorry about this, but I . . . I canât do this.â
I tearfully walked away and left the hospital. While inside of my car, I rested my forehead on the steering wheel and broke down. Tears wouldnât stop falling. I held my chest, wishing that the pain inside would go away. Why me? I thought. Why did all of this bad news hit me like this in one day? I felt as if Iâd lost everything. Other than Cedric, there was another person to blame. Evelyn. I had to go see her, just to look her in the eyes and give her a piece of my mind.
Almost thirty minutes later, I arrived at Evelynâs loft. Like always, security was walking around, and I saw her car parked in the parking garage. Cedric had probably paid for her car, and I thought about keying the side of it. But after I parked, the security looked at me, smiled, and said hello. I spoke back, but I could tell that he was alarmed by how distraught I appeared. He watched my every move, and unfortunately for me, I wasnât sure if Evelyn would buzz for me to come inside. I took my chances and pushed the code to alert her that someone was there to see her.
Seconds later, her beautiful, blemish-free face appeared on the screen. Why did she have to always look so darn pretty? It wasnât that I was jealous of her, but there was no denying that out of all of us, Evelyn always got the most attention from men. Even while we were in high school, most of the boys wanted to date Evelyn. It could have been because she was a slut, too; a slut who got her hands on my husband, and had the audacity to be pregnant by him.
âHello, Kayla,â she said with that same smug smirk from earlier. âWhat do you want?â
âWe need to finish our conversation. Now that Cedric is dead, I think we should talk about what to do with your baby. You are carrying his baby, arenât you?â
Evelyn didnât say a word. She buzzed me inside, and on my way up in the elevator, I felt as if I wanted to throw up. I swallowed and bit into my trembling bottom lip. When the elevator