Page 5 of Impacted by Love

Nodding wordlessly, I place my hands on the wheelchair's grip bars and push Ms. Aiken out of the room. I'm unsure if her black eye, busted lip, or disheveled hair are the reasons for her blunt remarks, but I'll follow her lead and limit our conversation.

Brrnng.

A phone sounded, causing me to look down and see Ms. Aiken lift the phone in her lap and answer the call.

"What, Trey?"

Hm. I guess I'm not the only one she's in a bad mood with today.

"No. I'm at the fucking hospital because you haven't gotten your whore under control. I'm not sure why she felt the need to put her hands on me, and she's the fucking other woman. Make the shit make sense. No, no. Ba—" The cry in Ms. Aiken's words causes her to stop talking while holding the phone, and my mind wanders from the information she's said.

Another woman? She's in here because her man's other woman beat her up. Hm. Stop it, Onesti. We listen and don't judge. This woman's life isn't your business. You're only here to get her X-rays… that's it.

Shaking off the thoughts of the conversation I'm having to listen to, I attempt to focus on something other than this woman's business that has nothing to do with me. Less than ten minutes later, I pushed the chair near the table under the radiography machine.

"I'm going to take the images of your hand first, and then I'll move on to your side and back," I explain to Ms. Aiken, who rolls her eyes.

"I gotta go, bae. Mhm. I love you too."

I listen and don't judge. I listen and don't judge.

Chanting the phrase, I ignore the declaration from Ms. Aiken, patiently waiting for her to end her call so I can give her further instructions.

* * *

"Wait, you said she left arm in arm with the man whose chick on the side beat her ass?" Necia asks.

"Mhm. I was on my way out and saw her, but unlike our encounter during the time I was in her presence, she waved while showing me all thirty of her teeth," I share, nodding despite her inability to see me.

"Hold on, girl. The math ain't mathing. We have thir?—"

"Yeah, we have thirty-two, but she doesn't," I insist, cutting Necia off.

Seeing Ms. Aiken leaving the hospital happily with her man in tow had me dying to get far away from the woman. Her life could have easily been mine if God didn't love me like He does. I had no clue that I was the primary or side woman until I got on social media to see my life blowing up before my eyes. My boyfriend Roy and I had been dating since my senior year of college. I thought we were in love and were gonna be together forever until I got on Facebook one day to see that Roy's relationship status had been updated to married. Only the woman whose name he tagged wasn't me. Roy hadn't given me the courtesy of breaking up with me before moving into a lifetime commitment with someone else. The situation was messy and dang near broke the fabric of my heart because I didn't see it coming.

"You better not be over there thinking about trash ass Roy, girl. You've been quiet for too long," Necia declares, snatching me out of my thoughts.

Necia Howard is one of my closest and dearest friends whom I had the pleasure of meeting at my last job. Unlike me, Necia quit a year after being there, stating irreconcilable differences, which I got a kick out of hearing. Yet, Necia let me know that something about the senior leadership didn't sit well in her spirit. Her words were comical to me since Necia wasn't religious. However, the joke was on me when that same leadership personnel sent me packing, leaving me to wonder why my discernment hadn't been like Necia's.

"Sometimes I wonder why I can't see things before they happen to prevent me from going through heartache. I pride myself on being a woman whose?—"

"Prince Charming is close, and you need to keep trusting that God has everything under control. You sit your ass in church every week and still doubt the things you tell me to believe God for. How is that possible? Where is your faith?" Necia asks, regurgitating the last question I often ask her when she's going through things.

While Necia isn't a church-going woman, I often convey certain scriptures to help her through whatever battle she's facing. I'm a proud member of All Things New Pentecostal Church. Attending church is something I have been doing all my life, but in my humanness, I can get caught up in the many trials and tribulations that distract me from trusting God, not to mention His grace, when I find myself sitting and spinning on something long and strong in my hours of weakness.

"Thank you, boo. I love you," I say, sighing.

"Shake off the events of the day, especially if they have you thinking about the coulda, shoulda, woulda with a man who never saw the beauty God created you to be. Besides, remember you could have been tasked with screwing a man with a toddler dick for the rest of your life. Shit, instead of sulking, you need to be thanking God for his sovereignty."

Laughter bubbles to the surface because in my anger over Roy's deceit, I had told Necia and my best friend, Jarielle, about Roy's dick. Prior to his deception, I had never told either of my girls what he wasn't working with, but anger had me spilling all the tea. Necia and Jarielle were stunned because they didn't believe I was having sex because of my church status. However, I let them know that I'm not too saved to let my hormones have me praying for forgiveness. To which both of them said, "Touché."

"Love you too. Call Jarielle so we can plan our next girls' weekend. I need a getaway, and I'm tired of waiting for y'all."

One thing I love about my girls is our love for one another and the opportunity to unwind while escaping our lives, although sometimes life and our men can prevent us from getting out of the city as often as we would like.

"Okay. Hold on." Dialing Jarielle's number, I waited for the call to connect with my best friend.

"What can I do for you, bestie boo?" Jarielle asks when the call connects after the third ring.

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