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NO AIR

“Whew, I’m so damn tired. I can’t believe we unpacked all this shit in a day!” I huffed as I stood in the middle of the living room of Mula’s Prince Valley home, where I had finally fully moved my stuff in.

This was now my place until he surfaced back into my life. My mother, Solace, and Kehlani had been helping me move for the last three months because I had to dismantle two mansions in Southwave. The one Mula had on the shore, and the mansion I had shared with Hurricane.

I didn’t want to leave the city, but there was way too much stuff going on. Mula had killed Hurricane, and the city was mourning. He still had people who loved him. On the outside, our lives looked perfect, but in our underworld, a lot was going on that normal people wouldn’t understand.

Hurricane’s family had a big funeral for him, and I did not force myself to go.

He had done me wrong, but I couldn’t see him lying in a casket.

After seeing Coast lying in a box, I told myself I wasn’t attending another funeral.

His mother was upset with me, told me I was a hoe, and even said I had set her son up.

She was mad that the house and all his cars were in my name.

He didn’t have a will, so I sold everything like Mula told me to.

I changed my phone numbers and stopped talking to a lot of people. I walked around with Mula’s security around me, so I considered myself untouchable and didn’t care how Hurricane’s family felt. Everything was his fault anyway, so he got what he had coming to him.

“Girl, I know. My back hurts so bad! But I’m glad we got it done. I hope you’re buying dinner because I’m hungry!” Solace laughed.

“I’m starving, too, and I got a headache again.” I flopped on the couch.

“Don’t worry about it, pregnant lady,” my mother said to Solace. “I’m about to fry some chicken and make dirty rice. I can’t wait to use your new kitchen, Daughter.”

“Have at it. I’m gonna go shower. Y'all can pick any room here because I want y'all to stay the weekend. I don’t want to be alone in these mountains.”

“We’re going to be here longer than that and help you break into this house,” my mother assured me.

“Okay, I’ll meet y'all in the kitchen in an hour. Don’t get lost,” I told them.

Solace picked up her sleeping daughter from the couch, and then we headed for the staircase.

When I got to my room, I pulled out my tight bun and felt instant relief from the headache it gave me.

I stripped out my Amiri sweatsuit and walked to my dresser, picking up the Clear Blue pregnancy test I had been scared to take for two days.

I had been having headaches, dizzy spells, and I was bloated.

My mother suggested I take a test since it had been happening for over a month.

I was on the strongest birth control on the market, so there was no way.

I blamed it on stress and my new environment.

I went into the bathroom and turned on the water. I set my showerhead to the waterfall setting and then took the test. I didn’t want to know the results right away, so I hopped in the shower for thirty minutes with my lavender wash.

As I washed, I rubbed my scrub loofah over my stomach.

It had gotten puggy, and it had me thinking what if I was pregnant and how long.

It wasn’t that farfetched that it could be Hurricane’s baby because it wasn’t that long ago since we had sex.

I didn’t get periods with my birth control, so it was no telling whose baby it was, since I’d fucked them in the same week.

If I were pregnant, I would go to the doctor immediately to find out the dates.

I finally stepped out of the shower and grabbed my towel. I went to the sink to brush my teeth, but couldn’t ignore my test. I took a deep breath and picked it up. Tears welled in my eyes when I read the big blue words that said pregnant .

“Unbelievable,” I uttered as I continued to stare at the test.

There was nothing I could do. An abortion was out of the picture since I had too many with Hurricane. I was just going to test my baby’s DNA when it was born. Now, I was really ready for Mula to come home. He hadn’t called me, and I didn’t have contact with him.

I got dressed in something comfy and tossed the test in my robe pocket. I went downstairs and showed my mother and Solace the results. They were so happy for me and glad I had decided to go through with the pregnancy.

I went to the doctor two days later for an ultrasound. They couldn’t tell what the sex was yet. I was only a couple of months pregnant, and the dates lined up like I expected. It was still possible that the baby I was carrying couldn’t be Mula’s. But damn, I hoped it was.