before he cheats | a.cole

forty two

Marina pulls up to her house. She parks my car on the street. Roderick and Troy wait outside, sitting in the grass. Marina gets out of the car and Troy looks up from Roderick's phone. He gets a huge smile on his face and gets up. He runs down toward the car and I hear him yell "mommy".

She leans down as hugs her son. She picks him up, holding Troy in her arms. She says something to him but I can't hear it.

I finally begin to get out of the car, swinging both my legs out before I stand up on my good leg. I close the door and Troy looks at me. Marina says, "You remember my friend, Angelina. Don't you, Troy?"

He nods and hides his face. I smile and Roderick walks up to us. I grab my crutches out of the backseat and lean on them. Marina looks at her husband and says, "Baby, she has a few bags in the trunk. She agreed to stay with us for a bit."

Roderick opens the trunk of my car and pulls my things out. I walk up to him and ask, "Is he inside?"

He nods and says, "Yeah. He's in the living room. Bobby and Kyle are with him."

I start to walk toward the house when I hear Troy ask, "What happened to her leg, Mommy?"

I look back at Marina and she says, "She got hurt so now she's part robot for a little bit."

Troy giggles and says, "I love robots."

I smile and say, "Me too. It's kinda cool that I'm part robot, huh?"

Troy nods and smiles at me. I continue into the house. I open the door and walk in.

The house is cute. It's a little bigger than Adam's place. It's a cute little family home. Two floors.

I make my way into the living room. Adam, Bobby, and Kyle all look at me.

Adam stands up and walks over to me. "Hi," he says.

I look up at him and say, "Hi."

Maybe your title should have been taken from you. My throat tightens as I remember those words.

Adam says, "I'm glad you came by."

Roderick walks into the house and says, "Angelina, I'm just going to put your things in the guest room. Marina or I can help you unpack."

I look back at him and say, "Thank you."

He walks off and Marina walks in, holding Troy's hand. Troy runs into the living room and points at my leg. "Look, Uncle Austin," he says. "Angelina's part robot."

Adam looks down at my brace and he forces a smile and says, "She is."

Troy giggles and says, "It's so cool."

"It is," Adam says.

Marina laughs and says, "Let's go play in your room, Troy. Uncle Austin and Angelina need to have a grownup conversation."

"When can I be a part of grownup conversation?" I hear Troy asks as they walk up the stairs.

Marina follows him and says, "When you're much older."

They get up the stairs and I look at Adam. "Part robot, huh? And you're staying here?" he asks.

I walk over to the couch, needing to sit down. I sit, resting my crutches against the arm next to me. I nod and say, "Yeah, part robot. And yeah. Marina thought that I would need some help and after what happened this morning, I accepted the offer."

Adam sits across from me in a chair and asks, "What happened this morning?"

"Um," I say. "I fell trying to get peanut butter. It's not that bad."