Page 32 of Pieces of Us

“Morgan—”

“Don’t you dare say my fucking name! I gave you fourteen years, Justin. Fourteen! I lied to myself and made myself believe that you were the love of my life. I allowed you and my father to manipulate me into never finding Megan’s father and giving him a fair chance to get to know her. I gave you my all, went against my better judgment, and you do this to me? Were they worth losing me, Justin?”

“Baby, it’s not what you—”

“Shut the fuck up and answer my question!” I screamed.

“I don’t know what you think you know, but I promise it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“So you’re just going to continue to stand there and lie to me? I saw you—you, Jolie, and Jonathan! I saw you nasty motherfuckas.”

Shock and regret played on his face as he dropped his head.

“Yeah, your stupid ass is busted!”

“I fucked up, Mo. I-I lost the majority of our money in a card game. I lost my office three months ago because I couldn’t getthe money to pay the mortgage. Those nights when I told you I was working late…I was really out gambling.”

“What? What the fuck does this have to do with you cheating on me? And why wouldn’t you tell me what was going on?”

“I couldn’t tell you! I asked you to be a stay-at-home mom because I thought I was secured. When I lost Denver Washington as a client six months ago, I tried to keep up with the payments, but it started to get hard. It wasn’t until recently when I started to get the big names did I get back on track, but I lost my office. So, I started meeting with my clients at different places. Jonathan offered to help me out but under the condition that I give his wife a threesome. One time turned into more, and before I knew it, it had become a repetitive thing that I started to enjoy.”

I couldn’t take listening to this shit anymore. I pulled the gun from my robe and pulled the trigger.

Pow!

Justin ducked as the bullet lodged into the wall by his head.

“Morgan, please!”

Pow!

He scurried to the other side of the couch as I pulled the trigger again.

Pow!

That one clipped his ear.

“Fuuuck! Mo, stop! I’m sorry, baby. Please. I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

Pow!

That one went into the floor by his feet.

“Get the fuck out of my house, Justin, or I promise this next bullet is going in your fucking skull.”

He quickly grabbed his keys and briefcase from the floor and scampered to the door. I wanted to shoot him in the back of hishead but stopped myself as he hurried out of the door, slamming it shut.

I dropped the gun and dropped to my knees as I released years of hurt and sadness. I didn’t want this for myself, and I didn’t want it for my girls. I knew they would be sad to lose their father, but I couldn’t just let this go. I was starting to believe my father cursed us. His poor decisions for our lives led us down a path of despair.

Both my sister and I married liars and cheaters. If I had told my father to go to hell and reached out to Nehemiah’s sisters sooner, he and I would have been married. He would have been MeganandMariah’s father, and I would have never run into a man like Justin Coleman.

Nehemiah would have never done this to me. What we had was special…magical. He was the love of my life, but I allowed a liar to lead me to another liar, and now, here I was. My face was covered in tears while my heart bled on the floor.

Nehemiah

Three Days Later…

“Simon says touch your nose.”

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