Passing ships

At this very moment, I am a single mother of two girls. I love my daughters with every fiber of my being. That will never change. With that being said though, my life was supposed to be different. I was supposed to be married with a house and two kids: one boy and one girl. I was supposed to be a nurse practitioner.

On April 2, 1985, a baby girl was born. This baby girl would be named Latoya. Two years, four months and eighteen days later, my baby brother was born. It is just him and me. So, one day, my little brother runs into the house crying because "a boy" took his bike.

"A boy? What boy??" I asked.

"That bad one that always be getting in trouble. I don't like him." He sobbed.

"Oh yea?" I said.

I went outside and walked up the alley I know he hangs in. He was there, like I knew he would be.

"That's my brothers bike!" I told him.

First, he laughed at me. Then, he gave me the bike. I thought I was gonna have to fight him.

I was 6 and young BD (Baby Daddy)was 7. That was our first encounter...EVER. Fast forward to our pre-teen years. BD would pick with me every chance he got. Our parents lived (and still live) on the same street. His house is at the top of the street, while my parents house is closer to the middle of the block. One day, I'm standing on the bus stop at the top of the street. I start hearing these sounds. It didn't sound right. "Pop! Pop! Pop!" "Tink! Tink! Tink!"

"What in the world is that noise?" I thought.

I looked down and around on the ground near where i was standing. I saw little metal pellets bouncing off my coat and falling to the ground. BD was shooting me with BB's from his porch. He shot me y'all. He was close enough to hit me, but far enough away t not hurt me. Another time, I'm walking home from school. I walked the exact same way every single day. I walked through the alley as a short cut. Well, Mr BD popped out of a bush and poured orange soda in my hair. Awesome, right? Fast forward some more to age 16. Our dynamic has changed. He helped me study for and pass the driving permit test. A little more time passes, and now it's high school graduation time. Back in my day (I am old enough to say that now), you went to college after high school. After that, you start a career and family. I was supposed to go to NYU, New York University. At that time, it was 30 thousand dollars a year. I had scholarships. I wanted to become a nurse practitioner. Even though BD and I had known each other for a decade, we hadn't exchanged numbers until then. He did ythis thing where he would walk up behind me and put money in my pocket. He would tell me to go get my hair or nails done. This was huge to me. Well, one day I was getting my nails done at the salon with my best friend at the time. It was pretty quiet. My cell phone starts ringing. Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" is blaring from my purse.I looked over at it.

"You love him!" My friend said with a grin.

Apparently, I was smiling ear to ear as I looked at my purse. I had, in fact, fallen in love. I never went away to college. I am not a nurse practitioner. I have never been married....We made our relationship official when I turned 19. I gave birth to our daughter when I was 20. As they say, the rest is history. I do not live my life with regret. I believe things happen exactly how they are supposed to and things happen for a reason...