“I was happy. Excited. I would now have somebody that I could claim. Even my mother said she would take or help with the baby if things didn’t work out with me and shorty. I felt as if a baby would give me a chance to get my life right. Like my seed would redeem me. I thought it would be dope to have someone to depend on me.”

“What do you mean?”

“See, I’d always been the black sheep of the family. My younger brother, Kay, was the bright star. He did good in school, then he was even good in the streets. He did something most street niggas couldn’t do or don’t want to do.”

“What was that?”

“He was able to get out the game and go legit.”

“Is that what you measured yourself by—your brother’s success?”

“It wasn’t just that. I envy him, yes. He is a stable family man. I stayed with him for a minute, after I got out the pen, and I peeped how he was a good father and a good husband. That’s what I wanted for myself and for shorty.”

“Didn’t you think about the people you would hurt in the process—your partner? Her husband?”

“Let me tell you something, I was happy. I wanted that baby—despite the circumstances. I gave shorty a ring. Yeah, I put a ring on it. Shorty had it like that.” He licked his lips, as if in remembrance of how good the sex was. “I wanted to marry her and make my baby legit. The baby would have sealed the deal…our deal.”

Dr. Gillis couldn’t keep the irritation out of her voice. “But didn’t you think about the fact that this woman couldn’t marry you since she was still married? That would be bigamy.”

Kyron shifted in his seat. “She was filing for divorce.”

“But why didn’t she?”

His nostrils flared and his tone was angry. “Her husband forced her to come back home to LA. That’s when he made her lose the baby.”

“How did he make her lose it? Did she have an abortion?”

“He told me on the phone he was taking her to abort the baby. And since there never was a baby, I’m assuming that’s exactly what he did.”

“How did that make you feel?”

“That shit was suspect to me. So, of course I was pissed the fuck off!”

“If she really wanted to divorce him, why didn’t she?”

“How do you know she didn’t?”

“I don’t know.”

“He is a violent man. She wrote me this nasty letter that I’m sure he made her write saying it was over.”

“She obviously wasn’t afraid of him—if she cheated with you and went so far as to get pregnant.”