A Losing Game

"Definitively Vague"

            Jacory texted Nate a fifth time that morning as he finished getting ready for school. When Nate failed to reply, he gave up and put his phone in his pocket. He then grabbed his backpack and left his bedroom just as Demetrius pulled up and blew his car horn outside. He hurried out of the house and closed and locked the door behind himself before running to Demetrius's Honda Civic and climbing in. They headed to Montrell's apartment building not far from their school and when they arrived, Montrell quickly ran out of the building lobby and climbed into the backseat of the car.

            "Thank you so much for the ride, D," Montrell said while pulling back the hood on his jacket. "It is too cold for me to walk to school this morning."

            "You know I got you, Trell," said Demetrius before driving away from the building. "So, what did y'all get into this weekend?"

            "If you weren't so busy getting turned out by Zay," said Jacory, "you would've answered your phone or replied to our text messages."

            "Yeah, you ghosted us the whole weekend, D," said Montrell.

            Demetrius laughed and admitted, "I actually didn't do it with Zay over the weekend."

            Jacory's mouth dropped as he asked, "You didn't? What happened?"

            "The mood just wasn't right on Friday night or Saturday night. So, we talked and watched movies and ordered food. After spending a weekend with him, I now can say with confidence that Zay is my other half."

            "Aw," said Montrell. "I bet you had a great weekend. You don't have to have sex to have a good time."

            "Yeah," agreed Jacory while rolling his eyes. "I mean, it does feel good to get some every now and then though. Not like I'd know."

            "Uh-oh. It sounds like my cousin has hit a dry spell with Nate."

            "It's not a dry spell. It's just...I don't know. Something is different and I can't quite put my finger on it."

            Demetrius became extremely nervous as he thought about Nate and Tayvon. Not wanting to get into everything with Montrell in the car, he assured Jacory, "I'm sure it's just stress. College application deadlines are coming up and it's almost Nate's birthday."

            When they turned into the student parking lot at school and Demetrius parked the car, Jacory took off his seatbelt and told them, "I need to tell you guys something but I won't tell you if you're going to judge me."

            "When have I ever judged you?" Demetrius asked while taking off his seatbelt.

            "I'm your family," Montrell reminded him. "I have free range to judge you because it'll always come from a place of love." When he noticed the way Jacory was looking at him, he sighed and said, "Fine, no judgement from me."

            "On Friday night after the game," Jacory began, "I got a call from Rod saying he needed to talk to me. I won't go into all of the details but I ended up spending the night with him."

            Demetrius broke out into a brief coughing fit after choking on air and after recovering, asked, "Now what now?"

            "It wasn't anything sexual. And I didn't even sleep. I just wanted him to be okay. Y'all, he really needed me and I couldn't have said no even if I wanted to. My heart is broken over what he told me and I feel for him. Roderick was my friend before he was my boyfriend. I could never just turn off the feelings I'll always have for him. Yet, I know I would never be able to get Nate to understand that."