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.We both tried to decide how to proceed.I looked at Courtney.She was shooting herself in the head with her index finger.Damn right! Just shoot me.Devin turned around, “Jason, this is my girl.”46SCOOTERHis girl? How did she get to be his girl without me knowing they even knew each other? Did they just meet at the club? Even my pride refused to let me front as I completed his attempt to introduce us.I said, “Taylor?”Obviously noticing the tension, Devin yanked his neck back.“Y’all know each other?”Akua rolled her neck and pointed.“Who is that?”I ignored her and answered Devin, “Yeah, we went to high school together.”Taylor’s eyes shifted from my mouth to his.She blinked hard and rapidly like somehow she wished she could disappear.Finally, she closed them and took a deep breath.“How do y’all know each other?”Devin smiled.“This is my back, this is my line brother.”She covered her face.Thankfully Akua stood a foot below because she couldn’t hear the entire conversation.Devin was so into my lady on his arm that he didn’t fully understand what was occurring between us, either.This was the first we’d spoken since my dreadful phone call.She mouthed.“Line brother?”I nodded.Devin kissed her cheek and wrapped his arm around her waist and bent down.“Akua, this is my girlfriend, Taylor.”They shook hands.I thought, girlfriend? Akua tugged my arm.I bent down.“Is that your Taylor?”I shook my head.She squeezed my hand.“She sure looks like the girl on that prom picture.” She glanced at her again.“Jason, that is her.” She frowned.“What the fuck is going on here?”I bent down.“Baby, I’m trying to figure this out now.I didn’t know they even knew each other.”She gasped like she didn’t believe me.Devin wrapped one arm around my shoulder and the other around Taylor.“My favorite people.”Devin is pretty much a private guy, but damn! His favorite people? Was she dealing with him when she was coaxing me to leave my girl? She whispered something in his ear and wiggled away.I still couldn’t internalize what was going on.Akua yanked my arm.“What the fuck is going on?”“Shit.Hell if I know.”“You mean to tell me that that is the Taylor you were leaving me for and she is now Devin’s girlfriend and you don’t know what’s going on?”I snapped, “No, I’m just as shocked as you.”She grunted.“Why does Devin always end up with the sneaky bitches?”I looked at Akua.She’d figured it out.This was Taylor’s attempt to make me jealous.How did she find Devin, though? I thought it was ironic that I never heard from her after we broke up.She had this in store.Rage boiled in me.Why my man? He didn’t deserve to be involved in this.He watched her walk over to Courtney.I knew him well enough to know he was digging her.He chuckled.“Small world, huh?”“Tell me about it.When did you meet Taylor?”“Last September.”“September!” I shouted.He shrugged his shoulders.“Yeah somewhere around that time.”She was playing me all along.Anger and jealously rushed to my head, giving me a splitting headache.I huffed.“Why didn’t you tell me anything about her?”“It wasn’t anything to tell.We just started hooking up on the regular a few weeks ago.” He tapped my shoulder.“Have some drinks.We have Grey Goose, Moët.”As he ran down the bar list, my fury convinced me this was a personal attack.“Did Taylor tell you she knew me?”“Nah, man.Damn.Have some drinks and relax.”How did he not see the friction between us? Was he naïve or just caught up? I wanted to smack him in the back of his head.I turned to find Akua sitting in Devin’s designated area sipping a drink.I smiled.She rolled her eyes.C’mon, baby, not now.While Akua greeted my other friends, in sign language, I gestured to Taylor, “Meet me in the bathroom in ten minutes.”She stormed over to me.“I don’t remember that shit anymore.” She tilted her head.“What are you trying to say?”I huffed.“Meet me in the bathroom.”“I’m not meeting you anywhere.We don’t have anything to talk about.”Her neck rolled.My shoulders bucked.Anyone with a brain knew we were in a lover’s quarrel.I grabbed her shoulders.“You’re with my line brother and you think we don’t need to talk?”“Scooter, get out of my face.You never told me about your damn line brother.And damn if I plan to leave him alone because you know him,” she growled.“You know he’s a Que.You know I’m a Que.You know we both went to Hampton.It don’t take a rocket scientist to ask if we know each other.”47TAYLORI shouted.“Hampton?”His head bobbed.“Yeah, Hampton.”“You went to Prince.”Oh my God! He flunked out of Princeton after we broke up and transferred to Hampton.I hung my head.I tried to suppress that it was me who robbed him of his dream of being an Ivy League Alumni.I’d convinced myself that he graduated from Princeton.How will anyone believe that I just have selective memory and that I’m not some vengeful witch?Akua interrupted us, “Baby, what’s going on?”I glared at her.She rolled her eyes and looked up at Scooter.I sympathized with Devin, because he was enjoying his party and had no clue this altercation was occurring.Courtney came to join me.I assume to provide some added protection.After looking at Scooter and his cute little chocolate drop up and down, she smirked.“Hey.”Akua scrunched her face.“Hello.”Courtney tugged my arm.“Let’s go to the bathroom,” she said.When we walked to the bathroom, I screamed.Courtney yelled, “Taylor! What is going on?”I huffed.“It’s a small fucking world.”“You didn’t know that they knew each other?”With one hand on my hip and the other leaning on the sink, my eyes questioned her.“What do you think?”“Devin said Scooter was his best friend.”“Well, obviously Devin is not Scooter’s best friend, because in the five months we dealt with each other, he didn’t mention Devin.”“Are you sure?”“Yes, I’m sure.” I paused to recollect.“I mean, he used the terms like my boy or my line brother, but it didn’t seem like he had a lot of friends to me.” I used my fingers as quotations.“Especially, ‘best friends.’”As my best friend cross-examined me, it appeared that even she doubted the validity of my story.How could I expect anyone else to understand?I looked up and Akua slung her long braids back and went into the stall.Courtney mouthed.“Let’s go.”We walked out of the bathroom and danced a few feet away from Devin’s party.He came over to me, “You hiding from me?”I shook my head.We began to dance.When Akua came back out, she danced in front of Scooter.He rocked side to side, with his cigar in his hand.He stared at us and I stared at them.Our lovers stared at us.We argued with our dance moves.Here, take that.Back and forth, we challenged each other and my dance partner didn’t even realize he was in a battle.48SCOOTERAkua said, “It’s so unfair that Devin gets all of the deceptive women.He’s such a good guy.”“I know baby, but I’m going to stay out of it.”She cupped my face into her hand.“You just said the other day that as we get older, good friends are what’s most important.You stayed out of it the last time and he ended up marrying that crazy hooker.” She nodded in Jennifer’s direction.“Don’t let your boy go into something with someone who intentionally set out to play him.”I bent down and kissed her cheek.“You’re right, Ku.”A part of me wanted to tell because I couldn’t bear the love of my life fucking my boy [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]