ICU: THE TRILOGY

15

C R Y S T A L

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Can I come in?" I asked outside of Terrell's bedroom.

"Whatever." He answered back.

I opened the door and walked in. He was laying across his bed with his face in the phone. He sat up when I walked in and turned his phone off completely.

"I still wanna go to the breakfast with you. I just forgot and I apologize for that. There's no excuse for me forgetting-"

"You do a lot for us. You just forgot. It's no big deal." Terrell said shaking his head.

"It is a big deal because I hurt your feelings-"

"My feelings are not hurt!" He loudly shot back. "Why does everyone expect me to be hurt and crying about every damn thing? My birth mom didn't want me now she does and my foster mom doesn't wanna be bothered with me, okay cool. I keep it pushing and move on my life." He explained to me.

"Okay, that's not healthy. You can't keep pushing everything you've been through down and compressing it. It'll fuck you up in the end." I tell
Him.

"Like you and dad?" He asked standing up.

I stepped back and took a deep breath before responding.

"Alright, do you wanna go or not?" I ask Terrell calmly.

"No." He responded with an attitude. "I'm just gonna go play some basketball outside." He said as he pulled shorts out of his drawer.

"Come talk to me when you're ready." I tell him, "I'll be here." I say softly.

"I'm good. There's nothing else to talk about." He said shrugging his shoulders. "I need to change." He said pointing to the door.

I nodded my head and walked out of the room. I closed the door behind myself and I heard him lock it. I went downstairs to the living room and sat next to Devale.

"He doesn't want to talk to me." I told Devale.

He looked up from his phone and nodded. "I figured. Just give him some time." He said.

"He said he's gonna go outside to blow off some steam." I tell Devale.

Terrell came down the stairs just as I was done speaking. He had a basketball in his hand.

"I'll be back." Terrell said.

"Where you going?" Devale asked him.

"To the park, down the street." He replied putting his AirPods in his ears.

"Be safe, please. Answer if we call you." Devale instructed him.

"Alright." He said as he walked out the door.

The door closed and Devale and I just sat on the couch. I could tell Devale wasn't taking the situation as serious as me. Him and Terrell have a tighter bond than Terrell and I do. All he has to do is apologize when he does something wrong. They usually end up cool within a few hours. It takes days for Terrell to forgive me when I make him upset.

"Maybe we'll talk when he gets back." I say looking at the tv

"Don't sweat it babe. He's going through a lot right now." Devale said.

"Like what?" I ask him.

He sighed and looked at me before speaking.

"Rachel wants full custody of him. She wants her son back." Devale informed me.