Capricorn
Chapter 46 

Lunar Years Of The Snake
* 1929 (Feb. 10, 1929 - Jan. 29, 1930)
* 1941 (Jan. 27, 1941 - Feb. 14, 1942)
* 1953 (Feb. 14, 1953 - Feb. 2, 1954)
* 1965 (Feb. 2, 1965 - Jan. 20, 1966)
* 1977 (Feb. 18, 1977 - Feb. 6, 1978)
* 1989 (Feb. 6, 1989 - Jan. 26, 1990)
* 2001 (Jan. 24, 2001 - Feb. 11, 2002)
* 2013 (Feb. 12, 2013 - Jan. 27, 2014)
* 2025 (Jan. 27, 2025 - Feb. 8, 2026)
* 2037 (Feb. 8, 2037 - Jan. 21, 2038)
* 2049 (Jan. 22, 2049 - Feb. 3, 2050)

*

Adena didn't know how long she had stood there in shock, but she was there long after Taye and his mother left. She snapped out of it when a nurse walked by her and noticed her. "Ma'am? Are you alright? You're looking pale. Do you need anything?"

Adena looked at them, "No, I'm fine. It's just been a rough day." The nurse nodded and walked off. Adena saw an empty couch and sat on it, trying to take everything in. 

Did Craig try to defend her honor by beating Taye to a pulp? Or was he doing it because he practically hates him? Why was he working at a strip club? What about his regular gig? Before she could ask anything else, a text came through from Lloyd asking where she was. 

Fuck. She still had to go to work and be a responsible adult when all she wanted to do was run straight into traffic.

No Adena. Let's not go back there.

She had to find Missy. Where was she anyway? She sent her a text and then impatiently called her...and called her...and called her. Where the hell was she?! Before she could freak out too much, Missy finally replied back to her message. Adena told her she was ready to go and where to meet her. Once Missy showed up, Adena looked at her and narrowed her eyes. "Where have you been?"

"I told that officer to tell you I went to talk to Ron."

"Looks like you were doing more than just talking," Adena said as she noticed Missy's hair was looking rough and her top was inside out. Missy looked down at her top, gasped, and walked into the bathroom. "Nice. I'm going through the worst day of my life, and all you can think about is reenacting Grey's Anatomy with Ron. Thanks for the support."

"Um, excuse me, I am supporting you. I'm here now, aren't I? I've been here with you all morning. I've been up all night looking for you on my day off, might I add. Besides, I was sitting around and doing nothing once you walked in there. I felt useless. Now I'm feeling happy and refreshed," Missy said with a smile as she fixed her hair.

"Can we just go, please?" Adena demanded, and Missy rolled her eyes and followed her out.

"Ok, so what now?" Missy asked her. 

"I gotta figure out how to get my man out of jail. I also have to get back to work and run a gallery while trying not to think about the fact that I ran into Taye's mother, Taye, and Kim all while you were having hospital closet sex."

"We weren't in a closet; we were in an empty room but hold on, what? Taye? Kim? His mom!?" Missy exclaimed, and Adena had to do a whole rundown on what she missed, how she overheard Kim and his mother in the bathroom about Taye being diagnosed as bipolar and Kim basically becoming their family therapist. How Taye's mom even knew she was pregnant, but Taye still didn't believe it and even wanted a paternity test - by next week. "Wait, ohmygod," Missy said as she grabbed her arm. Adena looked at her and then looked where she was looking.

It was Kim. Again. She was rushing back inside the hospital like she left something behind. They almost ran into each other. She did a double take when she saw them and did another when she saw Adena's stomach. She looked at her with wide eyes. She looked like she wanted to ask what was going on, but Missy flicked her off and nudged Adena toward the revolving doors. 

"Forget that bitch, don't pay her any mind."

Adena walked through the doors and looked back but couldn't see Kim through the crowd of people coming in and out of the hospital. "Is it just me, or did it look like she didn't know I was pregnant until this very moment?"

"That's what she gets for being a traitor. She's going to be the last to know about EVERYTHING that goes on in OUR lives. That's what she gets. Besides, you were nowhere near done with what else happened."

Adena was already tired and forgot where she left off and was frankly too exhausted to continue about all the other fuckery that happened. "Oh, and Beverly showed up, thanks to you," she said to her as their Lyft pulled up. 

"Well, Craig is her brother; she has the right to know."

"How did she know I wasn't answering my phone? She had the nerve to say, 'What kind of girlfriend leaves her man high and dry'" mocking Beverly, making her sound like a nagging Minnie Mouse.

"By that point, we had been calling you for hours. She asked where you were."

"Yeah, well, thanks for your help. She gave me hell back there and totally blew my cover. The officer called me Mrs. David, and she totally snitched on me. 'I'M the only Ms. David here, nah nah nah nah nah," Adena said, mocking her again.

"Ok, chill. She doesn't even sound like that. But hell, be glad I called her because if she can't bail him out, I know for sure her man can. Wouldn't you like to come home from work tonight to find Craig back at home?"

Actually, Adena didn't know because if what Taye said was true, she didn't want him anywhere near her. He's been lying to her for almost a month! Why? Why would he lie about working at a strip club unless...

Was he doing more than just playing music? Well, besides beating her ex to a pulp. "You know what. I don't know. Maybe if Beverly bails him out, she should take him to Long Island with her."

"Why?" Missy asked, not expecting that response. Then Adena told her everything about Craig. When the Lyft pulled up to the gallery, Missy was in complete shock, and Adena was even more shocked after saying it out loud. "No, girl, Taye is lying. He's just trying to throw your man in jail. He's just trying to ruin your life as usual-"

"They were at a strip club. Why was Craig even there? Either he was paying for entertainment, or he was the entertainment, and either way, I don't want him anywhere near me until I get the truth from him," Adena said. Missy shook her head. "I gotta go. Rest of the ride's on me."

"Call me when you get off, girl. We're gonna figure this out," Missy assured her, and Adena just slammed the car door shut without meaning to. She looked at the gallery before she walked in. This was the last place she wanted to be.

But you couldn't tell when she walked in with a sweet smile like she didn't have a care in the world. "Oh, thank God," Lloyd said. "Nothing crazy has happened. Things have been normal, but everyone is calling for you. You have dozens of messages."

"Great, I'll start on that now. I will be hiding in my office-"

"Wait, how's Craig? What happened?"

"It's a long story Lloyd, but he's gonna be ok," Adena said, even though she had no idea.

"Well, as long as he's ok, we can't let an angel like him get away; he's been a godsend," Lloyd swooned. Adena only replied by walking away. "Oh, um, make sure to call Kehinde back first. He's called several times about your 'Big Idea.'"

"Shit," Adena said as she went up the stairs to her office as fast as she could. Why the hell did she make up a big art event at a time like this?! She practically slammed her office door shut and flopped into her chair. She put her head in her hands and tried to take a deep breath. Then her phone rang. She groaned and picked up, "Yes?"

"It's Kehinde-"

"Send him through."

"Well, actually, he hung up. He wants to Skype you. He just sent you an email."

Adena sighed, "Ok, fine, hold my calls until then." She sighed again as she put her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. She looked at the mirror she had on her desk and wished she didn't. She looked a mess. She quickly applied some mascara and some gloss as she multi-tasked and logged into her Skype, and messaged him. A few minutes later, Adena was flashing her best professional smile again. "Hi, Kehinde."

"There you are. You're certainly hard to get a hold of," Kehinde said. 

"That's the life of a CEO," Adena said with a shrug.

"Yep, being the Boss is definitely not easy," he said to her, "So, how are you? How are you holding up?"

She wished he hadn't asked that. Once he asked how she was, the floodgates opened. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "Today is just the worst day-"

"Your assistant said you were out taking care of family business. Everything ok?" he asked, concerned, and she shook her head no. "Now, I know this is easier said than done, but you're breathing for two right now. We can't have you hyperventilating and stressed."

"I know...I'm trying."

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked her. She paused as she wiped her tears and tried to pull herself together. "Tell you what. Since this is just an extracurricular type of event and you have your normal day-to-day and family stuff to take care of, let me get the ball rolling on the Juneteenth event. How does that sound?"

Adena sighed, "Fine. What do you need from me?"

"To take care of you. Get some rest. Don't even worry about the event. I got it all taken care of. I remember everything you said yesterday, and I'm going to make that all happen and more."

"You really don't have to-"

"I kind of do. If we want this to succeed, we got to get the ball rolling now, but we're a team, and I'm going to pick up the slack until you can fully concentrate on this, ok?"

Adena nodded. "Thank you so much. I'm really sorry."

"It's no problem. But the baby is fine, right? Is that the family stuff? Can I ask?"

"No, the baby's fine."

"It better not be man trouble," he said with a chuckle, but she didn't say anything. He took her silence as a yes. "Ok, well, let me let you go. Call me if you need anything, anything at all. When we circle back, I will show you all the miracles I pulled off."

"You're too kind, Kehinde. Thank you."

"Anything for you, darling. Take care."

When he logged off, she leaned back in her chair and continued to wipe her tears. "What the fuck, Adena? Get it together," she whined out loud. Then her phone rang again. She groaned. However, it wasn't her office phone. She took her cell phone out of her bag and answered. "Hey, Daddy."

"Babygirl, what's going on? You sounded really upset in your message," her father said, "You're crying. You're at work?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm in charge of this place for the next few weeks, so all of this drama couldn't come at a worse time," she said as she found her charger and made sure to plug it in before it died on her again. "I need help."

"Ok, tell me, Babygirl, and it's done," her father said. He was pacing in his library at home and sat down behind his desk. She was really upset. Whatever it was, it wasn't good for her or the baby.

"Craig got arrested. I need help bailing him out," she said as she began to cry again. Her father tried to stay calm so as not to make her more upset but to say he was pissed was an understatement.

"What did he do?"

"Defended my honor," Adena said, sugarcoating it. If she told him all of what Taye told her, she was sure he would hang up and let Craig rot there. "Taye found out about the baby. He saw pictures of the surprise shower. Thanks a lot for that, by the way. I wanted to be the one to post the photos first. Anyway, Taye came by the gallery last night. He didn't believe me at all. Said I was trying to trap him. That I was running around. Just really crazy stuff, Dad. Craig ran into him, and they got into a fight. Beat him to a pulp. He's in jail for assault."

"All because of the crazy things he said to you?"

"Yeah..." Adena said, but then she realized she never had the chance to tell Craig what had happened between her and Taye. When she got home, Craig was already at work. How did he know about their conversation?

"And you want ME to pay for HIM to get out? How much is bail?"

"I have no idea, and I don't have the time to find all that out and do what I need to do here."

"Take the day off huney-"

"I CAN'T! I'm in charge! I'm CEO. Everyone is counting on me. I am Donatella for the next few weeks, and I need help, Daddy, please," Adena said and started to cry again.

"Ok, ok, ok, I understand. I'll call a few of my people and see what I can do. Do not stay there all night. Clock out at 5 or whatever your usual time is and go home. I'll have to come to the city. Once I get that taken care of, I'm coming to your place. Got it?"

"Got it," she said with a nod. "Thank you, Daddy. I'm sorry for freaking out."

"It's not your fault. It would have been nice if Craig had kept his cool," he said, but he also understood. He would've done the same thing. He has done the same thing. He got into quite a few fights over Adena's mom back in the day. "I'll make a few calls. Keep your phone on. In the meantime, keep your cool, ok? Don't stress the baby."

"Ok, thank you, Daddy. Please try to do this as fast as you can. I won't be able to sleep until I know he's out," she said. Also, if her dad could bail out Craig before Beverly even thought about it, she'd have to finally show her some damn respect and lay off about what happened this past weekend. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said. He hung up, sighed, and got to work as he looked through his many phone contacts.

Once Adena hung up and calmed herself down, and washed her face, she sat down and called Lloyd. "Yes?"

"Lloyd, be honest with me. You're the only person that knows about the altercation Taye and I got into last night, right?"

"Yes...and no. See, after work, I went to The Love Shack, and I saw Craig. We got to talking, and he said he still hadn't heard from you, and I said, make sure you call her..."

"And? Because? What?" Adena asked him.

"Well, he kind of dragged it out of me, girl; I'm sorry. He wanted to know. I told him the gist, and then we went our separate ways."

"Where did Craig go after you told him?"

"He went to his other job. The new club he works at, I guess. What's it called?"

Adena paused, realizing that Craig had never told her the name of the club. Unless the name was 'Oh, don't worry about it, you've never heard of it.' "Lloyd, do me a favor, ok?"

"Yeah?"

"Stay out of my fucking business. This is why I keep shit like this to myself," Adena said and hung up on him. Lloyd sat at his desk, jaw dropped to the floor as he looked at his desk phone and then slowly hung up. 

Wait? What? What the hell did he do? He had no clue what was going on. His lips quivered a little, but he tried his best to keep his cool.

Adena didn't have a clue either, but every time she spoke to someone, she would find out something new that filled in the timeline of last night. 

She was going to find out the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but.

So help her God.

*

Capricorn Snakes are good providers and like to create a solid family base.

*

Luckily the gallery was pretty slow today; well, for her anyway, slow days hurt the sales consultants, and she knew all too well. Hopefully, with this Juneteenth event, it would turn everything around. She paced herself and took her time doing her day-to-day work. She had to stop stressing because the baby didn't like it. She could literally feel it. Once she was in a better mood, she actually had time to reach out to Kehinde before she clocked out. She'll work from home if need be. 

She and Lloyd were locking up when Kehinde called her again. "I'm glad you're feeling better and are in much better spirits. What are your plans? I would like to take you out to dinner, have a nice and relaxing time, we don't even have to talk about the event if you don't want to."

Adena sighed inwardly, damn this man, how many times will she have to turn him down before he starts turning salty? "Thanks for the offer, but I really need to get home and deal with everything from earlier today."

"Yes, of course. Well, again, if you need me, let me know."

"Thanks, Kehinde, I will." As they said their goodbyes, she saw Lloyd quickly lock up and leave the gallery without so much as a goodbye. Yeah, maybe she deserved that. But if Lloyd had kept his damn mouth shut, Craig wouldn't be in jail right now.

He would just be working at a strip club that he was lying about for almost a month now though.

Too exhausted to walk to the subway, she ordered a ride. She couldn't wait to have this baby and be able to walk to and ride public transportation again. Rideshare prices were going up and not down. 

When she walked into her apartment, she haphazardly tossed her purse on the couch and rushed to the bathroom. Home sweet home. She could hear her phone ringing, and she took the fastest piss ever. She hoped she would make it in time because it could be...

"Hello?" she answered, out of breath as she collapsed on the couch.

"You have a collect call from an inmate-"

"YES!" she practically shouted. "YES! I ACCEPT!" she said and waited. 

"Hello? Adena?" came his voice. His heavy but soft and soothing voice.

"Yes? Yes, baby, I'm here. I'm here," she said as tears welled up in her eyes. Damn it. 

"Are you ok?" they both asked each other at the same time. "Are you ok?" she asked again, beating him to it. 

"I'm as good as I can be in here. Luckily they gave me a morphine drip at the hospital before bringing me back, and I hope it lasts...until I can get myself out of here."

That explained why he sounded so calm and soothing. "Yes, baby, I'm working on that right now to get you out of there. I'm calling everyone I can."

"Thank you, baby. Again, I'm really sorry to put you through this. This is the last thing you need right now," he said. She definitely agreed, but he continued, "Also, I need to apologize about Beverly. She's, um, quite the Alpha Female and is very overprotective."

"Oh, I know that. Well, please be the Alpha Male and tell her to cool it. I'm an Alpha Female, too. I'm carrying a cub. I'm a mother. There's no one more protective than that."

"I know. I did. I didn't like how she talked to you, and I didn't like that she used 10 of our 30 minutes to talk about her mother-in-law. Luckily though, I played the sick card. I probably looked pitiful and pathetic, but I guilted her into being nicer to you and that her mom-in-law is just going to have to buy her own damn Gucci outfit."

Adena smiled. "How did she take that?"

"Again, I played the sick card so she felt bad, and she said she would talk to her. And talk to you."

"I haven't heard a peep from her."

Craig sighed, "Not surprised. But you'll hear from her. When you do, be nice ok?"

"I can't promise anything, Craig. I'm stressed the fuck out."

"I know, and she is too, all because of me. You both can relate to each other more than anything. You both are on the same team."

"True, but you and I? Are we on the same team?" she asked him.

"Of course, baby. I know I am majorly lacking right now, but I'll make it up to you. However, I can, I promise. You're not in any pain, are you? Has the soccer player been kicking all day?"

Adena smiled, "ALL day. They probably kicked 100 field goals today."

"That's football, babe," Craig chuckled. Soon someone in the background started telling him to get off the phone. Craig sighed, "These motherfuckers man."

"You sure you're doing ok in there?" she asked. Whenever her mind wandered, it would go over all the worst-case scenarios. "You're safe?"

"I got my own cell and my own toilet, and I'm minding my business. That's all I can do."

Then the automated system said they were running out of time. Adena started to panic. Should she ask him if everything that Taye said was true? "Craig, is there anything I need to know that could maybe help you out? Anything you haven't told me?"

However, the inmates in the background were getting impatient and kept harassing him to get off the phone. Craig started to argue back.

"Craig? Craig?! Don't pay them any attention!" she said. "Craig! We're running out of time."

"Sorry, babe. I'm surrounded by other Alpha Males, and we only have 2 working phones."

"When can I talk to you again? In case it all takes longer than we want it to."

"I'll try to call as often as I can. I don't know. It depends on the correctional officer. How many of these assholes need to use the phone. How many fights break out to use the damn phone."

"Well, I miss you, baby, we both do," she said as tears rolled down her face. Craig sighed; he could tell she was starting to cry again. If he could only turn back time, he regretted everything that happened right now, especially talking to Lloyd and having the bright idea to take matters into his own hands, but he didn't know what else to do.

"I miss you too, baby. You know that. The little soccer player, too," he said as the reception started to crackle. "Let me hang up before it cuts us off."

"Wait, Craig?"

"Yes, babe?"

"I...I love you, Craig," she said. There was silence on the other end, and the reception started to crackle. Then the call ended. "Craig? Craig?" she said. She tossed the phone next to her on the couch and covered her face in her hands.

What was that? Her head was saying to get to the bottom of this and find out what happened. Her heart was missing him, longing for him and praying he came home. Safe. Her stomach said, Mommy, stop stressing me out.

Meanwhile, Craig was in shock. Did he hear her correctly? She said she loved him? 

"I know your time has to be up. Hand over the fucking phone," another inmate said. The inmate that was harassing him before was removed, but another took his place.

"Sure," Craig smirked as he patted him on the back and left the phone hanging by its cord. The inmate eyed him in confusion, expecting a fight or something. 

He walked over to the correctional officer, and they took him back to his cell. All the way there, he felt like he was floating. He kept on his poker face to not show any weakness, but once the cell doors slammed behind him and were locked, he smiled widely as he lay on his cot.

His baby loved him.

*

The Capricorn sign makes Snakes more profound than the other signs and animals but still reserved. The Chinese also agree that if the Snake is a Capricorn, they need to learn to relax.

*

Adena was lost in thought when there was a knock at her door. She jumped up and rushed to the door, but it was her Dad. She was glad to see him, but we all know who she would rather have walking through that door right now. He hugged her close. 

"How are you holding up?"

"A little better. I just talked to him. He sounded fine, or he was holding it together, at least. I'm worried about him, though. I don't want him to get hurt in there. Were you able to talk to anyone?"

"Yes, I called every lawyer, cop, and everyone in the precincts that I know. We're working on it, babe. We just hope it all goes in our favor."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep until he's here."

"I know, sweetheart" he sat next to her on the couch and looked at her. She looked different than how she looked earlier on their Facetime call. Thankfully. Earlier, she was distraught, but right now, she looked more hopeful. She even had a dreamy look in her eyes, and her face was even glowing. "Have you eaten?"

"Snacking but not dinner, no."

He got up and went into the kitchen, and it was organized to the T. Her kitchen looked like the ones in the Tiktok videos her mother would show him. He didn't know why in the hell she was even on there. Everything was easy to find. He made a simple pasta with Texas Toast. 

"Thank you, Daddy," Adena said gratefully as they sat at the dining room table. Once they were finished, she asked, "So who did you call first? Al?" she asked him. Al was one of her father's best friends. Basically, the Ron in his life. They met in college, were roommates, and were even roommates when they graduated and moved out. Al probably knew her Dad the best, well after her Mom.

Rich smiled, "I did. He says hello. He wants to know how you're holding up with the divorce and the pregnancy and all."

"Does everyone know my business?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but I didn't post anything. You gotta yell at one of your overzealous aunties. However, if one of their posts made Taye come to your job again and harass you, I'm going to give them all a good talking to my damn self," he said. "A small part of me is glad Craig did what he did. He's been asking for it."

Adena looked at him with surprise, "Really?"

"He got to do what all your brothers from other mothers in our family and I have wanted to do since last Thanksgiving. Especially Uncle Hank." Adena shook her head, remembering the huge fight Taye and her cousins had over a stupid Spades game and how it all went out of control.

"So does that mean your probation period is over?" she asked him. He looked at her quizzically. "You know how you are, Dad. You did it with Damon, then Taye, and you're doing it to Craig. Being hard on him to see if he checks off all of your boxes. Testing him."

"I wish I could say so," he said with a shrug.

Adena looked at him, "What else does Craig need to do to show you that he's good enough for me?"

"Stay out of jail. Stay out of trouble. It's not like his background is squeaky clean," he said.

"His background? What do you know about any of that?" she asked him. He paused. "Dad? Dad? What did you do?"

"Like you said, Al was the first one I called," her father said as he got up and opened his briefcase. He handed her a huge manila envelope. "He's looking into how to help Craig out, but I also asked for a thorough background check."

"Are you serious? And you read it? And now expect me to read it?"

"Look, sweetheart, I know he may be cute and dreamy and romantic, and it's amazing he's stepping up in Taye's place, but I want my daughter to know who the hell she is living with."

"And what if I don't? What if I don't look at it?"

"You should look at it."

"No!"

"You need to know what this man's been through, and you need to know what this man has done! You've only known him for 6 months. You were practically pregnant the whole time you have known him. That is NOT enough time to know someone, start a life with someone, especially so soon after a stressful divorce."

Adena's fears rose to the surface again, everything that Taye said. If he was working at the strip club this whole time, what else has he lied about? Can she really trust him?

She shook herself out of it. "Daddy, I love him. Ok? And you're just going to have to deal with that."

"Sweetheart, I don't even think you truly know what love is!"

"Oh wow. Really? Why? Because I couldn't even stay married for a year?! It's not MY fault I'm divorced! Taye practically forced my hand! I did everything right. I know how to love. I know what love is! Everyone ELSE has no clue!"

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"Dad, just go, please," Adena said as she went into her room and slammed the door. He sighed so much for breaking that to her nicely.

"Adena, you don't have to look at it tonight but promise me you will read it," he said through her door.

"I can't promise that, Dad; please go!"

"For the sake of your child, my grandchild, I hope you reconsider. I only did this because I love you. Not because I want to ruin your life. I want you to be safe and loved, I'm trying to protect you."

However, she didn't answer. He looked at his watch and decided it was time to go. He did all he could do. Now it was up to fate and Adena to take it from here. He just hoped that whatever she did, it was the right choice.

*

Famous Capricorn Snake: Henri Matisse (Painter; b. Dec. 31, 1869)

*

https://youtu.be/e2Ljkr9NmOg