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"That's creepy." Jailyn agreed as she held the bottle towards me, "Take another shot."
I did, crinkling my nose in disgust as it went down, "It's a thousand other ways you can prove your point. But that? I felt like it was a reach."
"It's giving me Joe forreal this time, friend. I like Eli, but be careful."
She wasn't the only one who liked him, although I was now trying to decide if I'd missed any other crazy tendencies he was exuding.
I tried to see it from his perspective, tried to make it seem less weird, but I couldn't make it to the point where he obviously was. I just couldn't picture me scaring someone like that.
"What you said after he let you go? After he apologized and stuff."
"I told him I didn't feel like company." I placed my head on the arm of the couch, "And he apologized again and said he'd see me later."
She made a face, "Don't be mean. I personally wouldn't have done it, but I feel like his heart was in the right place."
As I said earlier, I'd tried to see where he was coming from, but I couldn't. Beating on the window or something like that could've made his same point. To make me think I was about to be kidnapped, raped, whatever, was too much.
Elijah got his point across though because while I would still probably sit in my car, I'd be more aware of my surroundings.
But if I wasn't trying to find out how his stalker wife knew my business, I wouldn't have been that focused on my phone.
"You didn't know he was coming?" Jai asked.
"No..." I let the word drift off while wondering why he just showed up without telling me. He always mentioned when he was coming, and the only other time he didn't he was having a bad day.
So did the nigga scare me because he was having a bad day?
Or, what made him have a bad day? The divorce? His dad?
Wow bitch. He just almost gave you a heart attack and you tryna figure out if he had a bad day.
"I'm being considerate." I defended aloud.
"Don't start that talking to yourself shit, Ken." Jailyn warned, "You know I hate it."
"I say one thing out loud and now it's 'talking to yourself shit'. When I find a new friend, you gotta go."
I held the bottle back towards her and watched as she took a shot. In my eyes, Jailyn was always a good friend. Sometimes she gave awful advice, but that's why I didn't go to her for advice.
She'd never repeated anything I told her and vice versa. But now, as I sat here wondering who Leah may have talked to, I was considering Jailyn.
But the thought left just as fast as it came.
"Goodnight." I sighed, "I gotta open."
"If that woman bring her tail back up there tomorrow, call me. That way you keep your job and she get her ass beat."
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Maria adjusted the timer on the oven and started wiping down the blender, "So...Zion and I were supposed to go out last night, but he ended up having to leave."
They were dating I guess you could say. Zion still did what he wanted, and so did Maria, but they met in the middle some type of way, and it worked.
"Dang, that sucks. Maybe tonight?"
"Maybe. If Eli doesn't call him."
Oh, so that's where this was going.
Walking into the trap, I asked, "Why'd he call Zi?"
"I was doing you a favor by listening, even though I couldn't really hear." Maria declared, walking closer to me so she wouldn't have to talk as loud, "He was mad as hell about something. It was a longgg rant, and he kept mentioning you, a car, and somebody named Aria."
So that was after he left my house.
Aria was probably Ariana, but why would Elijah be yelling about Ari?
Maria continued talking, "Like I said, I couldn't really hear everything, but it seems like whatever it was, was important, so I just wanted to tell you. If you bring it up, try to... I don't know hint at it." She gave me a small smile, "I like Zi."
"Thanks for telling me. I'd never tell him where I got it." I assured her.
And now my mind drifted back to last night when I was trying to figure out why he was having a bad day.
I wasn't allowed much time to think about it, courtesy of the steady stream of customers that began coming in. For the first time in a long time, I was happy for the distraction.
"Yeah, she still wearing her bookbag." I strained to read the words printed on it, "Greenhill highschool. The lil rich kids in here acting a fool."
Derrick laughed through the phone, "Ian fucking with it. They like to press charges."
"What they gonna say? You blinded them with your flashlight?"
"That's why they disrespect mall security. 'Cause of people like you."
I couldn't help but get in one more joke, "Top flight security of the mall, Derrick. Not just the coffee shop but the mall, Derrick. They need security in the mall, De-"
The dial tone sounded in my ear, fueling my laughter, and aiding in boosting my mood.
Then what I was distracting myself from came in.
I wasn't surprised in the slightest to see him, but seeing his mama beside him made me pause. She waved at me while I took the customers in front of her order.
When they made it to the front, she smiled happily, "Hey, Ken. This is my son I was telling you about."
I plastered a smile on my face, "How nice."
"He's finally getting divorced." She damn near shoved him forward, "We're so happy."
Elijah's sentiments about his mama talking too much replayed in my head, making me involuntarily smile, "Congratulations, Elijah."
"You should get to know Ken."
Oh, we're very familiar Ms. Mamas.
"We've met." I responded, placing a cup and straw on the counter, "He gets your muffins."
She held up a hand, "That was before he was getting divorced. Have you been to Minett's? Elijah owns..." Ms. Tracey looked at him, "How much?"
Once again, she was running the tea. Not on a large scale, but still tea nonetheless. He might need to get her to sign a gag order or something.
"It doesn't matter." Elijah responded, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "How are you, Kensley?"
"You know, just recovering from a heart attack. How are you, Elijah?"
His smile was apologetic, "Tired. Couldn't sleep."
"That's because you won't put that woman out. I don't know how-"
"Ma, please. Please just stop."
Ms. Tracey gave me a look and reached in her purse for Jolly Ranchers, "See you later, Ken."
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My hands gripped the pull-up bar on the squat rack, using the momentum that it provided to swing my legs forward. My stomach burned, but I ignored it, focusing on finishing the leg lifts so I could drop back to the floor.
The moment I did that though, I wanted to climb back up.
"Hey, Ken-dawg." Came a voice.
I sighed under my breath, "Hey Tristan."
Tristan was an employee at the gym and was an all-around very nice person. He just always wanted to talk. It didn't matter about what, and I wouldn't have minded if I weren't trying to focus on a workout.
He was the one who helped Jailyn get hired on though, so I sat on the floor while he talked about everything from people complaining about protein prices, to arguments that customers had.
"Who argues in the gym?" I voiced aloud.
The same people who argue in a coffee shop.
"I was just hoping nobody would start swinging weights." Tristan shook his head, then moved his eyes towards the locker rooms, "There's your friend."
I looked in that direction and saw Ari walking into the women's shower area with a phone pressed to her ear.
"I'ma go speak," I announced while extending a hand for him to pull me up.
"Bet. See you later."
After picking up my phone, I headed for the locker room, pushing open the door. Ari's voice echoed throughout the room, "I never told you to say anything to her."
I was a firm believer in minding my business, but hell, this sounded like some business I should mind too.
"He's married. Not her. I literally only wanted him to leave her alone. What you're doingâ this going to her job shitâ I never said do that."
If I had any doubts about who she was talking about, who she was on the phone with, they went out the window when she said the name, "Go to hell, Leah. I see why he doesn't want you."
I rounded the corner, looking for where her voice was coming from, and there she stood, an angry expression on her face. When her eyes met mine, the expression changed to surprise, then resignation.
She ended the call and looked everywhere but at me, "I can explain."
"Please do."
My emotions were everywhere, mad, hurt, confused. I wanted some type of clarity. I wanted to know why she was on the phone with her.
"I just wanted him to work on his marriage, and leave you alone. That lady is obsessed with him, Kensley. I was trying to help you."
"Help me by telling her shit about me?! How does that help me?!"
Ari shook her head with a pleading expression, "She wasn't supposed to say anything to you. I shared that with her because I thought she'd understand why I wanted him away from you. What you went through with that guyâ trying to kill yourselfâ I didn't want a repeat."
I never tried to commit suicide, I just couldn't sleep, and really wanted to. Insert a handful of sleeping pills, and here we are.
My parents, my grandma, the doctors, nobody believed me when I said that because it was around the Demetrius time, and thus I was placed on suicide watch for 72 hours.
But for the umpteenth time, Ariana wasn't supposed to know that.
"Who told you that?" I asked quietly, hoping and praying it wasn't Jailyn, the only true friend I had, one of the only people I trusted.
When she told me though, I wondered if I would've preferred it to be Jailyn.
Because you can always make new friends, parents, however, are hard to come by.
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um... we don't know why mr. & mrs. parker told ari. does it matter?
thanks for reading ð