gone. - DISCONTINUED.

{16}

"Maybe it's just something wrong with my pee..." I mumbled, fiddling with the test in my hands. "Haze. You've taken three tests already, and not the cheap ones either. I think the answer is pretty clear." Laylani said, leaning forward on the edge of the tub. I shook my head, completely in denial. "No, maybe I have like...like an imbalance or something. Stress does that, you know?" I spoke quickly, starting to pace in the small bathroom. Lay sighed and grabbed me by my shoulders, shaking me lightly. "Hazel, Hazel calm down. It will be okay, all you have to do, is tell-" "No. No no no no no, no. He cannot find this out." I blurted out, throwing the last test in the trash and moving the leave the room. "He has the right the know! It is his, right?" She asked and I squinted. "Okay, my bad, dumb question...but he does deserve to know."

I bit my lip, still shaking my head. "No..it can wait, honestly. I can already feel what his reaction is gonna be and trust me it's not a very good one." I spoke in almost a whisper and she sighed again, pulling me into a hug. "I know. But he'll get over it. He has a while to get over it. And if he won't get over it on his own, I'll make him get over it. Either way, you're not the only one in this world. You've got me, Britt, Yazmin, hell you've even got the rest of the boys. It's not just you." She reassured me and I let out a small sigh, nodding after a while. "Okay..." I mumbled, pulling away some. "Now, we can wait a few days if that's what you need. But you can't keep it from him forever, okay?" She told me and I nodded. "Okay..."

After about a week, hype died down and it was business as usual. I was still doing side jobs, but of course I had an excuse to why I wasn't feeling well on some days. Odd enough, nobody seemed to ask questions and nobody seemed to know except for Lani, who asked me after 3 days of keeping my mouth shut when I was planning on spilling. "I just can't tell him..." I panicked, chewing on my lip. "It's been almost a week." Laylani warned. "If you don't tell him, then I will." I shook my head at her, but she kept the same expression. I just sighed, saying nothing. "Look, if you want, you can come with me. Just so you won't have to be alone." She said and I frowned, thinking for a moment. It was only for so long I could be able to keep this up. "Bound to find out anyway..." I mumbled, nodding my head in agreement with her. She gave me a smile. "He's in his room right now, probably doing god knows what. You can stand outside of the door if you feel comfortable that way..." I nodded, crossing my arms and walking outside of my room with her.

We went down the hall to where his room was located, which was never hard to find seeing as it was the biggest. I sat down on the small couch outside by the door, while she knocked on it a few times, yelling loud profanities while we waited. The door swung open and I pretended to distract myself, looking around the hallway and messing with a fake plant as she stepped inside, leaving the door open a crack for me to hear the conversation. Their voices were hushed on the other side, so I could only hear a few bits of the conversation. "A fucking week?!" I heard his voice boom and even away from him I jumped, not trying to imagine his expression in that room. I felt nervousness come up as Laylani explained to him. "Calm down, it's not just her fault. You're the one fucking her all the time and assuming your dick is invincible." "Okay, but where the fuck she gon' have it? There ain't no fucking room in this damn place and I got a fuckin' business to run. And I ain't even hit 20 yet, if I ever will." I heard the room go quiet as I chewed my lip, starting to panic. "You pay her enough to get her own place...for the months she can live with me, it'll be chill. It's not like the girl wants anything from you. And you don't owe her a damn thing. Just for her to know, that you will be there."

It went quiet again and the silence this time was much longer than the pause made earlier. "You want me, the nigga running the most risky ass business in the world, to be there for a fucking baby?" He said lowly and I heard Lani sigh. "It's not me who wants it. She wants it. That baby wants it. She don't want no money or sympathy for you, just your fucking company." I stood up, knowing that in the back of his mind, the answer was already no. His mind was already made up, and it wouldn't take long for me to find a quick flat to live in, pack up, and be on my way. I had plenty of money to raise myself on my own. And if it ever ran low, I could get a small part time job to spare by. "Company?...where she at then?" I heard him ask just as I was heading down the hall to my room. I stayed still, not knowing what to do. "She's outside. Just...be you. Not the slinger Rakim. You."

I leaned against the wall, hearing the door open. And for the first time, I heard him agree with something.