Page 34 of Her Loyalty

Tiana Next Day

"Mom!" I called as I walked into the house.

"Mom!" I called again, dropping my keys on the table.

"Hello?!"

"I'm in the kitchen, Tiana." She finally answered as I made my way towards it.

"Hey."

"Hey. Where've you been the past three days?" She asked, taking a sip from her coffee as I sat down at the table.

"Dominic's." I shrugged as a smile graced her face.

"Have the two of you worked everything out?" She asked and I nodded slowly, thinking about the pregnancy stare.

"Yeah. We're figuring things out."

"Still not together." I mumbled.

Lord knows I was ready us to be finally be together again but it was still all up to him.

"Oh okay. I'm happy for you, I have hope for you two." She stood to her feet and placed her empty coffee cup into the sink.

"Really?" I asked and she nodded.

"Of course, Tiana."

"Me too." I admitted, looking down, trying to figure out if I actually wanted to tell her about the pregnancy scare or not.

"Mom, I want to tell you something." I blurted out, instantly getting all of her attention.

"What's wrong?" She asked seriously, coming back to the table and taking a seat.

"Um.." I trailed off, looking down at my hands.

"Well I had a-" I started but stopped, looking up at her.

"I had a pregnancy scare." I ended up saying and she just stared at me blankly.

"I took three pregnancy test and they were all positive."

"Really?" She gasped and I nodded slowly.

"But then I went to the clinic yesterday and they ran test on me.."

"And we found out I wasn't really pregnant." I sighed deeply and she sat there for a while collecting her words, obviously speechless.

"I don't know how to feel about it." I admitted and she sighed, reaching across the table to grab my hand.

"Well how do you feel? Did you want to be?" She went onto ask and I shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Kind of."

"I just graduated, mom." I sighed heavily.

"But the way Dominic talked about it last night, I feel like it really broke him." I admitted to her and she raised her eyebrows.

"What'd he say?"

"He told me he really wanted me to be and I was so happy about not being. Now I feel so bad because I didn't know that he was feeling that way, you know?"

"And I didn't even take the time to think about him."

"I was so caught up in myself." I admitted.

"Well you have the right to be relieved and you have the right to be happy. There's no problem in that, you're young." She explained.

"Just like he has the right he has in being upset about it." She went on.

"But definitely the same way he explained to you why he's upset, explain to him why you feel the way you do as well.

So he can understand from your perspective and not think that you don't care about his feelings.

Especially since the two of you are working on being together again, communication this time around is important. "

"And also remember that just because he's a man doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings too."

"You're right." I nodded in agreement. I definitely needed him to know that I cared about his feelings because I really do. I mean, we'd talked last night but it was important for him to know this.

I didn't want him thinking otherwise.

"I'll talk to him." I said more to myself as my mind wandered.

"Thanks, mom."

"Anytime, baby."

* Later that day 3pm

"You hungry?" Dom asked taking a pull from his blunt while we sat in his car out front of his house.

"No, I just had food with mom. She cooked." I spoke softly and he nodded, filling the car with smoke.

"I brought you some. It's in the house." I said to him and he raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah?"

"Yes." I smiled small as he leaned over the threshold and placed a kiss onto my lips.

"Thank you, baby." He looked into my eyes for a while before pulling back.

Saying nothing else, we sat there in silence for a while as he continued to smoke.

"But I do want to talk to you about something." I blurted out, rolling my window down slightly, trying to get some of the smoke out.

"What's up? Talk to me." He glanced over at me.

"You good?" He asked and I nodded slowly.

"Well yeah. I just-"

"Yo, Dom!" Some guy startled the both of us, rudely interrupting me as he walked up to my side of the car.

"What's up, man? You got that stuff?" He went on, leaning in the window as I backed up, looking over to Dominic who's eyebrows were furrowed.

"Nigga what?" He spat back to him as I turned my head to look up at the guy while he continued to lean.

"Weed. You got weed, man?" He asked again and Dominic chuckled but I knew there was nothing actually funny. He was just getting upset.

"So you gon' just continue to disrespect a nigga?"

"And you gon' act like you don't see my girl right here?" He asked fed up as the guy looked at me, holding his hands up in defense.

"My bad. I just wanted some weed." He said to me, standing up straight and I could tell by the look on Dominic's face that he was about to lose all control.

"Na' I feel disrespected and I'm gon' have to hear her mouth later." He went on and I shook my head.

"Babe-" I started but stopped as he put his blunt out in the ashtray and stepped out of the car.

"Dominic." I panicked as he walked around to my side, pulling his hoodie over his head and dropping it onto the ground.

"I told your bitch ass to stop askin' for bud near my spot. Na' I think you just disrespectin' a nigga." He roughly gripped the guy up and threw him onto the ground.

"Dominic, stop!" I yelled, taking my seatbelt off and quickly getting out.

"Get the fuck back in the car, T." He spoke sternly to me as he roughly kicked the guy over and over.

"Stop it!" I yelled as the guy pleaded for him to stop, blood gushing everywhere.

"Yo, what the fuck gon' on?" Deja came out of the house, hearing all of the commotion and I frantically pointed.

"Make him stop, Deja. Make him stop." I begged as Dominic now stomped the guy out.

"Yo, Dom. What the fuck?" She spat, running down the staircase once she saw what was going on.

Dominic was stomping this man into the ground so badly, blood was everywhere and I could do nothing but watch and scream. And we both knew better than to try and touch him.

"Stop it, Dominic!" I screamed out as he reached for his gun.

"No!" I panicked as Deja and I both quickly backed up.

"Both of y'all go the fuck in the house." He snapped at us, still pointing his gun.

"And Tiana I ain't gon' ask you again, ma."

"Baby, please." I pleaded as I watched the man lay there lifelessly.

"Please don't kill me, man. I just wanted some weed." The man sobbed softly, making my heart break.

"Dominic, please don't shoot him, baby."

"Na'." He shook his head, clocking the gun back.

"He keep disrespectin' me, baby. Sometimes niggas just gotta go."

"Baby, please. Don't take your anger out on him, it's me your mad at." I spoke, realizing this was most likely all pint up anger.

"It's me, baby. Just let him go." I tried to reason with him.

"You still have things to live for. Don't throw your life away killing him. It's not worth it."

It took a few seconds for it all to register but he finally abided.

Deja and I watched as he slowly lowered his gun and as soon as he did, he kicked the guy as hard as he could in the stomach.

"Fuck." The man groaned, holding onto his stomach and spitting out blood onto the concrete.

My stomach turned watching all of this take place.

"Your bitch ass lucky my girl right here." Dominic chuckled to himself.

"Get the fuck away from my spot nigga before I change my mind." He spat, snatching the guy up by his hoodie and forcefully pushing him toward the end of the block.

Deja and I watched him as he slowly limped away before we reverted our eyes back to Dominic.

"Nigga, I thought your crazy ass was about to catch a homicide out this bitch." Deja went onto say, shaking her head as Dom finally put his gun back into his pants.

"Let me take my dumb ass in the crib before the pigs try to lock me up just because." She went on joking as she quickly went back in the house and Dom averted his eyes over to me.

His hard look went soft once he saw the frightened look on my face.

"I'm sorry, ba-" He started but I quickly pushed him away.

"Don't touch me." I told him as he was about to wrap his arms around my waist.

"You know you're wrong for what you just did."

"I said I apologize, T."

"What else you want me to say?" He snapped and I shook my head.

"We need to talk, Dominic."

"Seriously." I added, realizing this was obviously taking a toll on him. More than I'd expected. He never got into fights or anything that easily. He was always cool, calm and collected.

He had to already be upset and he was taking his anger out in the wrong places.

"Man.." He trailed off, walking away from me.

I stood there in shock as he did, making his way into the house, slamming the door behind him.