Page 26 of Love Next Door
The shower that I planned to take would have to wait until I went home. I still never slept or showered at his place, even since we had returned from Sorrel Island, where we had slept and showered together.
There was something so personal about doing that at his place, and it was a level of commitment I wasn’t ready to embrace.
Raised voices in the living room put me on edge. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I wondered if July needed help. I grabbed my T-shirt and pulled it on just as my phone buzzed.The more I listened, I could tell that it was a female’s voice. I grabbed my phone, pulled on my skirt, and slid my shoes on.
Just as I pocketed my keys, my phone buzzed again.
JUJUONDATP:
I’ll be back.
Chill ya ass in my room, Bri-Baby. I know how nosy you can get. I got this shit. Okay?
I wasn’t sure what he had going on, but I wasn’t comfortable staying in the room. Whomever she was, she was growing louder and louder by the minute. I heard July’s voice rise a few times before I heard a shriek.
Moving to the door, I pressed my ear against it just in time to hear July speak soothing words. “Come on. You’re talking crazy. You don’t want to do that.”
“Yes, I do!” she shrieked.
Whatever he had going on, I wanted no part of it. When another ten minutes passed and he didn’t return to the room, I was over it. I wasn’t sure if it was some other girl he was screwing or what, but I was done. I grabbed my keys off his dresser and pulled the door open.
I saw him sitting comfortably on the couch with his ex, and he was pleading with her. Obviously, she’d had the baby, and her snapback was something fierce.
Her face was full of tears and sadness until she jerked her head around to see me. The fury that etched itself on her face was in complete opposition to the sorrow that rested there moments before.
July’s face dropped, and he held an “Oh shit” look on his face.
“I’m going home. Holler at me when you get a minute,” I stated as I held eye contact with him. Just as I passed the sofa, this heffa jumped up and rushed at me.
“Who the fuck is this, Juju?” she demanded, putting her finger in my face.
“Back the fuck up,” I warned softly.
“Nah. Who the fuck is you, and why you coming out of his room like that?”
“Aye, Briana. Chill,” July demanded, jumping up and coming from behind her.
“Listen, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. Whatever you got going on with him ain’t got shit to do with me. But you’re gon’ keep your finger out of my face.”
“I ain’t gon’ do shit!” she shouted, waving her finger in my face again.
“July, get your woman,” I warned as my face grew hot and my eyes narrowed.
“She ain’t my woman, babe,” he clarified, looking in my eyes.
She whirled on him and started hitting him, but he grabbed her wrists firmly and slammed her against the wall. “First! I told ya ass not to roll up on me no mo’. You come up in here with that bullshit you be on, and a nigga tryna be cool, but you ain’t gon’ be disrespecting my company or putting ya muthafuckin’ hands on me, Briana!” he shouted.
I shook my head and walked around them. “Yeah. Like I said, holler at me when you’re free.” My voice was a cold monotone. I skirted around them, left the apartment, and went into mine, slamming and locking the door.
ONE WEEK LATER
July hadn’t cometo check on me that night. The next time that I saw him was the next afternoon when he apologized for what had occurred between him and his ex-fiancée. It was then that he admitted that she had called him the entire time we were on the island, but he had blocked her eventually.
When he saw her at the door while we were together, he began to worry because she struggled with depression. He told me that she’d been threatening to put the baby up for adoption, because her biological father didn’t want her, and she couldn’t see herself going on without July in her life. She then threatened to commit suicide, and that was why he let her into hisapartment. He stated that he was trying to rationalize with her when I came out of the room.
To me, it was a bunch of bullshit, and I wasn’t buying it, but I wasn’t his woman, so I couldn’t complain. I believed July, but I did not believe his ex. I knew how women could be, and I was certain that she was using the love he had for her to manipulate him.
I told him to consider it water under the bridge. As long as it didn’t happen again, I was good. We had sex, and I pushed it to the back of my mind. But then a few days ago, he said that he might be out of pocket for a few days because he had a lot going on. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell me what it was, and I didn’t push. I’d never been the insecure type.
