CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 65: LOVESICK

When Birdie and I ran out of dance classes, we still went to the church to hang out on Wednesdays because we loved each other's company so much. We had extra time to spend just talking since we didn't have the classes to take up our time.

It still wasn't enough for me though. I began hanging out with Birdie every chance I got, which meant attending the poker games and coming to whatever Rockie invited me to. I would often come over to his house for dinner. He thought it was because we were good friends, but really, I was just there for Birdie. I was madly in love with her.

Since I was spending so much time with Rockie, I was able to get a good ranking in the mafia. An eight. I was determined to get a nine and Rockie believed I would get there in no time. The mafia no longer questioned my status. I even bought myself an apartment since I had made plenty of money. Things were finally looking up for me. The only thing that wasn't, was Birdie. We were very close friends, but I wanted to be more than that. Rockie was standing in the way of that and I was finally going to do something about it.

I went over to Birdie's house one day while Rockie was out doing work stuff.

"Birdie, we need to talk about Rockie," I told her.

"What about him?" she asked.

"We should sit," I said.

She sat on the couch and I sat on the ottoman in front of her.

"He's not hurt, is he?" she asked.

"No, but you need to know something about him. It may not come as a surprise to you, but Rockie is... well, dangerous," I told her. "He's sadistic. He enjoys making others suffer. That's what he does for his job, and he loves it. And he's a murderer too. I've never seen him show remorse for any of the horrible things he's done. He's a textbook sociopath."

"Why... are you telling me this?"

"I'm warning you. He's dangerous. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Rockie would never hurt me. He's not like that."

"That's what you said about your dad."

Birdie stood up. "How dare you."

"It's true, Birdie. I'm just looking out for you."

"No. You're just jealous."

"I'm telling you as a friend," I told her. "You're blinded by your emotions, just like how you were blinded by your emotions when it came to your dad. You couldn't see the hard truth. That's probably why you fell for Rockie. He reminded you of your dad."

"Get out."

"Birdie, listen to me."

"Get out!" she screamed.

I stood up. "Fine. Just be careful, okay? This is serious. I see domestic abuse all the time as a cop. I know the signs."

"Just. Go," she said.

"Okay." I went to the door. "...Bye." I walked to my car.

That was so stupid of me. I thought. I should have been more gentle in delivering the message. Why did I go straight to name-calling? I should've given her specific examples of what I had seen Rockie do, but I didn't want to scar her with the graphic details. Maybe I should have though. And why did I bring up her dad? That was just plain dumb. This did not go how I had planned. I was supposed to be the hero, and Rockie the enemy, but now Birdie saw the opposite. Now I was the bad guy in her eyes.

Over the next few days, I sent Birdie texts, but she never responded to any of them. On Wednesday, she didn't show up to the church. I had lost all contact with her and I didn't want to see her with Rockie so that was it. Our relationship was over, or so I thought until a few weeks later.

I got a call in the middle of the night from Birdie and picked up immediately.

"Crypto?"

It felt like forever since I last heard her voice, but her voice sounded different. She didn't sound like her usual happy self. She was sobbing.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"You... You were right," she said, "about Rockie."

"What happened? What did he do?"

"He... He..." She started sobbing again.

My heart broke for her. "Birdie, take a deep breath."

I heard her take a shaky breath.

"Are you hurt?" I asked.

"I... I'll be fine."

"Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?"

"I'm in my car. Can I come over?"

"Yeah. Of course."