Excerpt from Unexpected Detours

As if her deadbeat jailbird baby daddy coming back isn’t bad enough but someone holding her darkest secret has also resurfaced. Can Meeka James keep her marriage to Chico Banks intact with the constant pursuit of her ex-boyfriend Darius Price interfering with their happiness?

June 2002

It’s amazing what made me fall for Darius Price: hope. He always gave me “hope” that things would work out for us. When he stopped cheating with me and broke up with his girlfriend to be with me, he gave me the hope of having a man of my own. Once I found out that he cheated on me, Darius thought that giving me a baby would convince me he wanted me. With the hope of having a family, I lost the baby. After my miscarriage, Darius was so gung-ho on having kids that we were fucking night and day, except when he was out hustlin’ with his boy Aaron Jones. Just when the money was flowing good and Darius was acting like he had some sense, he gets arrested! That was the end of me hoping Darius would do right by me and our child. With Baby Daddy’s dumbass locked up in jail, I took another dip on the roller coaster of my life.

Thankfully for me, I rarely stay in a depressed mood. For one, now that I was officially a single mother, I couldn’t let my son Demetrius see me when I was weak. At four years old, Meechie was too young to be the man of the house so I had to hold it down even harder. Darius was a father in the physical sense when he chose to sleep at home but for the most part, I raised Meechie alone.

Never one to have a lot of friends, Meechie was my whole world when Darius went to jail. The closest person to me was Rachael Wallace and that was only because she was the girlfriend of my boyfriend’s best friend. The few times I saw her, Baby Girl generally kept to herself while Darius, Ron and I played video games and smoked weed. After Darius and Ron got locked up, I didn’t assume Baby Girl and I would suddenly become friends but it would be nice to have an adult conversation. I love my baby Meechie but there is only so much Nick Jr a Mama can watch!

Since I was more outgoing, I figured I should be the one to break the ice between Baby Girl and me. Catching her in our apartment building hallway, an invitation for her to come and hang with me turned into the beginning of our friendship. With our men locked up in jail, we both found ourselves suddenly single! Well, I was single. As much as Baby Girl loved Ron, I never would’ve imagined anyone else could turn her head. Our first night out and she replaced Ron in a snap! As for me, I was only looking for Mr. Right Now! Fate has a funny way of changing your plans.

With only one thing on MY mind, I took Baby Girl to Hoochie City to find someone to take my mind off my troubles. Our chance encounter with the owner of the club definitely helped my chances as I was praying that I could skate by on the $10 I had in my purse. With free passage into Hoochie City, once we were inside the club, Baby Girl and I peeped the smorgasbord of fine men inside. Tall. Short. Thin. HUGE. Sugar Daddies. Baby Daddies in training. Men of all types and I just wanted one for the night.

“Let the games begin!” I said to myself as I stepped out onto the dancefloor. No sooner than I’d left her side did Baby Girl get harassed by a brutha she CLEARLY had no interest in. Just when I was making my way back to her to help her, her savior Mr. Alonzo Banks came to her rescue! Seeing an opportunity to get my free buzz on, I jumped at Zo’s offer to get us a drink. The added bonus: a fine ass redbone brutha just sitting and waiting at Zo’s private table!

When we reached the booth, Zo announced, “Ladies, this is my older brother and partner, Chico Banks. Chico, this is…”

“Meeka!” I exclaimed as I grinned from ear to ear. I had a weakness for redbones and immediately scooted close to Chico.

“And Baby Girl,” Zo finished while briefly squeezing Baby Girl close to him.

“Baby Girl?” Chico asked with a chuckle. “Is that the name your mama gave you?”

“Is Chico the name your mama gave you?” Baby Girl queried as she sat down next to me. Zo filled in the last bit of space by sitting next to her.

“Didn’t I tell you she had some fire, man,” Zo commented.

“Yo, man, ya girl’s a trip.” Chico reached across the table to give Zo daps.

“I’m nobody’s girl, thank you,” Baby Girl snapped.

“Hey, curb the attitude, chick,” said Chico defensively. “I didn’t mean it like you was his woman or something. Damn!”

Seeing that Chico’s attention was not on me, I cleared my throat. “Damn, I’m thirsty. Where are those drinks, Zo?”

Not that I minded the competition, but I was relieved when Baby Girl turned her attention back to Zo. Instantly, my focus was back on Chico as I felt his hand on my thigh!

“So what’s up with you, Sexy?” Chico said as he slowly walked his fingertips up and down my bare legs. “What brings you to Hoochie City tonight?”

Who are you calling, Sexy Mr. Gorgeous?

Immediately, I whipped my head around when I heard Baby Girl say “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

I guess she’s just as done with Ron as I am with Darius! Go ‘head Miss Baby Girl!!

Turning my focus back to Chico, I said, “My Girl wanted to get out of the house and since we’re both man-free, I figured we should come here and get our party on!”

“Is that right?” Chico said, slowly looking me up and down. “Is it girls’ only or would you like to ‘party’ with me instead?”

Once Baby Girl and Zo walked away to go dance, I gave Chico a stern look. “So you assumed that since I’m dressed like this that I’m jus’ gon’ give it up because you own this club?! Boy please! I wouldn’t brag about that with that bitch in the box office as the first face anyone sees IF they still want to come in!”

Immediately, Chico took my head into his hands and kissed me hard. “I didn’t assume anything. I know what I want and I go after it.”

“Is that right?” I asked with a smirk. “So you wanna get into my panties tonight?”

Looking stunned, Chico replied, “Are you always this blunt?!”

“Life’s short, Chico. I don’t know about you but I ain’t got time for bullshit. You said you go for what you want. Isn’t that what you wanted?” I asked seductively.

Smiling, Chico said, “Yes.”

Instantly, our lips were all over each others! When my Girl and Mr. GQ returned to the table, Zo cleared his throat but I wanted them to go away!

“Meeka, we’re going to go get something to eat,” said Zo.

“That’s… nice…” I managed to get out in between kisses.

“You going or are you gonna be alright?” Baby Girl asked.

“I’ll be fine… Go have fun… Call me later…” I urged.

Since I drove, I didn’t feel too bad about letting Baby Girl leave me at the club. Before she went to dance with Zo, Chico was whispering nasty thoughts into my ear. By the time my Girl came back to the table, my Bacardi and Coke was the last thing on my mind!

“You were saying?” Chico smirked once we were alone again.

“Your place or mine?” I grinned.