Picture Perfect

32.

~Sam~

His car pulls up about 15 minutes after I get dropped off and he quickly gets out of the car and walks over to me.

I just stare at him saying nothing as I start walking toward him with my suitcase and my duffle bag.

"Just get in the car." He takes the bags from me and moves to put them in the car.

When he gets in, he waits a second for a few cars to make their pass before speeding off and turning his music up loud enough for the angels in heaven to hear.

Oh he's mad for real.

We get back to the house and he drops my bags at the door before he closes it.

"And that's the type of shit we don't fucking need right now. You know how much unnecessary attention that could've and probably did bring our way? Do you think?" He starts.

"Don't talk to me as if I'm a fucking child! I'm not going to tell you that shit again!"

He just laughs and shakes his head.

"Imma let you calm down and get your shit together. I'm not fighting."

"Oh cause you're so much better than me right? You're too good to fucking bicker with me?" I want to go back and forth. I want to yell. I want to make his blood boil as much as mine is boiling right now. I want to get him mad, I want to see how far he'd go.

"Sit down somewhere sweetheart."

"I'm not your fucking sweetheart. Come on. Fight with me. I know you want to." I go up to him and shove him.

"Oh hell no. You trippin'." He steps back and raises his hands and I get even more mad with the fact that he's trying to be the bigger person.

I swing on him and he catches my hand and takes it to turn me around and lock me up.

"Fight with me." I find myself falling apart. My breathing gets heavier and I just cry. I just want to cry.

~Kyler~

"Not like this. I'm not him. Don't confuse me with that nigga, let this be the last time I have to tell you this shit. If you want to act like this, you can go find the person to act like this with. I have too much respect for both you and myself to ever lay a hand on you. That ain't me, and you ain't gonna make that me. I love you, and I think, no, you need to get some help. You've been through a lot of shit in your life that you are still dealing with. You need to find a healthy way to do it, cause this ain't gonna cut it." I let her go and walk away into the room.

I turn to look at her again for a second and decide to give her time to cool out.

"Imma give you some time to get your shit together and then we can talk." I let her know.

After suffering about two hours of her silence, I decide to come out with Aries. I usually have to walk him before leaving to grab something to eat or just going out in general because he's what I call a "stress pee-er".

It's a nice evening out. Not too cool. And not too hot.  It will probably be a nice night to sit out and stargaze a bit with the woman I love.

"Aries what you think? Maybe we do a little late night picnic for dinner tonight? Your momma needs to get outside and breathe some fresh air."

I pick him up and start wiping off his paws when I look up and see a sudden splattering on someone's car window. There was a loud noise that went off at the same time.

What the fuck did I just see?

I stand frozen unsure as to whether or not what I just saw was real.

I swallow aggressively and Aries barks nonstop.

"Did he just shoot himself?" I hear a woman's voice and then I look up and see a couple getting their groceries out of the car.

"Yo, you seen that shit?" I'm asked by the guy.

I hear Samantha's voice and look up to see her running down the stairs with papers in her hand.

She has my keys in her hand and moves to take my car.

I run over to her.

"Samantha!"

She's crying into the phone that she holds to her ear.

"Please pick up. Pick up the phone!"

I catch her at the car door and she drops the keys. I quickly grab them.

"Call the police!" I hear another person's voice behind me. It's so much going on right now, I can't focus on any of it. I'm doing my best to make and keep Samantha the priority. Despite the fact that I just witnessed a stranger blow his brains out just a few feet away from me.

I grab the phone from her and she's in a sort of panic.

"Someone knocked on the door and left me this letter Ky, Garrison wrote it. He apologized for everything and then said goodbye. I think he's going to do something crazy and I can't let him do that. I have to-" she gasps for air. "I have to help him."

"Call the police." I echo the words of the stranger behind me.

"I'll drive. Come on." I open the backseat and put the dog inside. He climbs right up into the drivers seat as I open the door. "Move."

Samantha gets in the passenger seat and I crank the car up and speed off in the direction of the house she used to live in.

It feels like the world is moving a million miles a minute right about now and I have no idea what to think or how to feel.

"I just saw a man blow his brains out." The words just come out and I feel my heart rate increase to a violent speed.

"What?" Her eyes widen. I quickly pull over into a gas station and stop the car to get out and vomit.

~Samantha~

As I'm on the phone with the police asking them to get over to the house as quickly as they can to check on Garrison, Kyler mimics my emotion and tells me the most unsettling thing.

He jerks the car over into the gas station and gets out to throw up. What the fuck is happening right now?

"Ma'am? Are you still with me?"

I just heave and break further down into a previously interrupted crying spell.

"Ma'am?"

It's like the world is being set ablaze right now and I'm once again being boxed in by darkness, decay, and what feels like death.

Death has been a consistent threat these past few days it seems like.

"I'm sorry, I just-I don't really know what's going on right now. My boyfriend just saw someone harm himself in our complex and this sounds really bad but my husband might be trying to harm himself because I left him and I don't- I can't understand..." I drop the phone and being that it's on speaker, I can hear the Operator asking me where I am and if I need assistance.

"Are you thinking of harming yourself or anyone else right now ma'am?" She most likely asks because of the distress that can be heard in my voice.

Aries is barking and scratching at the window.

"Can you tell me where you are sweetheart?"