Turning A New Leaf

Five

As Krist stepped out of the dispensary, he almost ran into her. "Oh my gosh, Krist!" She said her green eyes were nothing but pupils.

His heart sank. Lainey. He hadn't seen her since they'd broken up four years ago. "Oh, hey," he stammered and rubbed the back of his neck. He pulled the keys out of his hoody and continued to his car.

She followed him, walking quickly to catch up. "You look good! I've been thinking about you so much since I heard about what happened to you."

Krist already knew that. She messaged him from a newly created profile after he'd gotten stabbed at the club. He turned to face her, trying to remain tactful but also firm with her.

Damn, she looked bad. Lainey had always been tiny but she somehow appeared to have gotten smaller and more gaunt. Her eyes were hollow with dark circles beneath them, her cheeks had lost the little plumpness to them. Even her full lips were somehow thin.

She still tried to make herself up in heavy, colorful makeup, her lashes done. Lainey still had her trademark blond extensions, though it looked like they'd seen better days and she hadn't been keeping up with them.

"So, do you...still have your kid?" She wanted to know.

"Rocco?" He asked, dumbfounded over the question. Rocco wasn't a fucking pet that he could just dump off and he'd never want to not have him. "What the hell kind of question is that? Yes, I still have my son."

Krist began to unlock his car door, Lainey followed him like some fucking crackhead zombie, still trying to talk. Go away, oh my god.

"Look, I got no hard feelings towards you but I'm getting married," he told her directly.

Lainey stopped dead in her tracks and blinked hard. "Married?" She repeatedly.

He nodded and opened the car door. "Yes, in a couple weeks."

She ran her fingers through her long blond extensions, and she visibly trembled. "You told me you never wanted to get married," her voice cracked.

Why did these chicks always bring that up? You told me you never wanted a relationship, you told me you never wanted to get married. Yeah. It was a nice way of telling them that he didn't want that shit with them. That there would be no future with them.

"Shit changes," he told her coldly.

"To who?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"Nobody you've met," he told her truthfully.

"It's Atira, isn't it?" She blurted out.

He looked at her incredulously. "How did you know that?" He demanded.

"From Rochelle, Cami told her."

Rochelle was a mutual friend of the two, though he didn't know Cami even talked to her. Krist relaxed, he'd been worried Lainey's weird ass had found her on Facebook or some shit like that, not that he'd put it past her. He made a note to tell Cami to not talk about his business to her because he didn't want Lainey to know shit about him.

Lainey stared at him with expectant eyes, he wasn't sure what she was hoping for but he had no intention of finding out.

"Look, I ain't tryna be a dick to you," he began, "but I need to get going. You need to get yourself together and get clean. You're gonna fucking kill yourself."

Tears welled in Lainey's eyes. He felt guilty for being direct to her but it was the truth. He slid into the driver's seat, fastened his seatbelt, and turned the key in the ignition. He backed out, Lainey gazed after him in an oversized flannel, hugging herself. She looked frail.