Chapter 2: The Woman Who Called Herself His Baby Mama
The door swung open.
A Black woman with long braids and a blue blouse stepped inside, her black trousers moving sharply with each hurried step. She carried no handbag that I could see. Her eyes were fixed on Romeo until she noticed me standing beside the sofa.
Then she stopped.
Her gaze moved over my brown dress, my earrings, my shoes, and finally the handbag clutched in my hand.
She looked back at Romeo.
“You serious right now?””
Romeo shifted his weight.
“Selena, not right now.””
“Not right now?”” She pointed at me.
“You got company in here, and you telling me not right now?””
I looked from one to the other.
Nobody had introduced anyone.
Nobody had explained anything.
And Romeo, the same man who had just been talking about marriage, suddenly looked like he wanted the floor to open beneath his feet.
I lifted my chin.
“Who are you?””
The woman turned toward me.
“Bitch, I'm this nigga baby mama, who the fuck is you?””
For a second, the apartment went silent.
Even the television seemed too loud.
I stared at her.
“Baby mama?””
Romeo raised both hands.
“Man, calm the fuck down.””
I turned toward him so slowly that I could hear my own breathing.
“Excuse me?””
He looked between us.
“Both of y'all need to calm down. Ain't nobody gotta act crazy.””
Selena laughed without a trace of humor.
“Act crazy? Romeo, you got me messed up.””
She took another step into the room and pointed toward the hallway.
“My son was asking why you ain't come get him last night. You told me you was working late. Working late doing what? Playing house with this bitch?””
Romeo's jaw tightened.
“Don't bring my son into this.””
“Then stop giving him reasons to ask where his father is!””
Her voice cracked on the last word, but she quickly swallowed whatever emotion had threatened to surface.
I stood frozen beside the sofa.
His son.
Romeo had never mentioned a son.
Not once.
He had talked about his childhood, his job, his friends, and the kind of house he wanted to buy someday. He had told me that his last relationship had ended badly and that he was trying to avoid unnecessary drama.
When I had asked whether there was anything complicated in his past, he had laughed and said he was single.
Single.
The word now sat between us like an insult.
I turned toward him.
“You have a child?””
Romeo rubbed the back of his neck.
“Yeah, but—”
“You have a child, and you never told me?””
“It's complicated.””
Selena slapped her palm against the doorframe.
“Complicated? What's complicated about telling somebody you got a whole child?””
“Selena, you don't know what you're talking about.””
“Oh, I don't?”” She pulled her phone from her pocket and held it up.
“You called me last week asking if I could switch weekends because you had plans. You called me yesterday asking about daycare money. But now you want to stand here and act like I'm some random woman who showed up at your door?””
Romeo stepped toward her.
“Lower your voice.””
“Don't tell me to lower my voice in a house where you apparently got another woman thinking you ready to be somebody's husband!””
My fingers went numb around my handbag.
I remembered Romeo telling me that he wanted children someday.
I remembered him asking whether I liked the names Jordan and Elijah.
I remembered laughing and saying we were getting ahead of ourselves.
Had he been imagining a future with me while already raising a child with someone else?
Or had he simply been telling every woman whatever she wanted to hear?
I swallowed hard.
“Romeo, look at me.””
He didn't.
“Look at me!””
His eyes finally met mine.
“Are you with her?””
He opened his mouth, then glanced at Selena.
That glance answered more than his words ever could.
Selena folded her arms.
“Go ahead, Romeo. Tell her.””
He exhaled.
“Me and Selena ain't together like that.””
Selena's expression changed.
Not surprise.
Pain.
The kind of pain that had been rehearsed so many times it no longer needed tears.
“Ain't together like that?”” she repeated.
“You were at my house three nights ago fixing the kitchen sink. You stayed for dinner. You kissed your son goodnight. You told me we needed to figure things out.””
“Because we're co-parenting!””
“Then why you still got a key to my apartment?””
He said nothing.
I looked at him in disbelief.
Selena turned back to me.
“Did he tell you he had a son?””
“No.””
“Did he tell you we were still dealing with each other?””
“No.””
“Did he tell you he was at my place this week?””
“No.””
Each answer seemed to make the room smaller.
Selena shook her head.
“Of course he didn't.””
I took a step toward the door.
“Look, I don't want no drama, let me the fuck out.””
I wasn't interested in fighting another woman over a man who had apparently built an entire relationship out of missing information.
I wanted air.
I wanted my car.
I wanted to get far enough away from that apartment that I could finally hear myself think.
But as I moved toward the entrance, Selena stepped directly into my path.
I stopped abruptly.
She raised an open hand.
“No bitch, no, no...””
I stared at her hand, then at her face.
“Move.””
“Not until you hear me.””
“I heard enough!””
Romeo hurried toward us.
“Selena bitch calm that shit down, fuck is you doing?””
She snapped her head toward him.
“Don't you dare talk to me like I'm the problem!””
“I'm trying to keep this from getting out of hand.””
“Then you should've kept your lies out of this apartment!””
I looked toward the open doorway.
The hallway beyond it was empty, washed in the pale light of the building's overhead fixtures. It was only a few feet away.
A few feet between me and freedom.
Yet I couldn't move without brushing past Selena, and I wasn't about to turn a man's lies into a physical fight with the woman he had deceived before I even knew her name.
I tightened my grip on my handbag.
“I'm leaving. Y'all can figure out whatever this is between yourselves.””
Selena's face hardened.
Then she turned toward me and pointed one trembling finger.
“Romeo? Yo ass wanted this nigga, now you finna get these hands!””
I stepped backward.
“Wait, wait, bitch, I didn't know!””
My voice shook despite my attempt to keep it steady.
Romeo moved between us.
“Selena, stop!””
But she was already advancing, her anger spilling over into every step.
“Fuck that, I'm finna beat this bitch ass! Get the fuck out of here!””
I stumbled sideways toward the open doorway, my handbag pressed against my chest.
Romeo stood between us, his arms extended.
Selena glared past his shoulder.
And I stood at the threshold, trying to understand how a man who had promised me marriage less than an hour earlier had managed to make me feel like the intruder in his life.
May you like
Then Selena said something that stopped me cold.
“Ask him why he told me he was going to marry ME first.””