Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“Nah B. I’m showin’ you it’s not his kid!”

“Yeah it is! What are you sayin’ right now?”“I’m sayin’ there’s no flippin’ way the child is his! Look at her, she probably slept with 10 other dudes!”Bernice opened his eyes to see 3 of his boys gathered around the hospital TV watching, what looked like, Maury.

“Hey.” Bernice managed to say from his weak voice.

“Ay man, Bernie. You good, man?” His friend said while walking over to him.

“I’m alright, Trey.” He tried to sit up to hide his weakness, and show his strength, but his body wouldn’t let him.

“Take it easy man. It’s only us in here.” Trey tried to get Bernice back into a comfortable position.

Trey was the oldest of the bunch. He wore braids in his hair and was a deep brown complexion. Girls often gave him attention because of his chestnut eyes, but mainly because he knows who everyone wanted to know. He was the regular
Socialite, he threw parties religiously and was well-known.

“So what happened?” Drake asked trying to get right into it. He didn’t like to waste time.

“Uhm… I fell down the stairs at the apartment.”

“Come on, dude! This shit ain’t funny no more.” Drake snapped.

“It was never funny! You all already know it was my dumbass brother and his boys.” Bailey exploded from the front of the room.Bailey was the quiet type; he didn’t say much. He was more of an action guy, he didn’t brag or showoff, he didn’t talk about what he was capable of, he just did what he had to do. Silent but deadly. A pretty boy with a record. That was Bailey.

Trey pulled up a chair beside Bernice’s bed, and sat down.
“Look, Bailey… Dawg, why can’t you call your brother off? Talk to him, man. This shit is getting out of hand.”

“You think I haven’t tried already?” Bailey’s tone was defensive and aggressive. “What? You think I’m sitting here watchin’ all this shit go down? When I know I can do something to stop it? Nah. I’ve tried. My bro’s not hearin’ it. I’ve tried. Over and over again I ---“Just then, the nurse came into the room.“You guys are going to have to keep it down, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Fuck.” Bailey walked over to the window and looked outside.

“Is there anything that we can do?” Drake moved towards the television and turned it off.

Bernice ran his hands over his bandaged head, and adjusted his bed so that he could sit up a little more.
“No. No! This is my problem. I’m going to finish it the same way I started it. Alone.”

“Ya but---“

“No. That’s it. Just… let it go.” Bernice put his head back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

There was an awkward silence that filled the room. No one quite knew what to do with themselves.

Bailey’s cell phone rang, braking the silence. He answered it.
“Ya.”“Oh hey babe.”“Nah. I just didn’t check my caller ID.”“Ya, when?”“Alright. I’m leaving just now.”He hung up and put his phone into his back pocket.

“So which ‘babe’ was that?” Bernice said, smiling, still looking up at the ceiling. They all smiled too; that eased the tension.

“Which babe? Nah. It’s not even like that. This girl, she’s the wifey. No more games.” Bailey smiled a proud smile.

“Alright Serani. You sure ‘bout that?” Drake teased.

Bailey moved away from the window and came over to the rest of them.
“Ya, man. It’s only been a few weeks, but… this girl is constantly on my mind. She’s got something on me.”

Trey stood up and stretched his arms out.
“Yeah, she’s got something on you… a WHIP!”

They all laughed, including Bailey, as the nurse came back into the room. She went straight towards Bernice’s bed, and all their eyes followed her sway. She started checking all the wire’s and tubes connected to Bernice’s body.
“Alright boys…” the nurse started.

“Boys? Ain’t no boys in here, Miss.” Trey stood beside her and winked.

The nurse disregarded his failed attempt at flirting, and continued, “I think it’s about time Bernice got some more rest. You can all come back tomorrow around 4p.m.

“Alright Man Dem. Let’s go!” Drake, Bailey and Trey came over to the bed, hailed up their friend and headed out the door. Bailey was the last to leave.

“Yo Bailey!” Bernice yelled to him.
Bailey stuck his head back into the room.
“Thanks, man.” Bernice gave an uncomfortable smile.

“Shut up, man.” Bailey said jokingly. “I’m gunna do my best to fix this.” He pointed towards the nurse, who’s back was turned his way, her round bottom teasing him. He winked at Bernice, smiled, and left the room.

Bernice smiled to himself, put his head back on his pillow and sighed.

“So where did your girlfriend go?” The nurse asked as she looked at his medical chart.

“My girlfriend?”

“Ya. The girl that was here earlier. The one who came in with you. She was here for about and hour or so.”

“The girl who…? The girl!” Bernice saw her beautiful smile in his mind, her radiant brown skin.

“She’s beautiful. You’re a lucky guy Bernice.”

“Yeah. She is beautiful… she’s not… she’s not my girlfriend though.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” There was a brief pause. The nurse looked over at the corky smile on Bernice’s face.

“Something tells me, a girlfriend is what you’re hoping she’ll be.”

Bernice smiled harder. He turned to look out the window. He couldn’t get her smile out of his mind. The perfect hour glass shape her body created, the way her skin gave off a natural glow.

“So what’s her name?” The nurse interrupted his thoughts.

“Her… her name?... I don’t remember her name.” Bernice rubbed his forehead.

“Alright Bernice. I think it’s time for you to rest now.”

She went over to Bernice’s bed and set it so that he could lie down. She turned off the lights, left the room and closed the door behind her.