“Nobody thinks you’re stupid,” he said in a hushed tone. “But can’t we talk about this in my room?”
Terrell interjected. “Look, ya’ll work things out and just call us if you decide to come up there, ok?” Maisha stroked my arm sympathetically as they passed by and left the building. AJ continued to stare at me, waiting for my response.
“Why should I give you another chance to lie to me, AJ? That’s all you’re gonna do anyway. Whenever I ask you for answers, you lie to me.”
He lowered his head and didn’t speak for a few seconds. The passersby stared at us and slowed their pace to be nosy.
“I already explained that there are some things going on right now that I can’t really get into,” he said, jaw tense, eyes trained on me. “Now, I’m not saying we can’t discuss this, but I just want to talk about it in private. My room. Yours. Anywhere but here.”
I looked around at the small audience of onlookers and then motioned toward the stairs for him to go before I changed my mind.
“Sam, just bear with me. I –“
“Are you cheating on me? Are there other girls?” The words flew from my mouth so quickly that I couldn’t stop them, the stunned looked on AJ’s face giving me pause.
“What? N—no! What’re you talking about?”
I paced a small path between his bed and the door. “The secret phone calls. The changes in your attitude. The lying.” I stopped moving my feet and looked in his eyes when I threw that one out there. His face went blank when he realized that I was on to him. I may not have known why he felt like he couldn’t be honest about everything, but I sure as hell knew that he’d told me a few tales lately. “Did you honestly think I didn’t realize that you lie to me?” I asked.
“Sam…I’ve never cheated on you,” he said flatly.
“But you don’t deny that you’ve lied?”
Silence. I nodded and started pacing again.
“I should’ve known there was more to all this than just family drama,” I said mostly to myself.
AJ lifted his head. “Where is all this even coming from? What the hell would make you think I’m seeing someone else?” He asked. “And when exactly would I have had time to find a girl here to be sneaking off with?”
“Maybe you weren’t with her just now, but I know you haven’t been at the store all this time. At least admit that,” I demanded, trying to keep my cool, but my hands were shaking as a result of the oncoming rage. “Maybe you were off somewhere talking to her,” I suggested.
AJ stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “Talking to who? There is no one!”
“That’s not what I heard.”
That one statement hit him like a ton of bricks. “What you heard? From who?”
I wasn’t about to give up my source. “Doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that someone told me that you were with some girl while we were home for Thanksgiving.”
AJ looked away, deep in thought. At first he seemed confused, but then the tension left his brow and he seemed to have a revelation. That was the moment I knew that there was some truth to my accusation. My stomach sank.
“It’s true?” I asked.
He sighed heavily and sat on the edge of his bed. “Not like you’re thinking.”
I should’ve known. Karma.
AJ sat there silently for a long time, gathering his thoughts and his words, probably thinking of another lie.
“We had houseguests over the holiday.”
I scoffed. “Mmm hmm. Houseguests that I’m just now hearing about?”