Page 94 of Friend Zoned

At that moment the door swings open, and Jimmy walks in. He stands in the middle of the room but between us. “You ready to go?” he asks, looking from me to Quintin. “I saw him come in here, and I thought I’d come up.” His eyes lock with mine, almost as if he’s warning me to keep calm.

“As soon as Quintin here leaves,” I tell Jimmy.

“This is my fucking house,” he says. “My wife lives here.”

Jimmy does something that’s a cross between a chuckle and a snort.

“And why do you need him?” Quintin asks, pointing at Jimmy. “Do you need a bodyguard?”

“Man, I’m here as your bodyguard right now. I’d keep my mouth shut if I were you.” Jimmy’s Jamaican accent becomes more pronounced with each word. The three of us stand there, waiting to see who is going to react first.

The phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out.

“Hey, baby,” I say into the phone.

“Did you get it?” she asks. She sounds a little breathless, and I imagine it’s because her mother is putting her to work. “My dad is throwing shade. He thinks I didn’t get him anything.”

“Yeah, I got it. I was on my way out, but you got a visitor.” I stare at Quintin when I say that. He stands still, and I know he’s listening to every word I’m saying.

“Oh, God. Not Quintin. Please say it’s not him.”

“I wish I could,” I tell her.

“I swear, if I was there, I’d punch him in the teeth. Put him on the phone. I have some choice words for him.”

“Let me handle it, okay?”

“Okay, but don’t hit him. He’ll make trouble for you if you do. And hurry because I miss you, and my dad wants you to explain the baseball to him.” She mimics his voice, and I chuckle.

“Anything but the basketball. Got it. I hope he’s still interested in the football since my gift to him is tickets for next season. I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.” She makes a kissing sound before ending the call.

Quintin is still there, still staring at me, but his eyes have narrowed. He puts both hands on his hips and takes a step toward me. I drop the gift bag and take a step forward, ready to meet him head on and send him flying down the hallway, but Jimmy intercedes. He puts a hand on my chest and shakes his head. I step back.

“You love my wife?” he asks in complete disbelief.

“No. I love my girlfriend.” He takes a step back as if the words hurt. Then I twist the knife. “And she loves me back.”

“Like hell. I’m the only man she’s ever—”

“Not anymore,” I say, interrupting whatever nonsense was going to come out of his mouth. “What are you doing?” I ask him. He opens his mouth to speak, but I interrupt him and say, “Please don’t say you’re here to talk to your wife. Jeannie is not your wife, and she doesn’t want to see or talk to you. Stop going to her job and stop coming to her house. Stop embarrassing yourself with your pathetic declarations of love. Yeah, she told me about that. I’m not going to tell you again.”

He scoffs. “This ismyfucking house,” he says.

“It’s not. She got it when she divorced you.” His head snaps up as if the divorce is a surprise to him. “But again, what are you doing?” I take another step toward him. Jimmy moves away, but he stays close, ready to jump in at any moment. “You destroyed your entire life, and for what? Was it worth it? You cheated on her with her friend for almost a year until she found out. She left you. Divorced you, but you can’t seem to let her go. She’s never going to take you back. She’s moved on,” I tell him. “You should do the same with your pregnant girlfriend.”

“I only came here to make sure that she’s okay.”

“Whether or not she’s okay is for me to worry about. She’s my responsibility now, not yours. You fucked that up.”

He looks down, and his breathing becomes labored. He stands straight, looks around the room, and walks out without another word. Jimmy steps in front of me, preventing me from going out the door.

“Hold on. Give him a minute. Did he really do all of that to Jeannie?” When I nod at Jimmy, he says, “I should have let you kick his sorry ass.” Jimmy shakes his head. I grab the gift bag and count to thirty before I lock the house.

“I need you to set up a security camera for the front door to her apartment. She’ll need a bodyguard too. I don’t trust him.”

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