Inside Man

Chapter Three

Kennedy

     "You don't think I did too much, right?"

     Everyone had left by now. Te'a was first to depart, not long after her leaving the game and Jordyn following after her to the bathroom, she was beaming out the front door without much of a word to say to any of us. Jordyn had left almost right after. In her defense there wasn't a game to come back to, the air having been sour with tension after the triad of conflict that pursued with my comment I admit might've been in bad taste. 

     But I still felt somewhat justified in my right. Everyone knew Medinah was gonna' make her rounds, a dedicated relationship never enough to stop her from doing so. I'm sure at this point we all wanted the same thing for Te'a, better. I'd just been the only messenger willing to be a martyr. 

     "I mean, what did I say that we all don't think?" I stop in the moment, Aniyah still holding the black trashbag open for me to dump the red solo cups in. 

     She doesn't wait for me to continue, instead clearing the table off on her own. "It's not what you said, it's time and place," She swiftly moves around the living room, setting the back down to stack the game cards back into it's box. "...delivery." She lets her words stand on their own. 

     I try to decode them for myself. "What? You saying I come off,"

     "You come off like everything is easy and sometimes it's not that simple. It's hard. Leaving someone you love no matter how bad they treat you is hard. I know your intentions are pure, it just comes off as a lack of compassion and patience."

     It wasn't uncommon for Aniyah to assemble as the friend groups peacemaker. I admit I could be caught up in how I felt and thus how everyone else should as well. Aniyah always knew where the common ground was though, and how to communicate it well. 

     So that's when I sit on the couch, taking in everything she'd been telling me as I replayed the moment of the night for myself. 

     Te'a wasn't the sensitive type at all, but it was a touchy subject. Just speaking on Medinah could be triggering for her. I knew that, but my care for a friend got construed as bluntness, harshness. I think about Aniyah's notes I needed to apply...compassion, patience. 

     She probably notices my distant, distraught look as reality of my portrayal hits. "Ken, it's not that bad. Let it blow over for a minute and have a moment with her. She'll hear you with a different approach." She extends to me what I lacked for myself, compassion and patience.

     "Imma' go shower. We can take this out in the morning. Goodnight." Aniyah adds the finishing touch of a knot onto the black heft bag while I can only return the phrase with a look and a empty smile. She returns a full one back before headed to her room. 

     Midnight was creeping, I was ready to call it a night too, and leave the rest of the clean up for sunrise. But just before I could grab my phone and ditch the scene the RING alert stops me. I wasn't expecting anyone over tonight, and it wasn't like Aniyah to have spontaneous guests over either. I figured Jordyn or Te'a must've left something of theirs behind. Instead of heading to the door straight away though, I check in with the app first making sure it wasn't some axe murderer. 

     "No axe murderer, just you." Their presence here alone is questionable. This late at night was sus. 

     I don't hold the door open wide enough to let them through, hoping it prompts them to explain their selves first. My plan foiled, them pushing pass me anyway, allowing me to catch the alcohol stench all over them.

     "Should I have brought an axe?" Along with inviting themselves in, they make their self comfortable on the couch.

     "Did you drive here drunk?" That's the first thing I want to address, along with the mounds of questions I had ready for her after. 

     "Drunk yes, driving no. There's this thing called ridesharing now." She slurs her words of wit. I lock the door behind her, my arms folded as I'm prepared to scold with more questions.

     "Are you coming from somewhere?" Her attire of loose-fitted grey sweats and fresh white tee didn't scream party or club but I felt the need to ask anyway.

     She evades answering, "Damn, this 21 Questions or sum'?" Her tone tells me pulling any real info out of her wouldn't be easy. She seemed withdrawn, quick to deflect any attempt at interrogation with a diversion of her own questions. 

     I pull from Aniyah's advice just minutes earlier. Instead of being the mother friend, scolding the child who snuck out at night, I opt to be the supportive friend. I sit down beside her, my leg folded under me as I face her with my hands in my lap. "No, it isn't. But you can't appear at people house this late, drunk and unannounced like it's normal. Like this," I take note of her appearance again, her low eyes telling me she'd also been cross-faded. "...is in character. Medinah," Her name is said with compassion and patience. "...what's up?"

     She confirms herself with a nod, probably battling in her own mind whether or not to confide the truth in me. After a moment she finally speaks. "Te'a broke up with me." 

     The part that's shocking for me isn't the part you'd think. The breaking up was nothing new to anyone. That's the kind of couple they were, breaking it off just to post themselves back together again by the end of the month. 

     "Well...wouldn't be the first time would it? Y'all will be back together soon enough like nothing even happened." I can't help but wave Medinah off at first, even though I knew her well enough to know if it were that simple...if this was just one of their typical break ups to make ups, she wouldn't be here right now. She wouldn't look this broken. 

     "Nah," She leans over to retrieve her phone from her sweats pocket, unlocking and tapping the screen a few times before handing her phone over to me. 

     It's on twitter, more specifically a tweet from Te'a herself claiming to be single with emphasis. It was recent, the time stamp being recent enough to add up with Te'a going straight to Medinah's after leaving here. Something else had to have happened with how quick the timeline was. 

     Something serious for not only Te'a to call it off but also for her to post about it. I knew Te'a since we were kids. We got to grow up through all the social media trends together, from MySpace to when Instagram logo was a polaroid camera. And in all that time I never known Te'a to post about personal stuff online. You'd never hear about her dog being sick let alone her relationship drama. If I did know Te'a I knew once she was done with something there was never any going back. It could only mean they were done for good. 

     I hand her phone back, "What even happened?" I give Medinah the chance to tell me before I go speculating.

     She exhales, leaning back into the couch while resting her forearm against the top of her dreads. "She said she fucked someone else. I know I'm a hypocrite for caring but I do. Not because she got hers but because I know her. If she still loved me at all she'd never. I dont know, I think we done for real now."

     "I'm sorry about that. But what do you want from me." I don't mean for my bluntness to make it's return but I let it. I preferred being straight to the point, cutting bullshit out of the way. To bring back some sense of compassion though, I elaborate on my point. "There's so many other houses you can be crashing at right now and you're here at mines." I make that note clear. 

     Medinah and I were close friends. Having been that way since we first met in college. I was actually the one who introduced Medinah to Te'a, so I do somewhat have an understanding of why I might've been on her mind at this time. But there's still much to question. 

     Medinah had other friends to confide in about this with, friends who could be understanding, sympathetic to her side although she was very much in the wrong and this had been coming. She had so many other people who weren't best friends with the ex she spoke of. I had to question why it had been me. 

     Before she says anything she grabs the bottle that had a shot or two of Hennessy left in it, grabbing two new solo cups and pouring an even shot in each before handing one to me. "I want you to drink with me."