Page 42 of Girl, We Go Together
“Peace, it is. But don’t ever forget that you deserve more than the bare minimum, though.”
After finishing up our meal, we walked out of the restaurant together. We hugged it out before parting ways. When the valetbrought my ride around, I slid behind the wheel of a fully loaded black Jeep. The leather seats still smelled new because I barely drove the thing. It was a gift from Orion that I really didn’t want, but I knew I needed. It was his way of making up for Mello. A car to replace a soul. I hadn’t said that out loud, but the thought clung to me every time I gripped the steering wheel.
The night air was cool, and the city lights bounced off the hood of my Jeep as I drove through the streets. I had the music playing low, but my thoughts drowned it out. By the time I made it home, I spotted Orion’s car parked out front. For a Friday, I wasn’t expecting to see him at all. I parked in the available spot behind him. My chest tightened as a ripple of nerves ran through me. Being around him lately did that to me because I never knew what I was walking into anymore. I could be facing soft Orion, distant Orion, or storming Orion. I honestly wasn’t in the mood for the latter. I cut the engine, sat there a moment, then forced myself out.
For some odd reason, walking to the front door felt uneasy. I stood on the porch for a while, digging into my purse until I could pull my phone out. I tried to log into the security system to see the cameras, but I didn’t have access, which was weird. He must have changed the passcode on me. My hand shook as I quietly unlocked the front door and then pushed it open. My swollen belly brushed against the frame. I already knew something was off. I could feel it in my chest before I even saw it. His cologne hung thick in the air, but it was laced with a sweetness that I didn’t wear. As I walked lightly toward the living room, I kept sniffing the air. This womanly smell in the atmosphere was pissing me off, and I needed an immediate explanation for it. Orion had some answering to do.
I rounded the corner to the living room, and there he was. Half his shirt pulled off, he leaned back on the couch with that bartender bitch giggling against him like she belonged there.My heart dropped straight to my stomach. Everything I’d been holding onto flashed before my eyes. The nights I cried alone, the way I told myself he loved me, the way I let myself believe we were building something for this baby, the way I said to myself that this space we were in was just a hump, and that we would make it out of this storm. It all shattered right there.
“Really, Orion?” My voice cracked, but my blood was boiling hot. “I’m carrying your child, and this is what you do to me?”
He jumped up and stared at me. He had this smirk on his face that pissed me off.
“Does this look evil enough for you?”
Instantly, I thought of the words I had spewed out to him before leaving the house earlier. I could feel my dinner coming up, but I pushed it down. My belly tightened, and I held onto it to keep myself from falling apart more than anything else.
“So, you’re on some petty shit. We’ve really come to this? Really, Orion?” I let the tears flow freely as I walked over, closing the space between them and me. “Maybe I shouldn’t have kept this baby.”
This bitch stood up from the couch and stared at me with a satisfied grin. She felt like she won, and I could see it all over her fucking face.
“Maybe if you kept him happy?—”
Before I even thought about it, I lunged, but Orion grabbed my arm and stood between us quickly.
“Say one more word,” I hissed at her, “and I don’t care how pregnant I am, I will drag you all around this fucking house.”
Tears blurred my vision. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears as my chest rose and fell. My whole body shook from betrayal.
“You just showed me who you really are, Orion. And believe me, I’ll never forget it. From now on, it ain’t about you. It’s about me and this baby.”
For once, he had nothing to say. I snatched my arm back from him with disgust. For all I knew, he just had his whole arm up this ho ass bitch’s coochie.
“Don’t touch me, Orion. Don’t you ever put your hands on me again after what I just walked in on.”
He threw his hands up, pacing like I was the one tripping.
“Man, this is the kind of shit you asked for. This is the kind of shit that an evil nigga does.” He turned to the bitch sitting beside him. “T’asia, you can go.” Then, he turned back to me. “Cayla, you’re being dramatic.”
“Dramatic?” I laughed, but it came out like a sob. “I’m eight months pregnant. Half the time, I walk around with swollen feet, my back aches every night, and you are in here, laid up with some random ass bitch. You call that dramatic?”
The girl rolled her eyes as she grabbed her coat and purse off the couch.
“Them feet be swollen from all that fat ass weight she’s carrying around?—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I snapped, stepping toward her so fast Orion had to block me again. “You don’t know what the hell I’ve been through with him. You don’t know what I’ve sacrificed. Bitches kill me how they be proud to be a nigga’s side piece. Bitch, you’re pathetic.”
I was screaming loud enough for all of Queens to hear me, and I didn’t give a fuck.
Orion’s jaw clenched. “Man, you tripping for real. Why do you always gotta start screaming? That’s why I step out sometimes, Cayla. You don’t know how to chill.”
“So, it’s my fault you can’t keep your dick in your pants? You serious right now?” I pressed my hand to my stomach because the baby kicked like it felt everything I was feeling. “You don’t get it, Orion. You're breaking me. And if you can stand there andblame me for your cheating, then maybe you never loved me at all.”
His face hardened. It had that street pride written all over it.
“Don’t love you? What other nigga is gonna do half the shit I have done for you? I keep a roof over your head, food in your stomach, and money in your pocket.”
“You think I asked for your money?” My voice cracked. “I wanted you. I wanted a family. But you're so caught up in your ego, you don’t even realize you’re losing the one person who actually gave a damn about you!”
