I waited until early the next morning to return Jeremy's call. He was eager to see me face-to-face since I refused to get into any deep conversations via telephone. When he pulled up to resume the duty of taking the baby and me respectively to daycare and school, the first words he uttered was, "Babe, you have no idea how much I missed you!"
"Unh Unh, PAUSE! Whose car is this? I interrogated, dodging his kiss. I walked a lap around the unfamiliar blue colored Malibu, then peeked inside the window.
"Oh, my car broke down a couple days ago. My guy Blu is fixing it for me, so he let me use his spare car.
"Oh, isn't that's cute," I replied dryly, now buckling Jamal's car seat in the back.
"So you didn't miss me?"
He stood with his arms wide open, hoping I would fall into his embrace. Instead, I opened my own car door and jumped in the passenger seat. Giving up trying to show me affection, he hopped in and started the car.
"Look, when I miss someone there's nothing that would stop me from picking up the phone to reach out...so there goes your answer..."
"My phone was off though," he responded, secretly hoping I would feel sorry for him. "I guess, you haven't tried to call me within the last 3 days, huh..."
"About that...how is it that you have a job and can't keep your phone on? Are you paying for minutes or do you actually have a legitimate phone plan? Cause at the very least you should be able to keep your phone on, it's not like you pay rent or anything," I said, not giving a flying f**k about his dilemma.
"Wow, so we're degrading each other now?"
"I'm just sayin'...take it however you want," I laughed.
"I didn't want to tell you this before, and I don't wanna talk about it now, but I lost that job."
"Oh, ok..." I said nonchalantly.
"Shi Shi, STOP PLAYIN WITH ME!" He shouted in frustration. "Why are you actin' all different and brand new on me?"
"CALM DOWN, JEREMY! My baby is in the back!"
He leaned forward and turned up the radio. He remained silent until we dropped the baby off.
"You know what, I'm starting to feel a way right now..." He said, rehashing the conversation.
"Shiiid, you and me both!" I returned.
"It's like you don't even care about me or what I'm goin' through anymore. If you're seeing someone else, then just tell me now...and don't lie to me! Plus, remember what I said..."
"Listen, we're running a little behind and I got about...10 minutes to get to the school before I'm late," I said pointing at the digital clock in the car. "So, we can keep talking and all, but I just need you to at least start driving."
"Is that all you care about?"
"NO, THAT'S NOT ALL I CARE ABOUT!" I shouted in irritation. He began driving, so I calmed down a bit. "I'm just on edge about taking a test today since my grades aren't where they should be, that's all. I feel so unprepared. On top of that, I took your cousin's advice and made a doctor appointment...it's today at 1:00 pm actually, so I don't have a lot of time."
"Oh, for real? Can I come?" He asked eagerly, awaiting my response. Suddenly his phone, resting in the center cupholder, began vibrating. The name on the screen read 'Jada.' We both looked at the screen, then at each other.
"Woooow!" I said shaking my head in disgust, then turning to look out the window.
"Noooooo, babe wait! It's not what you think!"
Everything inside me said not to do it, but since Jeremy neglected to pick up the phone right away, I kindly obliged. He damn near caused an accident trying to snatch it from my hand.
"Hello?" I said, struggling to keep the phone to my ear.
"F**k it, I don't even care no more," was the last thing I heard Jeremy say before the sultry voice of the woman on the other end came through the speaker...
YOU ARE READING
Fault
Non-Fiction"If you leave me, I will kill you," he said. This is how my story started. I left him 7 months ago, he'll swear we never parted. Recollections of such memories just brings my eyes to tears, it's the most pain I've ever experienced in my 21 years...t...
