“Sam, please-“
“AJ…it’s over,” I said once more. It absolutely broke my heart to think of everything we could’ve had; however…I wasn’t the one who gave all that up. My eyes slipped away from his when a tear stream down his face. My stomach balled into a knot that almost made me double over. Regardless of what he’d done, or how hurt I was, that was too much for me to watch. I’d only seen him cry one other time and that was in the hospital when we received the life-changing news from the doctor after my accident. Feeling myself getting ready to fall apart, I slipped his ring off my finger, placed it in his hand, and then walked away.
Leaving him standing there in the middle of the courtyard alone, it hit me that this was it – the end. My eyes watered as I let that realization settle in on my heart. I pushed through the doors of my dorm and ignored the onlookers as I made that long walk up the stairs to my room.
I almost hated myself for letting my happiness be so dependent on him. He didn’t deserve to rule over my heart the way he did and I felt so na?ve for being fooled into thinking that he did.
A couple hours later Terrell, and Maisha showed up at my door, banging loudly. When I answered with red eyes and tear stained cheeks, Maisha embraced me.
“What happened? One of my boys said he saw you and AJ arguing outside. You alright?” Terrell inquired. Maisha slapped his arm when he bombarded me with questions “Whatever happened, if you don’t feel like talking about it, you don’t have to,” Maisha added. I shook my head and she understood. I left them standing in the doorway and went back to lie in my bed. They both came in and closed the door.
“Just tell me if I need to set somebody straight,” Terrell inquired. “I mean…I like AJ and all, but…”
“Shut up! Let her breathe!” Maisha snapped.
“I’m just sayin’!”
“He’s cheating on me,” I blurted. “I don’t know how long he’s been seeing her, but they’re definitely messing around.”
Terrell’s face reflected his confusion. “What? With who?”
I shook my head with a sigh as I envisioned her face. “I heard him call her Reina. I don’t know much else.”
Terrell took a seat across from me on Deanna’s bed. “She go here?”
My blank stare was focused on the ceiling. “No. I don’t know where she came from. All I know is AJ told me his dad was coming, which he knew was probably the only thing he could say that would ensure that I’d stay away for the night.” Wow….he got me good. “However, when I got there,” I sighed. “…I walk in and found her rushing to put her clothes on, just getting out of his bed.”
Maisha put her head down, but Terrell started listening more intently, the scowl on his face deepening by the second. “And where was AJ?”
“Coming out the shower.”
“What’d he have to say?” was Terrell’s next question.
This conversation was only irritating me further seeing as how I still hadn’t wrapped my head around what’d happened. “He denied it. What you think he said? Tried to act like he didn’t even know she was there,” I scoffed, thinking of how absurd that sounded. “I should’ve seen this coming.”
Maisha stroked my arm sympathetically. “You had no way of knowing.”
But that’s the thing…I received warning weeks ahead of time and chose not to take heed.
“Now…I know it looked bad…but what if he’s telling the truth?” Terrell asked. Maisha and I both looked at him like he was stupid. Realizing how asinine his question was, he shrugged and sat quietly.
Terrell’s question led me to believe that he needed more proof of AJ’s guilt, so I went ahead and told him what Antonio had seen. “I got a call after we came back from Thanksgiving break from someone. Apparently AJ was spending time with this girl back when we were in Virginia, too. There’s no telling how long this has been going on.”
“Who snitched?” Terrell asked.