Broken

Chapter Thirty-Six: Jordan

It's really hard being me.

    My pregnant, hormonal sort-of-ex-girlfriend and my sort-of-new-girlfriend hate each other.

    I'm living in the ghettos with my sort-of ex's new dude.

    Both of them are trying to ignore me.

    And I have no way home to my mansion.

    Life truly, truly SUCKS.

    How does she expect me to be okay with this? The last time we got separated, it was my fault, I'll admit, and this time...

    Okay, it's still my fault. But... she's pregnant!

    How could she choose this...this fetus instead of me? I've been with her her whole life, TWICE! And now she's been pregnant for .2 hours, and she's already dedicating her life to it? I'd never thought abortion looked so good before now. I didn't really want the kid, I just wanted Katrina back. This kid would change everything for us once we get back. When we get back. That'll be fun. One second we're gone, fleeing for our lives. The next and we'll have to announce that she was pregnant. SURPRISE! Anyway, I'm not leaving without her and until she realizes this kid will wreck our careers, I'm going to stay. And then when we get back I'll convince her having a kid would be a mistake. It was a foolproof plan!

    Until I convinced her I had two options:

Break up with Karen and focus everything on Katrina.

Or I could spend more time with Karen, make Katrina jealous, have her miss me a little and then dump Karen. Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!

    I snuck out the door when they were in the back. It was dark, only lit by street lamps. I still didn't know the area well; I'd only been here twice. How I was going to find Karen, I didn't know. I hadn't talked to her ever since that day in the woods. To be honest, I was kind of avoiding her. I didn't feel anything when she kissed me. And now that I've kissed Katrina again, I know what a real kiss was supposed to feel like. And Karen ain't it.

    I picked up a beer from a street vendor and started walking. At the time I didn't really think much about it. Before we came here I drank a lot at parties, so I was good at holding it down. With food. I was running on an empty stomach right now. Karen lived in an apartment but what she never told me the address. So I had to find her myself. Monroe was a relatively small town and it wouldn't take that long. Simple.

    I was trying to get to the white side of town and start from there. Except I didn't know how to get there. Each turn I made was a guess. Every step I took I lost myself in this strange neighborhood. It took me about an hour before I started giving up and I tried to retrace my steps.

    I don't know where I turned, but I ended up at a pool. Or maybe it was a deep puddle or a pond. It was clearly private since it was behind a building and right next to an alley. I couldn't see nobody in there. But I could hear them. They were laughing and talking and squealing. It was like a regular pool. I stumbled in the dirt in the alleyway and headed towards a specific figure. She drew me in automatically. She was lighter than the rest of the people there and had dark hair in a bob. She looked like an oreo cookie (her hair and black one piece were the cookies to her creamy complexion). I couldn't see very well (obviously, I thought she was food).

"Oh my god!" she screamed and immediately ran towards me.

Now the screams turned to terror and worry. Frantic splashes left the pool empty and silent. The girl was trying to get my attention. "Jordan! Jordan, listen to me!"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My body was warm and cold. I shivered as I sweated. Icouldn'tthinkclearly. Ilookedatthebottleinmyhand. Ithrewit. Morescreams. Thegirlputherwethandsonmyface.

"Jordanwhatareyoudoing?"

Imoanedinresponse. Ishruggedheroffandmoved. Ifeltanicebreezethenaharshimpactofcold. Icouldn'tbreathe. Icouldn'tmove. IcouldonlyfeelherhandspullingmebackuntilIblackedout.