“And how do you feel?”
“I still love him, but I’m not pressuring him for anything serious, either. I mean, if he cheats I’ll rip his balls off, but other than that, we are good.” I laughed as she told me about the diner and her war stories, asking her when she planned on moving on and she got quiet.
“They are closing it down at the end of the year,” she said, softly. “Not enough business to stay open with all the competition popping up. I’m so sad for Joe. His family has owned that place for fifty years.”
“Oh no, that’s horrible.” The sinking feeling in my chest for my old boss settling in, I poured us a little more wine. “What will you do?”
“Find something, of course. I mean, I can do more than deliver food, I don’t have your ambition just yet.”
“I went from one service job to the next. Don’t put me on a pedestal, but I have to admit I do love it.”
“I know, and that rocks. I’ll figure it out.” She looked at her cell and then at me.
“Oh hell no. You’re ditching me for dick?”
“Yep.”
I looked at her, incredulous. “That was your rule, Gerri! No ditching for the dick!”
“Well, I only get a few hours tonight and then I work a double for the next two days, so I’m...ditching you for dick.”
“You are a horrible friend.”
“Says the girl who already has her overnight bag packed and sitting at the front door.” I laughed as she called me out.
“I wasn’t going to leave until we both got tired,” I defended.
“Dude, we are in grown up relationships. We won’t live together forever. Late twenties versus early twenties, I’m seeing the difference. I won’t hate if you don’t.”
“I really love him, Gerri.”
“I know girl,” she said, leaning in for a hug.
“Just promise me we will always have each other for snot cries,” I said, holding her tightly to me.
“Ummm, Hilary, this isn’t goodbye. We still live together.” I laughed at the truth of the matter, but even as I realized that fact, I’d also already acknowledged that things were changing even as we stood still.
“Love ya,” she said, making her way out the door. She was off to fetch her man, and if I was lucky, I might catch mine waiting on me.
To my complete disappointment, my man was in fact passed out in his bed, his clothes still on. I decided to take a shower and slip into nothing next to him, knowing moving him and waking him up with his petitioned blow job was impossible. He slept like a rock, and if he woke for any reason, he remained awake until he was lucky enough to pass out again. It was one of the perks of ADHD he told me. Once his busy brain clicked on it was hard to shut it off.
“Once I’m up, I’m up. My mind doesn’t give a damn what time it is.” So I was always careful not to wake him while he slept.
I tiptoed past Randy in the hall with a low “hi.” He gave me an odd look as I pointed to Jayden’s bedroom, letting him know he was asleep, not that Randy cared. He had become a nuisance to Jayden after his first month in the house. Jayden had recently laid down the law, giving him a month to get his shit together and move out. Randy hadn’t bothered to start the process and I knew it would be an issue somewhere down the line. Jayden came to me the night he’d given him the ultimatum, feeling guilty for kicking his childhood friend out. I simply told him that there was a big difference in a helping hand and a hand out, and that Randy needed to learn the difference. I also didn’t like the way he looked at me when Jayden wasn’t watching. I’d caught him more than once giving me looks he shouldn’t be, but knowing Jayden and the way he felt about that kind of thing, I kept my mouth shut.
I finished my shower and put lotion on my freshly shaved legs, hoping that Jayden may rouse on his own sometime during the night. I hadn’t seen him since Thursday morning, and I craved him more than anything. I wiped the steam off the bathroom mirror and froze when I saw Randy standing in the doorway, his arms crossed, completely unapologetic at the invasion of my privacy. I was sure I had locked the door. I was completely naked and turned in shock to gawk at him then jumped back further when I saw Jayden directly behind him with his fist clenched.
“What the fuck, Randy!” I shot off, reaching for a towel to cover myself.
“You look ripe, baby. You should let me see to that.”
“Are you fucking crazy? Jayden’s—”
“Fast asleep and won’t be up for hours.” He took a step toward me as Jayden closed the gap.
“Wrong, motherfucker,” Jayden hissed behind him before landing a bone cracking punch directly to the side of his face. I watched in horror as Jayden stood above him as a crippled Randy lay on the floor. He looked up at me, anger clear in his features as I stood paralyzed.
“Get up,” Jayden ordered in a voice I didn’t recognize.
“Jayden, I didn’t mean—” Randy defended as he tried to stand.
“Get up, Randy.” His voice was deadly as he ordered his friend off the floor.
“Jayden, I locked the door, I swear,” I told him as his eyes shot down to Randy.
“Get up!” Jayden screamed, his face pulsing with rage.
Randy stood at his full height as Jayden stepped up to him, barely an inch from his face. “Twenty Goddamn years of friendship gone over a woman you know only wants me. I hope it was worth it.” Jayden reared back and threw a right hook that had me screaming at the top of my lungs. Randy stood there in an attempt to take it, but as soon as Jayden’s fist connected, his head jerked and a spray of blood flew across the bathroom, landing directly on me. Randy went down, groaning in agony and holding his broken nose.
“You have one fucking hour to get your shit out of my house or I’ll remove it for you.” I stood crying as Randy blocked the entrance to the door, still groaning. Jayden looked at me with steely eyes and walked back into his bedroom, slamming his door so hard it sounded like the frame cracked. With the towel still wrapped around me, I threw my t-shirt on, unsure of what to do. It took Randy the better part of a few minutes to sit up on the floor. He didn’t bother looking my way as he grabbed a towel off the rack and made his exit. I raced into Jayden’s bedroom, bag in hand, and froze when I saw him standing in the middle of the room, seething, his knuckles busted. I pulled out some shorts, putting them on quickly as I rushed through my words.
“I locked that door, Jayden. I swear to God I did. I had no idea he was there.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you use my bathroom!”
“I didn’t want to wake you. You were dead asleep. I was afraid I would make too much noise. I know how hard it is for you to—”
“How fucking considerate of you!” He was still yelling as I rushed to him, putting my hand on his chest.
“No, baby, please don’t blame me for this shit. I was coming to you Jay—”
My words were cut off as he threw my arm off his chest. I’d never dealt with Jayden this angry and I knew I was out of my element. He’d warned me about this. I turned to leave the room before it went any further.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
“Home, okay? I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You’ll wait until he leaves.”
“Why?”
“Because in the twenty years I’ve known him, I never thought he’d pull that sick shit and I don’t know what he’s capable of!” He moved me out of the doorway as he looked out to see Randy rapidly packing his room.
“Get it all, man, because you are never getting back in.” He slammed the door again, making me jump.
“Go, clean the blood off,” he said, ordering me away.
“Fuck you,” I said, shaking as I slid down the wall next to the door, covering my head as I buried it in between my legs, crying quietly. A twenty year friendship, whether it was my fault or not, was over, and I felt terrible for Jayden. But at the same time, it was the first time I’d ever wanted to truly be away from him. This raging monster was nothing like the man I loved. He was understandably pissed off, but it was amped up by a million, making him unreasonable toward me. I stayed silent, not looking up as I heard Randy racing down the hall with his shit to make himself scarce. I could feel Jayden’s presence, but couldn’t bring myself to face him. I hadn’t done a fucking thing wrong, but somehow it felt like I had.