Chapter One of In Love With An Oakland Hot Boy
Looking back, London had no idea her life would turn out the way it had. She hated how small the Bay Area was…especially Oakland. It seemed like everywhere she turned someone was related or associated with someone she knew.
London had a stare that cut like a knife, and if she ever laid a hand on you…well, you don’t want to find out. The girl was deadly, outside of her relationship that was. The things that went on behind closed doors she was too ashamed to tell a soul. She was living a life she vowed to stay away from. All she wanted to do was escape the Town, but, somehow, she found herself stuck in an even worse situation than the one she grew up in.
Tina, London’s mother, had her at the age of 17, leaving her mother and father beyond disappointed. Tina came from a Catholic family—her dad was a preacher, her mother attended church faithfully, and Tina was required to attend bible study every Wednesday as well sing in the choir every Sunday. Not only was she required to attend church weekly, but her family also expected her to be an A+ student. She was doing an amazing job keeping her parents happy up until her junior year in high school when she met London’s father Marcus.
Marcus was three-years older than Tina, and all the girls had their eyes on him, hoping to catch his attention. He was 6’2 with hazel eyes, almond-colored skin, and built like a god. To top it off, he had money, cars, clothes, and the shiniest jewelry a girl her age had ever seen. The girls around town were ready to do whatever to be on his team, but the one who caught his eye was Tina. She was smart, had the voice of an angel, was hard to get, and had a beautiful smile with curves to match. If anyone got her, it had to be Marcus, and he made sure of it.
The day Marcus approached Tina she was with a group of friends making her way to the corner store before taking the bus home.
“You with the long curly hair and pretty smile…,” he said, pointing at Tina, “…come here.”
Looking at her friends and then back at Marcus, she was hesitant when it came to responding. He was way older than her, and she had no business getting involved with him, but the moment he flashed his pearly whites, she did exactly as he said. Marcus tended to have that effect on females.
Having not a clue what she was to do, Tina did what she seen women on television do. Switching her hips and biting her bottom lip, she made her way over to Marcus.
“Yes?” she said with attitude, “What do you want? I have to get going.”
“How about I give you a ride home, so I can get to know you a little better,” Marcus said, licking his lips.
As bad as Tina wanted to stay, she told him, “Maybe, next time” and went on her way.
Marcus attempted to give Tina a ride home on multiple occasions and failed every time, but that didn’t stop him from showing up at her school every day. Eventually, she said “yes,” and the rest was history.
Rides home from school eventually turned into frequent dates and her spending nights at his place. If Tina’s mother knew that she started staying overnight with Marcus, all hell would’ve broken loose, so to cover her tracks, she would use her friend’s house as an excuse to escape. The more time they spent together the more he wanted her sexually. Tina had it in her mind that she’d wait until she was married to lose her virginity, but it became hard to fight the temptations, and Marcus no longer wanted to wait. There were plenty of girls willing to do what Tina wouldn’t, and he reminded her of that every chance he could.
“If you can’t give it to me, I can gladly get it somewhere else if you’d like,” he said with a smirk on his face.
That was his way of breaking Tina down and eventually getting her to follow his every command.
The night Marcus threatened to walk out the door was the night Tina finally opened herself to him.
“Please, don’t go,” she cried, desperate to get him to stay as he walked towards the door, “I’ll do what you want, just don’t leave.”
Marcus let go of the doorknob and turned to Tina. He could see that she was weak; she was shaking and had tears rolling down her face.
He walked towards her, grabbed her by the face, and looked her in the eyes.
“I love you, Tina, so why won’t you let me show you?” he asked, kissing her cheek.
With his manipulative ways, Marcus finally got what he wanted, but, for Tina, it wasn’t what she imagined. She thought her first time would be special, but instead, it was ten-minutes of hell, full of pain and tears. She laid there crying as the sweat from Marcus’ body dripped all over her. After he finished, he kissed her on the forehead and headed to the shower as Tina lay there full of regret. She knew she wanted to wait till marriage to lose her virginity, but she figured that was the only thing that would keep Marcus interested in her. She thought she had found the love of her life, but she was young and didn’t know any better. His good looks and big jewels blinded her. He was the guy everyone wanted, but she was the one who had him.
Marcus appeared from the room dressed to impress. He stopped and looked at Tina laying on the couch.
“Get yo’ ass up. I have some business to handle.”
She picked herself up off the couch and made her way towards the room, but a strong force stopped her in her tracks; it was Marcus grabbing her by the arm.
“Nah, shorty, put your clothes back on. I’m taking you home. I told you I got shit to do.”
He let her go, and she quickly threw on her clothes and headed to the car. He dropped her off at home, and, without a “goodbye,” he sped off.
“What the fuck?” Tina said aloud.
She walked inside the house and ran upstairs, ignoring her mother’s “hellos” and headed straight to the bathroom. She couldn’t let her mom smell the sex on her, or it would be going down in the Williams’ residence.
As soon as Tina turned the shower on, she could hear a bang at the door.
“Girl, did you not hear me say ‘hello’ to you? You speak when you come in this house.”
Tina stood there thinking of a lie.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I started my period, and I just needed to get cleaned up.”
“Next time, stop and acknowledge me,” her mother said sweetly.
“Okay, Mommy.”
*****
A month had passed, and Tina still hadn’t heard from Marcus. She felt used and was heartbroken.
“How could I have been so stupid?” she asked aloud, “I should have stuck to my first mind and waited, but, no…I had to keep my boyfriend happy, and now, he isn’t speaking to me.”
Tina had been calling Marcus almost every day and still no word from him. She became extremely stressed when she realized her period hadn’t come. That was the one thing she could count on to be on time.
Tina thought back to the night she and Marcus had sex. They didn’t use a condom, so that could only mean one thing…she was pregnant.
She ignored what was obvious and prayed her period would come a few days late. She continued with school and tried to keep her mind off Marcus. It wasn’t hard for her to ignore him because she stayed busy hanging out with her friends, studying, and going to church. It wasn’t until he ended up at the same house party her best friend Stacy invited her to.
“What the fuck is he doing here, Stacy?” Tina snapped.
It had been two-months since she had seen or spoken to him, and she was pissed.
“Don’t look at me. I didn’t tell that no-good, lying-ass, dog to come here,” Stacy said, “Plus, we’re at a college party. He might know the guy throwing it.”
Tina grabbed Stacy’s hand and started heading towards the door, ducking and diving through the crowd. It was best that she avoided any type of interaction with him, but before she could make it to the door, Marcus spotted her.
“Hey, Tina, who you hiding from?” he shouted, “I know you not leaving already.”
Marcus was talking to Tina like nothing happened, like they were the best of friends or something.
Stacy could see mad black woman written all over her friend’s face.
“Come on, Tina, let’s just go home,” she said with urgency in her voice.
Stacy knew Tina would cause a scene, and she didn’t want anything to go down.
“We aren’t going any-damn-where, Stacy.”
Tina turned away and headed towards Marcus with a cold look on her face.
“I knew you weren’t going to leave without saying ‘bye’ to your man,” he said.
“My man? So, you my man now?” Tina asked with a look of confusion on her face. “If you were my man, you would have answered my phone calls instead of acting like I dropped off the face of earth after you got in my panties. You ain’t no fucking man of mine,” she yelled, “You’re a fucking dog, and I want nothing to do with you. Keep acting like I don’t exist, okay?”
Tina turned to walk away, but she felt someone pulling her back. Of course, it was Marcus. He wasn’t about to let her just walk away from him like that. He had planned to do some things to her that night.
He knew that he was wrong for not returning her calls, but he had business to handle, hoes to tend to, and money to make.
“So, you just gon’ leave on that note? I thought you was feeling me?” he smiled.
Tina’s blood began to boil.
“And, nigga, I thought you were feeling me too. I guess we were both wrong.”
Tina turned to walk away once more when she heard Marcus say, “You look kind of thick, baby girl.”
Without hesitation, she turned around and blurted out, “I’m pregnant” and stormed out the party with Stacy following behind her.
“Bitch, did I just hear you say that you’re pregnant?” Stacy yelled in shock, “Does anyone else know?”
“Besides you and the whole damn party? No.”
Tina hadn’t told a soul, and she wasn’t planning to. If her parents found out, they would surely kick her out of the house. Tina couldn’t let that happen. She was going to get an abortion without anyone knowing, but the longer she waited the more she didn’t want to go through with the procedure. She was already two-months. If she waited any longer, she knew she was going to keep the baby.
Suddenly, Marcus came storming out the house.
“Tina, let me talk to you.”
“No, Marcus, I’m done talking.”
Tina reached to open the car door, but he slammed it and snatched her up. He wasn’t about to let her leave without finding out if that baby was his or not. If it was, he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her get rid of it. Marcus had always wanted a baby…well, a baby girl that is, and Tina was going to be the one to give it to him.
“Is it mine?” he asked.
He could see the anger building up in Tina. He was the only man she had ever been with; how could he ask such a question?
“What the fuck do you think, Marcus?” she yelled, “I’m not a hoe!”
He knew she was telling the truth, but he just had to be sure.
“Are you keeping it?”
“I can’t! My parents will kick me out, and I’ll have nowhere to go,” she began to cry.
Marcus pulled her close and held her real tight. As much as Tina wanted to pull away, she liked being in his arms; she felt safe.
“You can stay with me,” he whispered in her ear, “We can be a family.”
Tina’s mind was saying no, but her heart was screaming yes. She wanted to be with Marcus, and she wanted to have her baby but that also meant she’d be giving up the family she already had.
Tina looked up at Marcus.
“Give me some time to think about it, okay?”
He kissed her, and they both went their separate ways. His soft lips against hers made her wet.
I’d be stupid to go back, she thought, but, at this point, she felt like she had no other choice. It was either get an abortion or move so she could have her baby.
During the car ride, back to Oakland, Stacy could see the stupid-ass smile on her friend’s face.
“Don’t tell me you’re over there thinking about getting back with that jerk?”
Tina sat there without saying a word.
“You are, aren’t you?”
Stacy was frustrated with her friend. For her to be so smart, she was dumb as hell when it came to Marcus. Stacy could see right through that smile and those good looks; he was nothing but a no-good pimp, but Tina couldn’t see it for herself.
“He dogged you, Tina. He took your virginity and cut you off. If he didn’t see you tonight, it would have been another two-months without you guys speaking. He was probably out there fooling with other bitches.”
Stacy was praying her words got through to Tina, but, instead, Tina threw her a curve ball.
“…he asked me to move in with him. I think I am. He said he’ll take care of me and the baby,” Tina said, smiling.
Stacy couldn’t believe her ears. She wanted to pull the car over and beat some sense into Tina. If it wasn’t for the baby growing inside of her, she would have actually done it. Stacy was a fighter and had a bad attitude. She didn’t like dealing with bullshit, and what she hated most was her friends acting so naive.
Stacy was a sophomore in college and was very mature for her age. She had a little more knowledge when it came to men than her high school friends. She knew how manipulative they could be. Young girls were easy targets, and Tina was just that. Marcus was on a mission, and she was his mark.
Stacy had no more words for Tina at this point. She knew whatever she said wasn’t going to get through to her. She had to find another way.
*****
“I knew he was no good,” Stacy yelled out.
When she found out her close friend, someone she looked at like a little sister, was planning on moving in with her no-good baby daddy, she had to do some research. After spending two-months asking around about Marcus, she finally got some answers.
I knew this nigga was a pimp, Stacy thought to herself.
Not only was he a pimp, but he also had three other children with some chick named Bianca.
“I have to let my girl know what’s going on before she gets in too deep with his no-good-ass,” Stacy said with a look of concern on her face.
Stacy picked up her phone and dialed Tina’s house phone to let her know what she discovered.
On the second ring, Tina’s mother answered.
“Hello, Mrs. Williams, is Tina home?”
There was a long pause, and Stacy knew something had to be wrong.
“She moved out, Stacy,” she cried, “She’s four-months pregnant and staying with that guy Marcus. I don’t trust him with my baby, Stacy.”
Stacy didn’t trust Marcus either, and, like Mrs. Williams, she didn’t want anything to happen to Tina.
“Does she have a number I can reach her at? I have some really important information for her.”
“One second, sweetie…I have it written down somewhere.”
Mrs. Williams gave Stacy the number and one request along with it.
“If she answers, let her know that I miss her and love her,” she said with a sad tone in her voice.
“Will do, Mrs. Williams. You have a good day.”
Stacy had been calling Tina for a month now and was starting to get worried. It wasn’t like Tina to ignore her calls. They spoke every other day about everything, but ever since that night Tina told Stacy about her moving in with Marcus, she seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. This wasn’t sitting too well with Stacy.
I hope she’s okay.
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