"How did people view my mother?" Huelene asked.
"What do you mean Huelene?" Ebony asked.
"What I mean is how did people see her? Was there anybody in particular that my mother had a close relationship with other than Tyrone?" Huelene simplified.
"I don't know if Jazmine was close to that many people. The only other person I had seen her talk to was a little boy named Timothy which she referred to as Timmy," Ebony answered.
"Who's Timothy?" Huey asked.
"Timothy is a little boy who attended the elementary school that Jazmine worked at. He had already been there before she started working there and from Jazmine's perspective, he was always getting in trouble or bullied by other kids for appearance," Ebony said.
"How do you get in trouble and get bullied?" Huey asked a bit dumbfounded.
"I don't know, it was confusing to me when she had told me. Apparently, he could take so much hate until he snapped and he would get into fights with other kids. Then that led him to get in trouble with his teachers and get spankings and he had to get sent to Jazmine," Ebony explained.
"Makes sense," Huey said.
"Yes and I remember seeing the little boy in her office quite a few times when I came to visit her at work," Ebony said.
"Did the boy not have a good home life?" Huelene asked.
"I guess you could say that. His parents had died and he had to move in with his grandpa who wasn't as healthy to be taking care of a child, so his grandpa's caretaker would take care of him before he left to go home," Ebony explained.
"Oh!" Huey spoke.
"Is there anything else about Timothy and Jazmine's relationship?" Huey asked.
"Yes! Timothy had always viewed Jazmine as if she was his mother because he never had a mother. He wasn't able to express himself to his grandfather and his teachers, he would always talk to Jazmine and tell her everything that was going on in his life," Ebony said smiling.
"I always adored her relationship with him and other kids because it showed that she would have been a great mother. She was always there for him and he cherished the little moments he had with her," Ebony spoke almost shedding a tear.
Jazmine was on winter break and it was a frigid winter day. As I drove Jazmine to Timothy's house, we both stayed warm in the car. Jazmine was holding a present for Timothy in her lap and looked out the window to let me know when we arrived at his house.
"What'd you get him?" I asked trying to make conversation.
"Oh, I got him a teddy bear that has his name on the shirt," she answered.
"A teddy bear Jazmine?" I questioned her unsure of the gift.
"Yes, a teddy bear, Ebony," she repeated.
"What's wrong with a teddy bear?" she asked.
"Nothing, I don't think anything is wrong with getting him a teddy bear," I lied.
"Yes you do," she said as I sighed.
"No I don't, I just don't know why you got him a teddy bear if he's a little 8-year-old boy," I said as she frowned at me.
"I got it for him because I think it's the thought that counts," she said.
"The thought," I said being sarcastic.
"There's nothing wrong with a teddy bear. He can put it on his bed or play with it," she said as I sighed.
"Okay, Jazmine!" I said dropping it.
"We're here," she said pointing to the house.
Thankfully there weren't that many cars parked on the street so it was easier for me to park.
I turned off my car and Jazmine immediately got out of the car but she was struggling because of her baby bump. She started walking towards Timothy's front door and I followed behind her.
For a pregnant woman, she sure does move fast!
Jazmine was excitedly knocking and then she waited for it to be answered. I had my hands in my pocket because it was really cold outside and it took a while for the people to answer the door.
I heard fast little footsteps coming towards the door and then I heard locks being unlocked.
The door opens to reveal an excited Timothy.
"Jazmine you made it," he said smiling.
"Of course I did I wouldn't miss it for the world," she said smiling back at him.
I observed Timothy to see that he was still wearing his Looney Tunes pajamas. He had was lightskin that had beautiful curly hair, he came up to me and Jazmine's thighs, he was missing one tooth, dark brown eyes, and he was skinny.
"Come in!" he said stepping aside to let Jazmine and I enter the house.
Thank God it was warm and cozy in here because I was about to freeze outside.
Timothy closed the door behind us and then ran to the kitchen where a man was cooking.
I looked over in the living room to see Looney Tunes playing and an old man was sitting in a chair sleeping. There was an oxygen tank connected by his side indicating he had breathing problems.
"Gary, Jazmine's here," I heard Timothy saying to the man cooking. So the caretaker's name is Gary.
He stopped what he was doing and turned around to look at Jazmine and me.
"Welcome!" he said smiling. Gary looked to be a middle-aged African American, he was skinny, well dressed, and you could tell he was either gay or metrosexual.
"Hi!" Jazmine said waving.
"Timothy has told me so much about you," Gary spoke.
"Oh really!" Jazmine exclaimed.
"Yes, he's come a long way since the beginning of the year," Gary said.
"I'm glad to have helped," Jazmine said.
"Yes, but sit, I don't want you and your mother standing up and hurting your feet," Gary spoke as I felt my cheeks heat up. I can't believe he referred to me as her mother! Not that I don't mind, but I didn't know why he would think I was Jazmine's mother.
We looked nothing alike!
Jazmine and I went and sat down at the table and waited for dinner to be served.
Gary grabbed five bowls from the cabin and started pouring some type of stew into the bowls. He brought two bowls to Jazmine and me and then he set the other three where he, Timothy, and his grandpa would sit at.
Timothy came rushing to the table and sat next to Jazmine.
"Give me a second, I have to go retrieve his grandfather," Gary said holding up his finger and then going to go wake up Timothy's grandfather.
We waited cause it was going to take a while.
I looked over at Jazmine to see she still had the present in her hand and she looked over at Timothy.
"Timothy I got you a Christmas gift," Jazmine said holding up his present.
Timothy's eyes had widen and then he started smiling.
"Really?" he excitedly asked as she nodded.
"I don't know if you're able to open it today or on Christmas, but this is your early Christmas present," she said handing him the present.
"I don't think I'm able to open it today so I'm going to go put it under the tree," he said taking the gift. Before he left to go to the Christmas tree he turned and said: "Thank you, Jazmine!"
"Such a good little boy!" I said.
"Yeah...he reminds me a little bit of Huey," she said smiling.
"How?" I asked. That little boy was too nice to seem like a mean kid.
"He's very open-minded about the world, loves to express his opinions, not the approaching type, and he can be very silly around people he's comfortable around," Jazmine said.
"Sounds exactly like Huey," I said.
"Yes!" she said smiling.
"Plus I know what he's going through at school. I was in his place when I was little. It's hard being a mixed kid in a school filled with one race, especially when it's your own people. I hated being defined as white or black because it went with your whole personality and every stereotype both sides assumed or knew about each other," Jazmine added.
"Yeah," I agreed. I didn't know how it felt but I knew where she was coming from.
"I try to aid him not only physically but mentally because it can be draining hearing negative comments from both sides," she said as I nodded.
I loved the way Timothy would burst with excitement every time he had seen Jazmine and how Jazmine treated him like he was her son. It was so heartwarming to watch!
"How did Timothy feel when he heard Jazmine was sick?" Huelene asked.
"When Jazmine was in the hospital, he would always skip school to visit Jazmine, and when she died I had seen a different side of Timothy," Ebony answered.
"That must have been sad since he had viewed her as a mother," Huelene sadly spoke.
"Yeah, and it really showed that she would have been a good mother. She didn't think she was ready but deep down it was a natural habit for her," Ebony said.
"Did you guys ever do a gender reveal?" Huey asked.
"Or take pictures of her?" Huelene asked.
"I actually have a video and a couple of pictures of her," Ebony said getting up from her chair.
"I'll go get them," she said fleeing the living room.
Huey and Huelene waited for Ebony and sat in silence.
After a couple of minutes, Ebony came back with a photo album and a video camera. She sat right back down in her seat and then placed the stuff on the table.
"May I?" Huey asked directing his hand toward the photo album.
"You may!" Ebony said.
Huey reached over for the book and then grabbed it. He sat back down in his seat and then opened the photo album to look at the pictures.
Huey's heart was rapidly beating as he looked at the pictures of a pregnant Jazmine. He had almost forgotten how she looked, but here she was clear as day.
There were paternity pictures, her gender reveals party, ultrasounds, pictures with little kids, Tyrone, her in the hospital, the birth of Huelene and her other twin, and there were pictures after she came back from giving birth.
"I thought she was hospitalized after she gave birth to Huelene," Huey said.
"She was but she was able to come back home and resume back to her normal lifestyle," Ebony said.
"Okay, but when she was hospitalized?" Huey asked confused.
"As I said before there was a lot that went on after Huelene and her twin were born," Ebony reminded.
"Okay, I want to know what happened when she was giving birth," Huey said as Ebony sighed.
March 17th, 1992 - 2:08 pm
I remember Nicole and I were resting around the house and all of a sudden we got a call from Tyrone. He had told us Jazmine was going into labor. I immediately freaked out because this came out of nowhere for me.
I remember Nurse Jenkins had told us Jazmine was due somewhere in March but I thought her data wasn't right.
Nicole and I left the house and I was speeding and running through red lights, stop signs, and school zones. We were able to make it to the hospital without getting pulled over by the cops.
We were rushing to her room and we were able to make it in time to see her laying in bed with Tyrone next to her.
Jazmine looked as if she had seen a ghost and Tyrone looked to be upset.
His fist was bald up and his body was tense. Jazmine was rubbing his hand in a comforting way which was slowly relaxing him.
What happened?
"We're here!" Nicole spoke alerting the two.
They both looked up at us and Jazmine smiled in relief.
"Hey, Mrs. Brown," Tyrone greeted changing his body posture. He looked to be more relaxed and as if he was hiding something.
"Hi Tyrone," I said looking him up and down.
Thankfully he was wearing long sweatpants.
I looked at his hands to see that his fist had a little dry blood smeared on his knuckles. I looked back at Jazmine to see she looked nervous and she held her head down. They both looked as if they were guilty and hiding something.
"What happened here," I asked directing my fingers between the two of them.
"When we were at school, Timothy came running into my office to let me know that Jazmine's water had broke, and I volunteered to take her to hospital," Tyrone explained as I crossed my arms.
"Okay, but what I meant is what happened to your hands," I said as he directed his attention towards his hands.
"What do you mean?" he asked looking even more guilty.
"What I mean is why are your hands smeared with blood and why does Jazmine look scared to death," I sternly asked.
Tyrone looked back at Jazmine and then looked back at me.
"It's not what you think," he started.
"Did you hit her?" I asked glaring at him.
"What, no, I would never put my hands on Jazmine and you know that," he said trying to defend himself.
"Then where did the blood come from?" I asked him as he looked like he thought about it for a few seconds.
"This is a red permanent marker," he said as I didn't believe him.
"I tried to wash it off but it wouldn't budge," he said as I still didn't believe him.
"Bullshit!" I said.
"Jazmine did he hit you?" I asked looking over at Jazmine who looked kind of scared.
"No, Ebony, he didn't hit me," Jazmine tried to defend.
"Then what happened?" I asked her as she looked to be thinking of something.
"He just told you it was because of a red sharpie," she said trying to go along with Tyrone's story.
"A red sharpie, really? You expect me to believe a grown man had got red sharpie on his knuckles?" I asked rhetorically.
They both were quiet for a few seconds until Tyrone sighed: "Ebony we were in a rush to get to the hospital and she's just scared right now."
"Right, I believe that part of the story but I don't believe why there is blood smeared on your knuckles. And for the record red sharpies don't darken up when you try to wash it off," I said as he looked at his hands.
"Ebony," he tried to say as I held my hand up.
"Tyrone I'm going to need you to leave for the time being. I thank you for bringing Jazmine to the hospital but it'll be best if you leave," I said cutting him off.
He looked as if he was about to say something and then he looked over at Jazmine was slightly shaking her head and then he just sighed.
"Okay...I'll see you later Jaz...let me know how everything goes," he said before leaving the room.
I made sure that he was out of hearing distance and then I looked over at Jazmine.
"Are you alright?" I asked walking over to her.
"I'm fine!" she said as I went and hugged her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here to take you and make sure you were safe," I said as I felt a teardrop on my hand.
"It's okay!" she said trying to contain her tears.
"Did he hurt you?" Nicole asked joining the hug as she shook her head still trying to contain her tears.
March 18th, 1992 - 12:42am
Nicole was exhausted, so I told her she could rest at home. I wanted her to get a good night's sleep because she had work the next day. Nicole said that she was fine and that she wanted to be present for Jazmine's babies' births.
Nicole, on the other hand, was unable to sleep at the hospital, which was another reason I advised her to return home. I merely told her I'd contact her as soon as Jazmine started giving delivery. She should be able to see Jazmine give birth because the drive to the hospital isn't long.
I was sitting in the chair next to Jazmine's bed, trying to stay awake. I didn't want anything to go wrong, so I tried to remain vigilant. Jazmine was similarly tired, but she refused to sleep. She was having contractions and groaning in agony. Jazmine kept caressing her stomach and attempting to keep her tears at bay.
"Jazmine are you okay?" I asked checking up on her as she shook her head.
"Are the contractions getting to you?" I asked as she nodded her head.
"Are you okay mentally?" I asked as she shook her head.
"What's wrong?" I asked wanting to know.
"He's not here?" she said as a few tears slid down her cheeks.
"Tyrone?" I asked she shook her head.
"Huey," she corrected.
"He's not going to be here to see his kids, cut the cord, or do anything," she cried.
"I wanted him with me every step of the way," she cried wiping away her tears. She was sniffling and her nose kept wondering and I looked over at the machine to see her blood pressure was up.
"Jazmine, sweetheart, calm down," I said getting up out of my seat.
She shook her head out of fear and she was just shaking.
"I CAN'T FUCKING CALM DOWN EBONY! STOP ALWAYS TRYING TO HAVE A FUCKING SOLUTION FOR EVERYTHING! I'M ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH TO FUCKING TWINS AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE WILL MAKE IT. SOMETHING DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT! I KNOW HE'S HERE WATCHING ME," she snapped at me.
This took me by surprise, but I could understand that she was in pain and she was mentally trying to handle everything.
"Jazmine, no one is watching you, I'm here to make sure you're safe," I said as she shook her head.
"I KNOW HE'S AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE!" she yelled once again.
"Who, Tyrone, Dr. Anderson?" I asked as she shook her head.
"No, the Devil, he's trying to get me," she said still crying.
"Jazmine the Devil isn't going to get you," I said trying to calm her down.
"Yes, he is! He's going to punish me for all the sins I committed. I did adultery and now I'm being punished for it," she said crying still.
"I'm not going to Heaven," she whined.
"I was stupid to think that I could go to Oklahoma with Huey and now I can't. And I was stupid enough to think I could still go to Heaven but now I can't cause I cheated, got AIDS, I'm pregnant, I wasn't honest, and I broke promises," she said in denial.
"Jazmine you're not going to Hell," I said rubbing her arm. It was hard trying to keep her calm.
"Shut up, you know I'm going to Hell. You don't have to worry about dying yet, you still have your own life to live and mine is cut short," she said snapping at me again.
"Everybody is going to look down on me and say that I deserved it and I do deserve it. I should have never cheated, been dishonest, or break any promises," she exclaimed.
"Now the Devil is going to make me go through burning pain and he's going to bring me down to Hell with him where I'll burn for eternity," she cried out until the nurses and doctors had to come in to calm Jazmine down.
They had to put me out of the room and they told me they would call me back in when she was ready for delivery.
I didn't want to leave her alone! Something bad could still happen, I felt it!
March 18th, 1992 - 9:38 am
Nicole had met up with me at the hospital and the doctor who was going to deliver Jazmine's babies told us we could come back into the room to see Jazmine give birth.
When she was directing where Jazmine was, Jazmine was laying in bed but she had three nurses surrounding her. Her legs were raised up and she just looked drained.
"Ebony, Nicole, you made it," she said in relief.
"Jazmine!" we both said at the same time.
"She requested that you guys would be here," the doctor spoke before going to sit down in her seat.
Jazmine groaned and Nicole and I immediately went by her side.
"Can I hold you guys' hands?" she nicely asked as we both held our hands.
"Of course, you can," Nicole answered.
"How are you feeling?" she asked Jazmine as I just shook my head at Nicole. I was trying to warn her not to ask Jazmine the red flag questions.
"I'm in a lot of pain and I feel like my vagina is tearing apart," she said.
"It's about to get even worse," I heard the doctor mumble as I glared at her.
She didn't need to be hearing all of that!
The doctor started putting on her gloves as Jazmine was taking breathers.
"Are you ready Ms. DuBois?" the doctor asked as Jazmine nodded.
"Okay let's get to it," she said.
"Wait what if I shit on you?" Jazmine asked scared.
"You don't have to worry, I've done this ton of times, you'll be alright," she said as Jazmine looked even more scared.
"I don't want it getting on the babies," she said.
"It's okay Ms. DuBois, it's all-natural, this is a safe space," she assured Jazmine.
After a couple of more minutes, Jazmine started to try and push out the first baby.
I tell you, my fucking hand was hurting! It felt like she was breaking my fucking bones. It was getting sorted all over the place. When we got done I was going to have to get it checked.
"You're almost there," I heard the doctor say.
Jazmine screamed and pushed, and the doctor was able to get the first baby out.
"Congratulations, it's a boy!" she excitedly spoke showing the baby.
"Would either of you like to cut the umbilical cord?" she asked directing her attention towards Nicole and me.
"Jazmine, would you be alright with this?" I asked as she nodded.
"Nicole you can go first," I said as Nicole took the opportunity to cut the cord.
The nurse took away the baby boy so she could clean him up and then the doctor looked back at Jazmine.
"You ready for the second one?" she asked as Jazmine exhaustly nodded her head.
"Okay let's get started with the last one," she said.
Nicole and I had switched places because the other hand Jazmine didn't hold were healed.
This time when Jazmine gave birth to her second baby it went by a little smoothly since she was already stretched out.
"Congratulations, it's a girl!" the doctor said holding up the baby girl.
"You can take this one Ebony," Nicole said smiling along with Jazmine.
One of the nurses handed me the scissors and I cut the baby girl's umbilical cord.
The nurse took her and went to go clean her up.
Jazmine lay there exhausted from pushing out two of her babies.
"See Jazmine, you did it, you were able to give birth to two healthy babies," I said as she smiled and shredded a few tears.
"We're so proud of you, Jazmine!" Nicole said.
"What are you going to name them?" I asked as she just shrugged her shoulders. We all laughed and I said: "We'll figure it out later!"
"I can't believe it!" Huey spoke.
"Yeah, it was a lot going on during her pregnancy, she was in physical and mental pain," Ebony sadly spoke.
"Thankfully she had a safe pregnancy!" she said.
Thank you for reading!