Stephanie
Two days after my visit to the clinic, I was in the kitchen doing the breakfast dishes when Travis walked in holding his stomach. He should’ve left for work over an hour ago, but he hadn’t been feeling well since he woke up. Every time I turned around, he was either in my face whining like a child or in the bathroom moaning and groaning on the toilet. I’ll tell you. When it comes to being sick, that man is just one big baby.
“Hon, I don’t know what type of virus you had last night, but whatever it is, I got that shit now.” He was hunched over the kitchen counter. “I feel like someone opened up a can of whup-ass and made me drink it. My stomach is killing me.”
“I know,” I told him sympathetically. “That’s how I felt last night. Did you try to use the bathroom? That made me feel better.”
“Girl,” Travis said, frowning, “I just spent the last half hour on the toilet. That ain’t no help.”
He grabbed his stomach and grimaced. I actually did feel sorry for him. He really did look sick, with his face all flushed, sweat dripping from his brow.
“Oh, my poor baby,” I soothed him. “Why don’t you go upstairs so I can take care of you? I’ll call over to the base and tell them you’re not coming in.” I walked over and rubbed his back, hoping he’d refuse my offer. I still wasn’t feeling too well myself. I’d taken that medication the doctor had prescribed for my little problem yesterday. I felt better than I had last night, but my stomach was still queasy.
“Shit, I wish I could, but I got a meeting with Captain Jenkins this morning and you know how he is.” Travis sounded so unhappy. “I’m just gonna have to pick up some Pepto-Bismol on the way over to the base and pray.” He kissed my forehead as he headed out the door.
I felt so bad watching him walk down the driveway, clutching his stomach. Oh, I was sure he’d be fine by the time he came home from work this afternoon, but I still hated that it was my fault he was feeling that way. Luckily, the phone rang before my guilt could get the best of me. Only problem was, the caller ID showed Jasmine’s number, and I knew she was calling just to make sure I did feel guilty.
“Steph, you okay? Can you talk? Is Travis there?” she whispered.
“Yeah, I can talk. He just went to work.”
“So what did he say? Is everything all right? Are y’all staying together?” Jasmine sounded sincere, but I knew she was just calling to be nosy. I was starting to like my sister, but she just asked too many damn questions.
“Yeah, everything’s fine.”
“Thank God.” She sighed, “What did he say when you told him?”
“Told him what?” I really didn’t wanna get into this. I know I had felt all sisterly with her the other day, but now I was not in the mood. My stomach was starting to do flips, and if she started in on me it would only make me feel worse. She had been so insistent that I tell Travis the truth. I didn’t feel like hearing her mouth when I told her I’d made other arrangements to solve my problem.
“Stop playing, Steph. You know what I mean. Did you tell Travis about the gonorrhea?”
Might as well just tell her. Maybe if I put enough attitude into it, she wouldn’t bother trying to tell me how wrong I was.
“Hell, no! I ain’t tellin’ him shit. Are you crazy? I ain’t ruining my relationship. I’m about to get married.”
“What do you mean? You gotta tell him, Steph! That man needs to know so he can go to the doctor and get checked out,” Jasmine scolded. “Didn’t we agree about this the other day?”
“He don’t need to know,” I insisted. “I’ve got everything under control.”
“Girl, have you lost your mind? You can’t let that man walk around with gonorrhea. You know that’s not right.” She waited and I waited, both of us silent. I was hoping she’d get mad enough and hang up the phone, but she kept right on lecturing. “Besides, sooner or later he’s gonna find out about this. Men have symptoms, Stephanie. And when he gets them, that’s gonna be your ass.” I hoped she was getting some pleasure from her little speech, ‘cause she was buggin’ the hell out of me. In a matter of days my relationship with my sister had gone right back to square one. I did not have time for her tryin’ to be my momma.
“Look, don’t you worry about my man, okay? I told you I’ve got everything under control. Travis ain’t gonna have no symptoms, and he ain’t gonna find out about me giving him gonorrhea. That is, unless you tell him.”
She raised her voice. “You know I’m not gonna tell him.”
“Well, then I guess everything’s all right, isn’t it?” There was a hesitation before Jasmine answered.
“What are you up to, Stephanie?” Her voice was full of suspicion.
“Nothin’. What makes you think I’m up to something?” It was time to shut up. She might be a pain in the ass, but Jasmine was far from stupid, and I did not need her all up in this business. The fewer people who knew my plan, the better.
“I know you, Stephanie. I know you like a book. Now, stop playin’ games and tell me what you’re up to. ’Cause we both know you’re up to something.”
“Trust me, Jasmine. You do not wanna know.”
“You’re probably right, but tell me anyway,” she sighed impatiently.
“Okay, but I swear you better not tell anyone about this. And that includes Becky and that Dylan guy you been hangin’ out with lately. What’s up with y’all, anyway? You break up with Derrick, or what?”
“Don’t try to change the subject. And I’m not gonna tell no one,” she insisted.
“You better not.” I took a deep breath and began my story. “After you dropped me off the other day, I got to thinkin’ about what you said about Travis and me. Believe it or not, Jasmine, I really do love that man.”
“You’ve sure got a funny way of showin’ it when you keep messin’ with Malek,” she interjected.
“Yeah, well everyone makes mistakes. Even you.” I was about to get in her shit about bringing Dylan to Big Momma’s house every Sunday, but she jumped in before I could continue.
“Let’s get something straight. This is not about me, so don’t even go there. Now tell me what you’re up to,” she demanded. Like I didn’t know how anxious she was to keep the spotlight off her own shit right now.
“Well, after you left I went inside and took my medicine,” I started innocently. “Then I started to fix dinner. I figured I’d make his favorite lasagna. I was hoping to put him in a good mood before the bad news.”
“And?”
“When he got home, I got nervous and decided to wait until morning to tell him. I don’t think I slept a wink. I musta tossed and turned all night. I finally got up and sat in the living room until the sun came up. I was feeling so sorry for myself, Jasmine, I was a nervous wreck. I just knew Travis was gonna leave me if I told him I’d given him VD. So I decided to take my chances with not telling him.”
“Stephanie! I can’t believe you!”
“Will you calm down and let me finish?” She shut up and I continued. “I knew I couldn’t let him walk around with gonorrhea. I also knew I didn’t have much time before his symptoms started showing up.”
“That’s right,” she nagged. I ignored her and continued.
“So I knew I had to come up with a plan to get me outta this mess. And believe me, it wasn’t easy. I must have racked my brain half the day trying to come up with the perfect plan. Thank God I finally did.”
“You did?” Jasmine’s voice perked up. “What kinda plan?”
“Yep, I sure did. I got in my car and drove back to the clinic to see that doctor. I had to wait over an hour, but when I finally saw her I told the doctor that in my frustration I somehow lost my prescription and needed another one. Would you believe she didn’t even hesitate to write me a new one?”
“Okay, so now you’ve got some more medicine. Who’s that for, Travis?”
“Yep.”
Jasmine laughed. “You know, Stephanie, you are one slick bitch, you know that? I would’ve never thought about doing some sneaky shit like this.”
“That’s cause you’re not me.”
“Okay, miss slick-ass, how’d you get him to take it? Was he ’sleep?”
“Now, that’s where I really got slick.” I grinned as I told her. I was pretty damn proud of my plan. “Remember that old medicine grinder Big Momma used to grind up Granddaddy’s medicine?”
“Yeah, poor old Granddaddy couldn’t even swallow his pills toward the end. Big Momma had to grind them up to powder and put them in his food… Oh, shit!” Jasmine was silent as she put the pieces together.
“Stephanie Johnson!” she finally gasped. “You spiked Travis’s food with that medicine, didn’t you?” She sounded like she was gonna have a heart attack.
“I did what I had to do to save my family, that’s what I did,” I answered calmly. “You would’ve done the same thing if you were in my place. If you had thought of it. Wouldn’t you?”
“I guess.” Jasmine answered. “I just think it’s kinda devious.”
“Not devious, Jasmine. Desperate. I was desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures.”
“But-”
I stopped her. I was in no mood for another lecture. “Look, I think the baby’s awake. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay, but call me back.”
I said good-bye, relieved to get off that phone even though I was sure this conversation wasn’t over. Jasmine had a tendency to talk about shit from the past, and this was some shit she wasn’t gonna let die so easy.