Page 59 of Girl, We Go Together
I leaned on the doorframe, confused and curious all at once. I raised my eyebrow and then my lips bent into a frown before speaking.
“Brandi? What you doing here?”
She had only come over a handful of times with Zynea and that other girl. Because I spent so much time out of the house, I never minded when Cayla had her girls over. Brandi gave a half-smile as her eyes flickered past me into the empty house.
“I just… wanted to check on you. I heard you and Cayla have been going through it.”
The way she said it, like she wasn’t asking about Cayla at all, made something in me shift. Plus, she was friends with Cayla. Coming to check for me should have been the last thing on her mind. Loyalty alone should have had her on her friend's side. I should’ve told her to leave right then. I should’ve shut the door and let the silence swallow me again. But I didn’t. Instead, I stepped back, letting her walk inside. And just like that, the quiet house wasn’t so silent anymore.
Brandi walked in like she belonged there. Her heels clicked softly against the hardwood. She glanced around, her eyes lingering on the bare corners. The biggest eyesore was the empty playpen space by the wall. I caught the way her lips curved, almost like she was satisfied to see it all gone.
“You really are by yourself in here now,” she said, dropping onto the arm of the couch like she was settling in. “Kinda crazy. Never thought I’d see the day.”
I was about to tell her to get her ass off the arm of my chair, but I was curious to see where she was trying to take things. So, instead, I leaned back against the other chair with my arms crossed as I watched her.
“Yeah, well. Things change.”
She tilted her head, studying me with that slow, knowing look. “She doesn’t know what she got, letting all this go.”
I raised a brow.
“Brandi, what are you getting at?”
She smiled as she leaned forward just enough for me to see her cleavage.
“I’m just saying… some women don’t appreciate what’s in front of them. And some women… do.”
The words hung heavy between us. She wasn’t talking about Cayla anymore; she was talking about herself now. I felt it, the way she let her eyes trail over me before meeting my stare again. It was subtle, but not too subtle. I should’ve shut it down. I knew better. She sat on the arm of my chair, basically selling herself. But sitting there in that empty house, with no Cayla, no Oriana’s little laugh echoing through the halls, Brandi’s attention felt like something I hadn’t even realized I was craving. She leaned back on the couch, crossing her legs slowly, like she was letting me know the ball was in my court. And damn if I didn’t feel myself already dribbling.
Three days. That’s how long I had been wrapped up in Brandi’s world. For three days, I was stretched out in my bed, in her arms, deep in her everything. She moved around me like she’d been waiting her whole life to prove she could love me better than Cayla ever did. She cooked for me, ran baths, and rubbed my back after long nights. And in the sheets, she gave herself to me with no hesitation, no questions, no attitude. Just pure submission, like she was made to fit me.
It was different. Different from Cayla’s constant suspicion, her side-eyes when my phone buzzed, her mouth always ready to remind me of my wrongs. With Brandi, I didn’t have to hear about my failures. She didn’t care about my flaws; if anything,she leaned into them, made me feel like they were part of what she wanted.
I caught myself staring at her sometimes, the way she’d get up in the morning and move around naked like she owned the space, like I belonged to her now. And maybe for those three days, I did. Still, in the quiet moments, when she was asleep and her breathing evened out, I’d felt that pull in my chest. Brandi was giving me everything I thought I wanted. In time, I figured that I would warm up to the thought of her.
Shenell was the fuck off my list since she had ruined things with me and Cayla. I attended doctor’s appointments and provided money, but that’s as far as things would go on that side. With Brandi, it was really opening my eyes to starting fresh with someone else. She was a good woman, sleezy to go after her friend’s baby daddy, but something told me they were never really friends to begin with. Even with her being a good woman, I still had doubts. Somewhere deep down, I knew she wasn’t everything I needed.
Cayla
I sat cross-legged on the floor, Oriana’s playmat spread out beside me while she kicked her little legs and babbled like she was having a whole conversation with her stuffed bear. My laptop was balanced on the coffee table, and the screen was glowing with job listings. Veterinary assistant. Receptionist at an animal hospital. Kennel technician. Anything close to the field I’d always wanted to be in. I scribbled notes into my spiral notebook, circling the ones with flexible hours, ones that might actually make sense with daycare. Shit, that was something elseI had to take care of, daycare. I flipped to a fresh page, pulling up the local centers I’d been bookmarking. My chest tightened looking at the prices. $220 a week here, $250 there. I pulled out my calculator and started punching numbers: groceries, rent, utilities, diapers, wipes, formula, and daycare.
My pencil hovered when the total stared back at me. I had enough to stretch for a few months if I kept things tight, maybe longer if I picked up part-time work until something permanent stuck. I glanced at Oriana; her gummy smile was wide as she squealed at her toy. She was the reason I had to make it work. I leaned back against the couch cushion, letting out a long sigh. My body was tired, my mind stretched thin, but my spirit… my spirit was holding on.
Orion had left me with boxes and heartbreak. But I wasn’t about to let him leave me broken. I flipped back to the job listings, clicking “apply” on the first one that felt like a chance. One way or another, I was gonna build a life for me and my baby girl. Even if I had to do it from scratch. Just as I hit “submit” on another job application, my phone buzzed. Zynea’s name lit up the screen. I answered with a sigh, already knowing she was about to check in.
“Hey, girl.”
“You sound tired,” she said instantly. “What you doing?”
I looked over at Oriana, who was halfway rolling onto her stomach, grunting like she was determined to conquer the world.
“Trying to get my life together. Filling out apps for these animal clinics, looking at daycares, crunching numbers. Basically, stressing myself out.”
“Mhmm.” Zynea’s tone softened. “Cay, listen. I know it feels heavy right now, but you're going to get through this. You’ve always been smart, and you've always had a plan. You just forgot who you were, messing with him.”
I bit my lip while staring at the list of expenses I had scribbled down.
“But what if I can’t keep up? What if I can’t afford everything Oriana needs? What if I fail her? What if?—”
