It's Up To You

Chapter 33

I had to take a moment to gather my thoughts. I wondered exactly what Martha meant by saying I tried her husband. Jim promised he'd never tell Martha about our mistake.

"Your husband? What could you possibly mean?" I laughed, but Martha held a straight face. Her sweet demeanor had melted, she meant business.

"You slept with my husband and I know now." Martha stood up from her seat. Slowly pacing the room, she began to vent. "When he was saying your name in his sleep, I could only assume it was him simply admiring you. You're beautiful and you lived in that big old house."

"You were in the same neighborhood." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I still wasn't you." She turned to me. "So I ignored all those nights of him calling out Lauren. Or when he was whispering Lauren in my ear while we—"

"I don't know why he would do that but trust me—" I stood up, but Martha immediately put up her hand to shush me.

"He already told me the truth. The whole truth." Martha revealed to me. "I thought you slept with one of the other boys in class, you never told me exactly who it was. At times I thought you were lying about losing your virginity all along!"

"I didn't want to tell you who it was because it was my business." I scowled.

"You know," Martha stepped right in front of my face. "I always knew you for a whore, but I never took you for the type to sleep with your best friend's boyfriend."

I finally surrendered. We were both adults, lying wouldn't do any good in this situation.

"How long have you known?" I choked out. "How long would you have let time pass by without letting me know you found out?"

"I knew for a year." Martha answered. Immediately, my heart dropped. I slowly backed away from the girl I used to call my best friend. The one I always admired for her class and grace, the one that I felt amounted enough to be my partner in crime.

"Don't tell me." I whispered. Suddenly, a smirk spread across her face. "Martha, you wouldn't."

"What did the Romans believe?" Martha sat back down on the couch. "An eye for an eye?"

"A tooth for a tooth." I finished for her. "Well you wouldn't want to lose that. When did you finally get your teeth fixed? In senior year of high school?"

"That is totally uncalled for, Lauren. You never cared for anyone but yourself and may I add that you're a complete bitch." Martha shook her head. "At least my teeth were crooked, but my heart always stood upright."

"Your heart? Your heart, Martha? You ruined my relationship with Ricky and almost ended things with Elvis!" I shouted at her as I began walking across the room away from her.

"Ricky? I thought you didn't care about Ricky, Lauren?" Martha shouted. "You don't care about any of these men. You just want someone to sink you claws in."

"You bitch. Get the hell out of my house." I shouted at her.

Martha, who was always very quiet and reserved stepped right up to me. "Fine. I wouldn't want to catch anything from you, tramp."

"Tramp? You're the tramp! You're the tramp who's jealous of me!" I barked at her while following her around the room. When she walked into the foyer, she immediately turned around.

She turned to me so swiftly, I had to take a few steps back. "Jealous? Jealous? Lauren, you always think someone is jealous of you. Not only did you leave a family who was good to you so you could sell your body to some drug addict—"

"Drug addict? Elvis is not an addict! He's just overrun with work!" I spat back.

"Sure, he's so exhausted that he takes enough pills to pass out." Martha crosses her arms. "The Nelsons told me the stories that run around in the business."

"So now you talk to the Nelsons?" I cocked my head to the side.

"I'm not here to go back and forth with you, Lauren. All I'm saying is that there's absolutely nothing to be jealous about because as far as I'm cornered, your life that you've fought so much for is a mess." Martha told me. I was so angry, I smacked her right across the face.

"Is that how you apologize for sleeping with my husband behind my back?" Martha asked me in a growl.

"He wasn't your husband!" I shouted at her.

"And that suddenly makes it better..." Martha squinted at me. "You need to get your conscience checked."

Martha turned around and touched the doorknob to the front door. "Don't touch my door!"

I pushed past her and opened the front door myself. She laughed at me as she watched me hold the door open.

"Your door? It's Elvis' door. And when he's done using you, just like a dirty Kleenex, he'll throw you away." She told me, then walked out of the door. I watched her angrily as she made her way down the pathway.

"You bitch!" I shouted after her. "You just made the worst mistake of your life! You were lucky to be my friend!"

Martha continued walking until she was out of sight. I didn't know where she was going, but it was surely far away from me. Shutting the door, I rested my forehead against the cold wood.

"Madam?" I jumped as I turned around, pressing my back to the door. I realized it was just Oscar. "Would you like anything?"

"No." I crossed my arms, my feet against the luxurious floor. "I've got everything I've ever wished for."