Oli's P.O.V.
I heard a knock on my door and went to go see who was there through the peephole. Just as I expected, it was Nate and Arseny. I unlatched and unlocked the door, and the two shitheads were standing there, beers and weed in hand, grinning like jackasses. I sighed and remembered what it was like to be in my 20s, stupid and obnoxious; I was glad that time was over. Arseny and Nate charged right past me and into my apartment before I could say anything.
"C'mon in," I rolled my eyes at their rude nature. They started laughing while they opened their beer on my counter, I had no idea why.
"What's so funny?" I asked angrily.
"How'd your date go?" Nate chuckled before taking a sip of Samuel Adams.
"Yeah, did you do the horizontal tango?" Arseny added.
"Ok, first of all, wow. Second of all, nothing happened. She showed up drunk."
Nate sprayed the beer from his mouth, right onto Arseny. Arseny shook the liquid from his hands, a disgusted expression on his wet face.
"Thanks, man," he turned to Nate before continuing, "she showed up drunk? At, what, 5 PM?"
"3 PM," I corrected.
Nate wiped the beer from his mouth and said, "Well, I can't blame her. If I had as many kids as she has I'd kill myself."
"Nate, if you had a kid you'd kill yourself," I retorted. I saw Arseny had already taken some paper towels from the roll on the countertop and begun to dry himself off.
"Well, you guys can kiss your stupid jokes goodbye, because I'm not going anywhere near that woman again," I sat down and turned my small Dell TV on.
"NO," Arseny began loudly, "YOU CAN'T!"
"You seriously can't," Nate immediately added to Arseny's claim.
"Face it, guys, I'm not going to have lunch with her again. She's crazy."
"Dude, listen to me. You can't do this. You can't just end this because she made a little mistake," Arseny sat down next to me and put his arm on the back of the couch.
"Oh, I can, and I will," I replied sternly.
Nate jogged around to the couch and dropped himself next to me. I was now in between the two jackasses.
He slowly leaned forward to place his beer on the small coffee table in front of us, then leaned back to begin a rant.
"When I was 8, my dad was deported from Greece for selling a shit ton of guns to some gang members. We all somehow found a way to move to America, but we had to live in the projects. Every day life was awful, I'd wake up on a matress on the ground with mice chewing at the sides of it. I'd go to the kitchen for breakfast, and the cooler we used as a fridge would be empty, aside from some marinara sauce. After I ate my marinara sauce, it would be 6:30 AM. I'd walk 30 minutes to school, and I'd get bullied for my shoes that had no brand. When I got to be 16, my parents got a divorce. Everything got worse then. I hated the fact that they couldn't stay together, even for us suffering kids. My brother and I were being tossed around like a football. My mom's house was nice and clean, it wasn't so big, but it was a huge upgrade from my dad, who still lived in the projects and still sold guns,"
He pointed at Arseny and continued,
"I was 17 when my dad was arrested, I was living with my mom full-time. She was always leaving us home alone for days, off with one of her boyfriends. We starved so many times in that little house. A year later, I learned to drive and had my own credit card. I met Arseny at a Starbucks. He got my order wrong and we talked, then we exchanged numbers because I thought his shoes were cool. I told him the story I'm telling you right now, and," he looked at Arseny, "do you remember what you said after I finished?"
Arseny nodded and answered, "Your life was so awful, all because your parents couldn't stay together. That sucks balls, man."
Nate looked back at me and said, "Look at all the shit I had to go through because my parents couldn't stay together. Think of what Opio is going to go through, having only one parent. You leave her alone in the house for hours! Where is she right now?"
"She's with Misty," I scoffed.
"Is she always with Misty?"
"No..."
"See?" Arseny chimed in, "You have to keep dating. Ever since your fiance died, you haven't been in the dating scene at all. Do you want to leave your kid with one parental figure?"
"No," I answered quietly.
"Then fucking man up, and stay together for your kid!" Nate shouted.
"Ok but... we're not even... together," I chuckled slightly, "I only have her contact for babysitters."
"Oh enough of that bullshit," Arseny said, almost angrily.
"You'll be together soon."
