Work Hard, Love Harder

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Blurb:

A rags to riches, pregnancy, Black people romance story. Undergrad Zoe carries the weight of her tumultuous past on her shoulders. To make ends meet and provide for her brother, she makes a living conning men out of their money. But when she tries the same act with a handsome stranger named Femi, everything changes!

What starts as a playful encounter evolves into a whirlwind romance, leading to a deepening connection neither saw coming. But Femi is keeping something from Zoe, that will threaten to tear their relationship apart. A secret that has to do with Femi’s unique family and upbringing…

Now that Zoe’s pregnant, will they have the opportunity to choose their path together? Or will their two very different pasts force them to break things off completely? Discover now in this African American pregnancy romance novel by Shamika Louis.

Chapter 1

“Yo Zoe, wait up!” her friend Sophie called from behind her. She could hear her scurrying along trying to catch up. For a moment, Zoe debated increasing her speed to get away from Sophie, but she couldn’t do it without Sophie noticing what she was doing.

So she slowed down to let her sometimes-friend catch up.

“You goin’ for the Street Fair this year?” Sophie breathlessly asked. Zoe shrugged. She’d applied to get a job as a barista at one of the stalls. She was waiting to see if she’d get the gig. Somehow she didn’t think that that was what Sophie meant by ‘going.’

“Wuuut? Girl, how can you not be sure? There’s going to be mad talent there. You just gon’ sit at home and wait to see if some fairy godmother gon’ get you a prince charming or you gon’ come lookin’ wit me?” she coaxed.

“Imma try to be there, Soph. Don’t push me, girl,” she replied, shoving Sophie away from her gently. Sometimes she enjoyed that Sophie was so insistent with her demands. It drove her out of her comfort zone. Other times she just wanted to shank her.

*****

“Hello?”

“Hello.”

“Zoe Monroque?”

“Speaking.”

“I’m calling to offer you the barista job if you’re still interested.”

Zoe just barely stopped herself from squealing. “Yes, I’m still interested.”

“Excellent. Come to the site at 9 a.m. for orientation. It’s a twelve-hour shift, so dress comfortable.”

“I will do that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Zoe hung up and did a little dance of joy before she crept out of her room and went to check on her brother. He was still asleep, and her mother wasn’t back from her date. Not that she’d care one way or the other if Zoe snagged the gig. All she cared about were her dates and the attention and money she got from men. Zoe went into her closet and tried to find something to wear.

*****

“Zoe Isabella Monroque! Would you come in here right now?” her mother called irritably.

Zoe stood up and moved quickly to her mother’s room, automatically waving away the cigarette smoke that permeated the air in there.

“I gotta go to Atlanta for a few days and I need you to watch Zack,” she said distractedly. Zoe opened her mouth to protest; to say that she’d be working, but her mother had already moved on to packing or whatever she was doing. Besides, Zoe knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue. Her mother was just informing her in a pro forma type way; it wasn’t like her opinion mattered.

“Okay then,” she murmured, backing out of the room and away from all the nicotine in the air.

“Don’t worry,” Zack said from the couch. “I can mostly look after myself.”

His voice was weak and he was hunched over in his blankets, shivering slightly in spite of the warmth emanating from the heater. His blood was pretty thin and he had a hard time getting warm even on a hot day. He tended to get tired pretty fast and his muscles ached all the time. Still, he tried to be as independent as he could within his circumstances. That didn’t include being by himself for long periods of time though.

“Don’t be silly, Zack,” Zoe snapped.

“Phillip can come hang out with me. I’ll be fine,” her brother persisted.

Zoe opened her mouth to say she couldn’t leave her sick brother with no one but his best friend to watch him, but then she thought about how much she needed the money and snapped her mouth closed.

*****

“Your sister is crazy as fu*k. You know that, right?”

“She’s just tryna get out of this life. You can’t really blame her. Hell, if I could walk better, I’d probably be running outta here too.”

“Yeah but…have you seen the old ass man she’s talkin’ to? What could they be discussing so intently? You think she’s…”

“No!” Zack broke in sharply. His sister wasn’t like that.

Zack watched her talking to the customer she was serving. She’d long since given him his beer so she should have gone back behind the counter but she lingered, discussing something so intently with him like they knew each other or something…h ell, he could call the po-po on the guy this minute because she was still definitely jail bait and he was old enough to be her father. Hell, her grandfather. He hadn’t figured Zoe for the ‘looking for a father figure’ type of girl. But he couldn’t imagine what she could possibly have in common with this old guy. Maybe Phillip was right. That course she wanted to do in programming didn’t come cheap. And mama definitely wasn’t gonna pay for it. Still, Zack hated to see her like this. It wasn’t like she was a natural flirt. Hell, she was better at punching a guy out than flirting; Zack could bear witness to that. He knew she did something she was really secretive about, but he had a hard time believing it was that. It was bad enough feeling inadequate because he wasn’t strong enough to protect his sister or help her out in any way. She was his family, and he was failing her. Not that he ever said so aloud. They didn’t really talk about sh*t like this. All he could do was try to help out as much as possible. And right now that meant not letting her know that his back was killing him and his right hand had gone numb. Phillip could help him out just fine.

“Hey dude, could we, like, leave?” he murmured to his best friend.

Phillip stood up immediately. “Yeah, sure, dog. Lemme just go for your wheelchair and…”

“No! Zoe might see and then she’ll be worried and wanna come wit us.”

“Fine but…can you walk?”

“Yeah. If you take it real slow and help me out.”

“Fine,” Phillip said, helping him up from the chair he’d been sitting in. Zoe looked up at once, catching his eye and confirming his suspicion that she’d been surreptitiously watching him. He lifted his left hand and waved briefly, and she nodded in acknowledgement before returning to her work. As soon as they turned the corner and she couldn’t see them anymore, Zack collapsed on the ground, shaking uncontrollably.

“G-get the wh-wh-wheelchair now,” he chattered. Phillip took off in a run.

*****

“I have a surprise for you,” Zoe said coming home late one Sunday. Zack had had convulsions all day, so he wasn’t asleep. It wasn’t like they had a bedtime. Half the time, their mother wasn’t even home at night anyway.

“What?” he asked feigning interest. He was in too much pain to care really, but he could pretend for her.

Zoe stepped out the door and then wheeled something in. It was a new wheelchair. And there was a box of stuff on top of it.

“It’s the electrical kind so you can steer and push yourself and everything,” she said proudly while Zack wondered where…how she got the money to buy it. He’s seen it in the shop window at Nashville Mobility and Medical Supplies and it had been expensive as hell.