Page 18 of After Him, There Was You
Just like clockwork, I peeped out of my front window to see Trevor pulling into my driveway at three o’clock just like he did every Sunday of the weekend he had the boys.
Laughing to myself, I realized the superficial boundaries of the bond Vivian and I shared.She doesn’t know me at all.
She must have thought her presence was going to stop me from airing out her dirty laundry, and she was sadly mistaken because I was going to speak the truth regardless of her being in the car or not.
“Hey, Eva!” Trevor greeted, stepping out of his car as I stood in my open doorway, ready to walk down in order to get to my sons who wasted no time running in my direction while yelling their goodbyes to Vivian and their dad over their shoulders.
“Hey, Mama!” they greeted me, wrapping their arms around my waist.
“Hey, babies. Did y’all have fun with your daddy and Vivian?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they simultaneously responded.
“Good. Go in the house. Y’all have about an hour to play the game before we eat dinner,” I advised and without another word, they took off in the direction of the upstairs game room I always had trouble pulling them out of.
Shaking his head and smiling at the lives we created, Trevor continued to walk to the front door where I stood. From his car’s position in the driveway, Vivian wasn’t able to hear us. When the realization settled in, she jumped out of the car and raced to where we were.
“What’s good in your world?” Trevor asked as Vivian took painful strides in our direction. I say painful because she was onthe shorter side, and the steps she was taking were far beyond her normal walk.
“Hey, Eva,” Vivian nervously greeted, interrupting me before I could respond to Trevor.
“Vivian, are you okay?” Trevor asked, taking notice of how his guilty girlfriend was dripping in sweat. It was so bad you could see it dripping and running down the sides of her made-up face.
“Yeah, I’m good, baby. I just don’t want us to be late to our dinner reservation.” Attempting to pull his arm and him back into the direction of his car, she nervously smiled, looking in between the two of us.
“Before y’all go, I want to tell you something, Trevor.”
“What is it? Is something wrong with the boys?” he asked with concern instantly covering his face.
“No, the boys are good. It’s actually something you should be discussing with your girlfriend, but since she isn’t woman enough to tell you, I will,” I stated, choosing to ignore the panicked look on Vivian’s face. “Yesterday while Tara and I were at breakfast—”
“Eva, please don’t do this. Please.”
“Please don’t do what? Vivian, what’s going on?”
“If you don’t want me to do this, I suggest you do,” I advised. As she stared down at the ground as if she was waiting for a rose to grow out of the concrete, it was reaffirmed honesty wasn’t her strong suit. “Like I was saying, yesterday while Tara and I were at breakfast, I saw Vivian out on a date. I approached the two of them hoping it wasn’t what it looked like, and the man in question confirmed they weren’t in a relationship only because Vivian was playing games with him.”
“Is this true, Vivian?” Trevor asked, visibly hurt from the secondhand confession which should have been coming fromthe woman he lay next to every night instead of a concerned friend.
Truthfully, it was a good thing she showed up to my house because her presence eliminated her being able to say I was lying about what I saw and how it all went down. If she tried to lie, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Grits and get footage of her and her boo walking in and out of the restaurant looking like a couple. One thing I never hesitated to have was receipts, so she could try me if she wanted to.
“Yes, Trevor… Eva is telling the truth.”
“Was ithim?” Trevor asked, taking me by surprise because what the hell did he meanhim? He couldn’t have known Vivian was cheating on him because he wasn’t the type to let someone take him for granted, at least in my eyes.
“Can we talk about this when we get home? I don’t want to do this here,” she counseled, walking away from us without giving him a chance to respond or without saying a proper goodbye to me.
“I’m here if you need me,” I offered Trevor after a few moments of silence.
“I know,” he stated. “I appreciate you saying something because I’m sure she wouldn’t have. Good looking out.”
“It’s what family is for.” Knowing we would always be a part of each other’s lives, I acknowledged him as more than a friend.
With a quick hug, he made the same track down my sidewalk his girlfriend did, got in the car, and then pulled off. With nothing else holding me outside, I walked back in the house and got my dinner started.
Washing my hands, I dried them off and then turned to retrieve my crawfish tails from the refrigerator. Just as I opened the bag in preparation to clean them, my phone sounded a distinct chime in the pocket of my joggers, alerting me someonewas standing at my front door. Rather than letting whoever it was stand there because I wasn’t expecting company, I dried my hands and walked in the direction of my door.
“Aww, y’all brought me flowers?” I questioned as soon as I opened the door and saw my baby sister, Alexa and my mama standing on my porch, each holding vases of flowers.
