"Surprise!"

A man struggles with the revelation that his girl is cheating on him.

"n***a, i told u. Breezy said it best - these hoes ain't loyal" - iMessage from Terrell

Dre read the text over and over, growing more pissed each time.  He still couldn't quite believe it. He and Keisha had been together since sophomore year of high school.  They had both been through some s**t but could always count on each other.  When Dre's moms had died after catching a stray bullet through her window, Keisha had stayed with him when he couldn't bring himself to leave the house for a week.  And when Keisha's brother lost his battle with diabetes, Dre, who had always treated him like family, was one of the pallbearers at his funeral.  Sure, they had ups and downs like every other couple.  Time when pride and jealousy threatened to overpower the love that they had for each other. But they'd always made it through because they knew "what they had was special" and all the other cliche lines they told themselves.

All those cliches didn't mean s**t now, not after what Dre found last week.  It couldn't have been a more typical slip-up for a cheater - Keisha was in the shower, left her phone on the nightstand, Dre heard it buzz and grabbed it to give it to her, noticed the text was from his cousin Trip.

"don't worry girl, il make sure dre don't know" - iMessage from Trip 

What the hell did that mean! Dre wasn't sure, plus he didn't want it to seem like he was snooping through her phone so he decided to give Keisha (and Trip for that matter) the benefit of the doubt. It was too late that night to be starting something over one text. 

Thinking back now, Dre wished he had.  Not two days later, Terrell messaged him:

"Yo Dre, u better watch ur girl. think she might be playin u." - iMessage from Terrell

"N***a, get the f*** outta here wit dat bullshit" - iMessage from Andre

Terrell and Keisha had never gotten along. Something (Dre couldn't even really recall) had gone down around the time they graduated high school that had caused beef between the two.  Dre was usually caught in the middle and he figured Terrell was just hatin' like usual.

"im tellin u n***a, Keisha ain't on the real like u think she be. where y'all at right now" - iMessage from Terrell

"i'm at home watchin my boys whip the Cavs and Lebron's punk-a*s.  Keisha's out wit her girls shoppin" - iMessage from Andre

"Really? Don't look like she's shoppin to me...(Attachment)" - iMessage from Terrell

Attached were two pics of Trip and Keisha - one of them laughing together at the Julio's and another of them getting into Trip's car.  At that point, Dre lost it. He hurled his phone across the room and punched a hole clear through the bedroom wall.  How could she?  The same woman who had yelled at him for two hours one night because he had been chatting a little too long with "those hoes at the club."  The same woman who threw a drink in his face the one time his eyes wandered, and he checked out their waitress at dinner one night.  She was going to turn around and sneak behind his back - with his own cousin!

Back at the bar, Dre was still fuming.  The liquor had done little to mellow him out.  He had already tried to call Keisha three times, but it had gone straight to voicemail each time.  Was she with Trip right now, ignoring his calls?! Dre decided to confront Keisha in person.  They had been through so much that he deserved an explanation from her directly.  He grabbed his keys and stumbled to the car. Dropped his keys inside, spent two minutes fumbling around before he found them, and started the ignition.  Felt his phone buzz and looked, but it was just another text from Terrell so he ignored it.  Dre pulled out onto the road, ready to bring hell on Keisha and Trip.

Keisha's phone finally powered up.  She was always letting if drop below 10% and today it had actually died on her. "Thanks for lending me your charger, Trip," she said.  "No worries, you know I got you," Trip replied.  S**t! She had missed three calls from Dre.  Probably wondering where she was and a little annoyed she had let her phone die again.  But he wouldn't stay annoyed once he saw what she had been up to.  He thought she was out shopping with her friends, but she'd actually been out with Trip, setting up for his surprise party.  Dre's birthday wasn't for another week so they figured today was the perfect day to surprise him.  Everyone was waiting at Julio's, Dre's favorite spot that she had reserved for the night.  All his best friends were there including Terrell, who she had just remembered to invite about an hour ago.  

Keisha quieted everyone down before picking up her phone to call Dre, but before she finished dialing, an incoming call came from an unknown number. Keisha answered and a solemn voice on the other line asked, "Is this Keisha Phillips?"

"Yeah, this is Keisha.  Who's this?" 

"Hello ma'am, this is Officer Derek Moore.  You are listed as the emergency contact for a Mr. Andre Montgomery. What is your relationship to Mr. Montgomery?" 

"Dre's my boyfriend.  What happened? Is he all right? Did he get into some trouble?"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry to have to deliver this news, but approximately fifteen minutes ago, Dre was involved in a head on collision with a pickup truck.  He was driving on the wrong side of the road.  Unfortunately, he passed away at the scene. We need..."

 

But Keisha blacked out before the officer finished his sentence. Trip and another friend were able to catch her before she hit the floor.  Everyone in the spot was shocked and wondering what had happened, who had called.  Someone called an ambulance while others said some short prayers to themselves.  Keisha almost looked peaceful as she lay unconscious in her friends' arms.

Sadly, she would be confronted with a depressing, new reality once she eventually came to: Dre was gone, and the surprise that she had been waiting all day to tell him about would never have a chance to meet its father.

Author's Note

Just getting into writing and focusing on short stories. I hand write these in a notebook and then transfer them here. Looking for any and all feedback to help me get better.

Disclaimer: I don't curse in real life and am not the most comfortable typing it out but it felt relevant to the story. However, won't type out the F-word. Let me know if that aspect of the dialogue is even necessary at all.