Good Man

Do you always trust your first initial feeling
Special knowledge holds true, bears believing
I turned around and the water was closing all around like a glove
Like the love that had finally, finally found me
Then I knew in the crystalline knowledge of you



It had been a long seven months since Crystal Banach had told Joey Armstrong that she was pregnant with his child; the child he didn't believe could be his and denied almost vehemently every chance he got. A part of her knew it was his own fear of his longtime high school sweetheart, Nicole, finding out he'd been unfaithful and didn't want to jeopardize what he had going for him. Crystal also knew a part of it had to be fear of what his parents would say.

She could tell that no matter how much of a strong front he put up, and how much he denied needing his parents to approve of anything he did, he secretly pined for them to be proud of his ventures and how he was growing into a man.

Then there was the part of Crystal that still wished for him to step up and be the father to this child the baby deserved, as well as the support Crystal deserved, but much to her parents' shock and horror, she had resigned herself to doing this all on her own, without their help, the baby's father's help or acknowledgment.

She had finished the spring semester of college and had moved out of her apartment in the city and found a smaller, two bedroom in downtown Oakland, subconsciously desiring to be near Joey in case of some emergency where she had to need him for the sake of the baby. She had already been working a part-time job at a coffee shop and unbeknownst was planning on taking on a full time in the fall, after the baby was born and she had state assistance for child care, welfare and food stamps.

She really believed she could do this. All by her lonesome.

And it was only July 17th that she was doubling over in pain in her little shithole of an apartment. The cramps seemed to kick in out of nowhere and she began to waddle all over, searching for her car keys. She suddenly couldn't think straight as she left her apartment; forgetting the bag she had packed to bring with her, as well as her purse which had her license, money and medical cards in it.

Crystal got into her car as quickly as she could and drove away toward the free clinic that had just opened up a couple weeks earlier. She didn't have the insurance to cover going to a hospital and she had already checked with the clinic ahead of time and they had confirmed they did have the proper facilities for childbirth.

She wasn't positive how long she'd been speeding but it was sometime around the time that the blue and red sirens began to flash behind her from the cop car signaling for her to pull over.

Groaning in aggravation and pain, Crystal obliged and then cursed to herself when she realized she forgot her purse and bag.

A lady cop came up to the window as she rolled it down and looked up at her; sweat beads forming on her forehead. "Do you know how fast you were going, miss?" she questioned.

"I wasn't paying attention, ma'am. I'm sorry. I just need to get to the free clinic. I'm in labor." And sure enough, the khaki-colored maternity shorts she was wearing were soaked in the crotch area from her water having broke on the drive toward the clinic.

The cop was instantly wide-eyed when she looked the young woman over and then gestured for her to get out. At first, Crystal was going to protest, but to her pleasant surprise the cop gestured toward her squad car. "Leave you car here, I'll drive you."

Crystal nodded as she waddled behind her, holding the underside of her engorged belly as if by not doing so the baby would just slip right out. She piled into the passenger seat beside the cop, who's name was Officer Tatum Uley. Officer Uley threw on her sirens and pulled out into traffic, cutting through traffic with ease and legally going through a couple red lights. When they arrived to the Giselle Wright Memorial Free Clinic in Emeryville, Crystal was writhing in pain. Officer Uley hopped out and assisted Crystal in getting out as well, leading her toward the front entrance and demanding a wheel chair and immediate attention for the young woman.

Crystal was taken care of right away, checked in and wheeled off toward the maternity area of the clinic, with Officer Uley there by her side.



A 19-year-old Nicole Stanley was pulling up to the Giselle Wright Memorial Free Clinic at a quarter to four in the afternoon for a quick four our shift to volunteer her time. It was something Adrienne, who was practically her mother-in-law, had inspired her to do. She was looking for something to occupy her time during the summer while not in school when not working part time at Adrienne's store, Atomic Garden Oakland. Being that the clinic was started by Joey's godfather Tre Cool, Tre's sister-in-law Ellis Helmes along with doctors Tre's wife Giselle, the clinic's namesake, had worked with at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in the city, it seemed like a wonderful thing she, too, wanted to be a part of.

And now, here she was, stepping out of her powder blue '13 Ford Mustang which had been a graduation gift from Joey's parents, and had been both a shock to Nicole and her own parents. But, it made sense in a way. The punk rock king and his dreadlocked queen loved Nicole like she was their own flesh and blood daughter, and were happy their occasionally wayward eldest son had such a laid-back, sweet girl to love him and keep him grounded.

She walked inside the clinic and checked in with the head nurse there and went to change into the pair of white scrubs with thin red, vertical stripes.

Yes, the clinic went with the classic candy striper look for volunteers.

Passing the front desk once more, there was a framed picture of Giselle, smiling in her doctor's coat over a pair of blue scrubs and a small, gold plaque underneath that said:



Today, Nicole was being allocated to assist the nurses with some new mothers who were at the clinic because their medical insurance didn't cover enough of the birthing process and recuperation or they didn't have coverage at all. And it was just so crazy. The clinic had only been open a mere two weeks, tops, and they were swarmed from 7 in the morning to 10 at night, the clinic's operating hours, seven days a week.

Ten minutes into her shift, Nicole was following a rather robust female nurse into a long room where several mothers of newborns were laying in beds, separated by a curtained partition on either side.

Nicole knew what to do next. She was supposed to bring the mothers something eat and drink from the cart one of the nurses was wheeling out from the small kitchen area the clinic also maintained.

The first mother Nicole approached with a rather dinky looking tray of food was a young blonde woman, no more than twenty or so years of age.

Nicole smiled. "Hiya, I'm Nicole. How are you?"

As soon as the blonde mom, Crystal, looked up, her blue eyes became large saucers. "Uh, hi," she replied meekly. "Um...I'm fine. Thanks."

"Nurse Hatchett over there wants me to make sure you eat everything on this tray so you can keep your strength up for your baby," Nicole joked, gesturing her head toward the direction of the burly nurse who looked as if she were on a mission to kill a million kittens. "So, boy or girl?"

"Hmm?" Crystal was distracted by watching Nicole, not really hearing the question until it sunk in. "Oh, uh...girl."

"Aww," Nicole grinned, placing the tray over the blonde mother's lap. "Did you pick a name for her yet?"

"Yeah. Tatum," came the reply. "I named her after the cop that brought me in here."

Nicole leaned back upward and just stared at the new mom for a moment, a little stunned. "You were..."

Crystal, despite her apparent uneasiness, laughed. "Oh, no. Not like that. Well, I was speeding to get here, but it was because I was in labor and my water broke. The cop, Officer Tatum Uley, pulled me over, saw what the problem was and then gave me a ride here in style." Smirking at the very recent memory, she added, "She was very honored when I told her I was naming my daughter after her."

"I bet."

And just like that, the uneasy feeling, that disappeared for a mere moment to recount how she got to the hospital, had returned once more. She was watching how Nicole was watching her with a smile, waiting to see if she started to eat. Picking up the plastic fork, she jabbed at the Salisbury steak thing covered in some sort of brown goo that passed for gravy. But, hey, it was free and that was all that mattered right now.

Cutting into the 'meat' with her plastic knife, Crystal licked her lips and then couldn't contain herself anymore.

She began to cry.

Nicole's eyes widened to saucers this time as she instinctively reached out and place a hand on Crystal's shoulder. "Oh, honey, what's wrong? Do you want your baby or something?" She didn't know what to do in this situation.

Crystal shook her head. "No," she bit out in a whimper, setting the fork and knife down, dropping her hands to her sides. "I can't sit here like this, looking at you, when I have such a big secret I'm keeping from you."

Furrowing her brow and utterly confused, Nicole pulled up a chair and sat down beside Crystal. "What secret could you possibly have? We've only just met." Then, as an afterthought, "Well, you met me. I don't know your name yet."

"Crystal Banach," Crystal replied, wiping her tears. "I know your boyfriend, Joey?"

"Oh, yeah? Did you graduate with us last year?" Knocked up a couple months out of high school? She wouldn't be the only one from the graduating class of '13.

Crystal shook her head. "No, I'm a year older. I graduated from Fairfield in '12." Biting her lips together, she looked over at Nicole and frowned. "I met Joey last August, at a party held by mutual friends in the city, where I was living at the time. Him and I, we kinda hit it off as friends right away..." she trailed, letting her words start to penetrate Nicole's thought process.

Becoming a little stiff in her posture, Nicole looked away for a moment before returning her gaze at Crystal. "Hit it off as friends?"

"At first," was the timid response. "We hooked up not long afterward. It wasn't planned, though. I had a boyfriend at the time, he was -- is -- dating you. We kinda had a thing going on for a couple months. Until after the holidays, that is." Then added, "When I told him I was pregnant."

Nicole looked as if she had been slapped in the face. "What?"

"I'm sorry you have to find out like this. I didn't think I'd meet you in person at all, ever. I thought I could keep this to myself and do this on my own, but I think you should know. For a moment in time, I loved Joey but he is not the kind of guy to do the right thing. He messed around with me. There's no telling if he isn't messing around on you with someone new or if he'll screw you over. Just be warned, is all, I guess I'm saying..."

Jumping to her feet, Nicole just scowled. "You're lying," she snipped. "Joey would never cheat on me. We have an open and honest relationship! We've been together since high school started!"

"People change," Crystal remarked.

Suddenly a male nurse came into the maternity room where the mothers all were, wheeling a cart with a little, pink-wrapped bundle of baby toward Crystal's section.

"Oh, you're still eating," he noted. "Would you like to finish eating or hold little Tatum?"

"I'm not hungry right now," Crystal replied as she reached for her daughter, while watching Nicole stare at the baby with horror. As soon as Crystal had Tatum in her arms, she noticed how Nicole was already backing out of the partitioned area. "Nicole!"

Nicole looked back for a brief moment, her face getting red.

"Tell Joey he has a daughter. Her name's Tatum Elise."