HOW TO RUIN YOUR LIFE (LGBTQ+)

20

Does your husband really abuse you?

Almost as soon as Asa had left that day, Joe had asked Persia. She'd laughed it off, obviously nervous, and denied it with a shake of her head. And she'd changed the subject as quickly as possible.

Joe knew it now. Persia had always been a terrible liar.

He sat at the kitchen table, fingers typing away on his laptop and listening intently to a business call in his headphones. It was supposed to be a quick work meeting, but those 'quick meetings' were always at least an hour. His little son, Mike, was in the living room, laughing and running around, jumping on the couches with his neighbor friend, and Joe didn't have the heart to tell them to be quiet. He wanted his son to have good memories of him when he died. He would never know what he knew. He refused to physically discipline him, resorting to yelling from time to time, but never, EVER being rough with him.

He didn't want them to suffer like he had.

The call finally ended, and he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. He closed the screen of his computer and turned his phone off, carrying them to his office and shutting the door tightly behind him, scowling at the door as he walked away into the living room.

"Dad, dad!" Mike yelled as he entered the living room. "Can I have a sleepover at his house?" He pointed to his friend.

"I don't know," Joe said, lifting his son into his arms. "I'll have to ask his mom when she gets back from work."

Joe and the neighbor lady had a good routine going. She'd take his son into her apartment when she was home and he needed to run an errand, and he'd take her kid into his place when she was at work or also needed to run errands. Free childcare for both of them. It was perfect, and their schedules lined up perfectly. Joe would have been interested in her if she wasn't exclusively into women. They were both divorced, single parents without girlfriends. But at least they could rely on each other. Some nights they would sit with drinks and chat for a while, about work and their kids and the news. Boring, predictable, but pleasant conversations. It was something that Joe craved.

But with Asa still in his life, he could feel the uncertainty and wildness permeating his mind whenever he thought of her. He realized that he could move out of state. But Persia still lived in town, and his son had friends in school, and he had a good, steady job. He didn't want to uproot everything, even though his gut told him that it might be the best idea for him and Persia.

Asa was a ticking time bomb.

She was responsible for the deaths of his father and mother. Yet, she didn't seem to care at all. She didn't seem to feel at all.

Joe felt his arm curl more tightly around his son. He didn't even know that Asa existed. All the family he knew was Joe and 'Auntie Persia'. He'd never met his grandparents either, because they'd been dead long before he was born. Because of her. Joe had just told him that they'd died of old age, and left it at that. He didn't have any family pictures in the house besides the few pictures of his son and the picture of himself, Persia and his mother after Asa had left to live in their aunt's house.

There was a knock at the door, and Joe went over to open it, putting his son down on the ground. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Persia standing there with a plate of freshly baked cookies. Her eyes were gazing at him intensely, and he glanced behind her, seeing Jayce waiting in the car, his arm draped over the steering wheel as he watched them.

Persia thrust the plate toward him. "Happy birthday to Mike," she said, watching him closely.

Joe stared at her. It's not his birthday.

"Well, he's waiting for me," Persia said.

Joe looked over at Jayce again, his eyes hardening as he remembered what Asa had said about him. "What's going on?"

Jayce honked the horn. "Come on, babe, let's go!"

"This was the only way I could come over," Persia whispered, reaching up to hug Joe. She whispered in his ear. "Don't react, okay? Just smile. Jayce is planning on attacking Asa with his friends."

Joe froze, but hugged Persia back, keeping his face neutral. "Are you alright? You can stay with me, you know-"

"NO, no," Persia said. "Everything is fine. I just wanted to keep you in the loop."

"You could've called me, you know?"

Persia didn't respond, releasing Joe and stepping back. "Coming, babe!"

Jayce waved at Joe, grinning. "Tell your kid I said happy birthday!"

Persia turned away, walking down the steps. Joe watched her go, his hand reaching out to grab her arm, but he stopped himself, his mind reeling with questions.

"I love you!" Persia said. "My phone is broken so I can't reach out right now, but I'll come visit you again, okay?"

The car drove away, and Joe watched them go, dumbstruck.

Persia's husband...? Attacking Asa...?

"Dad, it's cold outside, close the door!"

Joe blinked, stepping back inside.

"I didn't know it was my birthday. I thought I just had a birthday last month."

Joe released the plate of cookies as it was wrenched from his hands, collapsing down onto the couch, staring at the wall blankly. "What the hell is going on?" he muttered to himself. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his cell phone, and dialed Persia's number. Sure enough, it went straight to voicemail.

Persia hadn't even told him whether Asa knew she was being targeted or not.

"What the hell?" he repeated, switching over to text the neighbor lady, asking if his son could spend the night at her apartment after she came home from work. He wasn't just gonna listen to Persia when she told him not to go over to her house.

He'd go see her tonight, and sort everything out with her...and her husband.