Sai
"Oh so we lying now?" I said to Neisha after walking back into the apartment. I missed living here and was glad to be back. The only thing I dreaded was going to school. But the sooner I could get this last year over with, the sooner I could jumpstart my career.
"I don't wanna be the one to say it but you guys are kind of irrelevant." She replied sarcastically. Bree wrapped her arm around Neisha's neck. "Keep telling yourself that."
"You must be talking about Sai then. Cause me and Bree really the shit." Carmen chimed in.
"Fasho, fasho. Sai just lame. And she leaving us to go be with Eli," Bree rolled her eyes. It was true that we had a good vibe going on today. But I missed my boyfriend sooooo much.
I plopped down on the couch feeling all the food I ate in my stomach. The four of us just went out for some fun and then stopped by Cane's for some chicken. A was out with Kaiden doing whatever, and Tia was posed to come over later tonight to get ready with us.
"Carmen we going out later, you coming?" Bree asked.
"Yeah they wouldn't mind if you came along. And plus everyone needs to get to know you." I added. We've been friends for some months but she mostly hangs out with me or Bree. The rest of the girls don't really know her, meaning the guys sure as hell don't.
"Y'all sure? I wouldn't want to intrude--"
"You're coming." We all said at the same time.
Me and Ada flew in a couple days ago even though classes don't start for another week. Bree came in almost a day after us and everyone else had already been back. Since we were about to get busy with school anyways-- well not all of us but still-- we might as well go out once.
That was a couple hours away and I still had some stuff to do in between. They said they were gonna chill out here until then, which was no problem. "I'll catch y'all later."
Neisha looked up from the TV, causing Bree to do the same. "Excuse me? She leaving us in her house unattended?" Neisha looked to Bree. "Mane whatever. Don't do nothing stupid." Carmen said bye and waved from her spot on the couch.
I didn't really feel like driving to his apartment since it was literally right there. It felt good today so I decided to just walk.
His car was parked in the front meaning he was still there. I already had a key to the door and just unlocked it to get inside.
Elijah jumped up from the couch so quick and his eyes went wide. He looked like he had a mini heart attack which made a laugh escape from my mouth. "You gotta warn me for you come barging in girl. Damn." He clenched his chest.
I put my wallet and keys down on the table and gave him a hug. He smelled like his usual scent, which I adored. I took a deep inhale. We walked over to the couch that he got up from and put our feet up. Then I realized how clean the whole space looked and how well decorated it was.
"Why does your place look better than mine? This ain't fair." I was sprawled out over the black recliner. There was a fur blanket next to me and I grabbed it since he always kept it cold in his house.
"Whatchu got planed for us today?" Eli asked. I told him that I just wanted to spend time with him. Everything was bound to get hectic and we haven't just chilled in a minute. I wanted to ask how he was since he's been acting kind of distant. I know I ain't do nothing wrong though., so maybe it was something else
"What's going on with you?" I turned the volume on the Tv down a little so I could hear his response. His fists tensed up like they do when he's mad. I got up from under him and sat with my legs folded.
"Nothing you gotta worry about," he pecked my lips, "How was Dallas?" Eli was good at avoiding things he didn't wanna talk about. I don't know why he's like that but I'm not gonna push it. Later I'll just ask Tia what's going on.
"You know, you get on my nerves. But yeah it was good. I missed everyone."
"And they wanna meet you."
"Shittt. When I gotta be there? I'll pull up at a reunion." Too bad we don't do those; that would be funny. "Imma fuck up that nigga who decided he was gonna come for you. Shit pissed me off."
"He really tried to dog me cause I'm dark. Like I wouldn't beat his ass." Eli folded his arms. "Now, you not that bold. Be frorreal."
Yeah I ain't the fighting type but if need be I'll throw down. Of course I say that now but when the time comes we'll see.
"Them girls still at your place?" I nodded. This reminded me to send Ada a text and see where she was.
"Have you spoke to Kaiden today?" He shook his head no. "Not tryna bother them two today. They probably doing what we should be doing right now," Eli pulled me into him and I positioned my legs on either side. "And what's that?" I pulled him close and placed my lips on his.
I don't know if it was because we were apart for a couple months, but I never realized how much I missed his kisses. Eli ran his hands up and down my sides, then finally settled on my ass. "Sai, I hope you know what you asking for." He stood and I wrapped my legs around him and started kissing his neck. "This is exactly what I want."
It was half past 7, and everyone had plans to be at the restaurant by now because afterwards we were going to a party. I saw texts from everyone saying that we were the ones everyone was waiting on.
We must have really overdone it.
"Okay hurry up because we got everybody waiting," I fastened my sandals and stood up, making sure I had everything. I got a call from A and answered it. "I know you haven't seen Eli in forever but we've been waiting on y'all for almost an hour." I smacked. I've been ready for a cool 15 minutes but Elijah just decided he was going to take his time.
He didn't feel like going because "I tired him out" but I know it's just cause he wanted a round two that I wasn't gonna give to him.
"I know, I know. I'm just waiting on him to finish getting ready. Is everyone there?"
"Yup." So we really were the last ones. I sighed and told her we were on the way, and yelled for Elijah to hurry up. Ten minutes later he came out of the room and we were ready to go. "Well at least you smell good, all that time you spent in the shower."
Elijah put the location in his phone, and twenty minutes later we finally got there. He held the door open for me, as always. As soon as I entered I could see all of our friends crowded around one table. They were all laughing and talking; Carmen seemed to be getting along with all of them well. I turned back to Elijah, who seemed to be having another mood swing.
"Are you mad that I made you come? Because we can still go back if you not feeling well." I really did want to know what was going on with him. It felt like I kept asking him every three seconds, so sometimes I would just leave him alone.
"How many times I gotta tell you I'm good?" He draped his arm on my shoulder and we walked over to the table.
"Look who the fuck it is," Shawn said. He was the first to notice we arrived. Everyone else turned their heads towards us. Neisha saved me a seat between her and Ada, leaving Eli to sit next to Carmen and Kaiden. Before I sat down I hugged Tia first. I hadn't seen her since before I left. She was getting so busy with her shop that she didn't have tome to chill with us anymore. "I was hoping to see you earlier but seems like y'all two was a little busy."
"Uhh Sai you okay? You look kinda wobbly," Bree joked. "Petty," was all I said to both of them because they was tryna be funny. "It's okay, we all know why you guys were late."
"And we not judging y'all at all. Young love is so beautiful," Neisha wiped away fake tears. I rolled my eyes jokingly and picked up the menu. "I was this close to ordering an appetizer. You lucky you showed up when you did. But since y'all here, let's order." Kaiden summoned a waiter and he got our drinks and orders. This was a seafood restaurant so of course I went straight for crab legs.
"So Carmen, has anybody here gave you a hard time yet?" She shook her head no. "Everybody cool except Shawn, he just a hater."
"Ain't that the truth."
"Mhm."
Shawn folded his arms. "So we all hating on me now, huh? Keep that same energy when I make all of y'all pay for your own food."
"Hold on you were gonna pay? With what money ? You broke. We all know Neisha the one with dick in the relationship." Everybody started cracking up at Bree. She stayed coming for everyone but most times it was funny. She always said that since she was the single one, it was her job to be funny. Without her and Carmen there, it would make this feel like a group date night. We all just wanted to catch up, which is why we weren't coupled up.
"And Bree wanna call me a hater. You did not have to go in on me like that," he mean mugged. Neisha ignored his shenanigans and went back talking to A.
"I hope y'all kept my house in order," I cut my eyes at Neisha and Bree. They started cackling and I knew then that they had some fun. "How bad is it?" The two started laughing and looking at each other. "I swear if y'all broke something-"
"Girl relax. We ain't do nothing bad."
"But clearly y'all did something." I looked over at everyone at the table, my eyes landing on Elijah. He was talking to Carmen, but it looked more like they were arguing. I didn't want them to think I was staring or getting jealous so I turned the other way and started talking to Tia. She was mean mugging the two of them, too. Elijah noticed and stopped talking to her mid-sentence.
"Y'all will not believe what happened at the shop today. Chile, I am over the whole tattoo business. I'm only doing this because I love art and need money." All of us on this side of the table started listening to the story.
"So I had a client come in requesting for me to do a tattoo on her ass. It was a large tat and her booty was big. It would take a while but she would have to pay me a lot for it, so whatever. I'm all about the money."
"I tell her to get undressed and that I'll be right back. I go get some needles from the storage room and come back, and she on the table laid out. I start drawing a tiger and a lotus flower on her booty and steady looking at me. Like staring. I'm ignoring her and tryna focus, and she licking her lips at me, calling me cute, asking if I'm single. I was ready to kick her ass out."
"You better than me sis," Carmen says.
"Once it's all drawn on I leave the room again to go set up some appointments with people in the waiting room. And when I come back in homegirl butt ass naked with her legs spread talmbout 'come get this pussy' BITCH, I almost fought her."
Tia always had the best stories from work, but this was probably the funniest one. "Y'all laughing but she deadass thought I was gonna go up in there and we was gon fuck or something. She rude for taking my business as a joke."
Our food came out, and we immediately started eating. The crab brought out for me was fairly large; I knew some of it was coming home with me.
I looked over to Elijah to see if he was enjoying himself but clearly it was the opposite. He was back arguing with Carmen, and they were whispering violently. Tia was staring at them bearing an annoyed expression on her face. Obviously something is going on. Kaiden saw the look on my face so I texted him.
what's going on with them?
kaiden👽
idk. want me to ask?
I shook my head no and put my phone down. "Uh wassup with y'all two?" I put one of the crab legs down and started wiping my face. "Nothing she just tripping," he laughed but Carmen didn't. She looked angry and like she had something to say.
"Carmen, you good?" Bree asked.
She nodded. "I just think it's funny how..." she started.
Eli shook his head and mumbled, "Bro why you starting shit again?" I just barely heard it. His choice of words indicated that they must have known each other. But how is that possible if they've only met once? By now everyone was watching the exchange.
"Why am I starting shit? Last time I checked you were the one that kept fucking me." Her hand flew to her mouth as soon as she said it.
"Eli what is she talking about?" I put my glass of water down and folded my arms. Carmen's light skinned complexion was now steadily turning red, and Eli wouldn't look up or answer my question. "Elijah. What is she talking about?"
My heart dropped. I didn't want to jump to conclusions without answers, but I couldn't help it. Everyone at the table held their breath. It would get awkward from here on out, no matter how this went.
"I asked you a question. And Carmen what do you mean by he fucked you?" Heat was rushing to my ears and my pulse quickened waiting for an answer. "Look, Sai--"
"Don't do that. Tell me the truth," I demanded. Eli was silent for a long time, giving me the answer I dreaded.
"So it's true." My eyes burned. So many thoughts rushed through my mind. I thought this was some prank, but as the seconds went by it started to become real.
I don't know who betrayed me more: Carmen or Eli. I let that girl into my life, my house, my circle. We went places together, we talked on the phone, we bonded. The whole time she was smiling in my face, behind my back she was with my boyfriend. Feeling what I felt with him. That intimacy with Eli wasn't intimate at all if he was doing the same to another woman.
And him. Who told me he loved me, comforted me, made my day, uplifted me. Our relationship was one of the only constants in my ever-changing life. He truly had me fooled. I'm so stupid for ever thinking any of that was real.
"For how long?" I could feel wet tears spill over, but I didn't bother to wipe them away.
"Sai I'm so sorry--"
"I don't give a fuck about your weak ass apology. You knew exactly what you were doing. We all grown." I stood up. The aura at the table was different now. No longer were we just a group of friends enjoying being young. Suddenly it was serious; there was nothing enjoyable about this.
And I needed to be anywhere but here. "How the fuck could you come into my home and chill with me, knowing what you were doing behind my back? You know what, I don't even blame you."
"I blame you," I pointed to Elijah. "You of all people. What did I do to deserve this? You cheat on me after all we did to get to this point? What kind of shit is that?" I wanted to breakdown and let all the tears out. I wanted to scratch and claw and beat anyone I could get my hands on.
This was the kind of hurt you could feel all over. The kind that takes forever to go away.
"Let's talk about this. Come here," Eli stood from his seat next to Carmen and walked over to me, trying to embrace me. I started punching and kicking and crying. He held me close as I cried into his chest, beating my fist against him. "You said you loved me. Did that not mean anything? This not the shit you do to people you claim to love. How long you been fucking her?" I took a step back and pushed him off of me. Being close to him reminded me of everything I was going to lose.
He remained silent for what felt like forever.
"Since we were broken up." A sigh was heard from everyone at the table. Neisha put her head in her hands. Kaiden's palm hit his forehead with an audible smack.
That would mean they've been at it for almost a year.
"How could you lie for that long? How could you do that to me?" I held my head in my hands. This was so embarrassing, my relationship being aired out in front of my friends. They couldn't do anything but watch.
"Am I not good enough?"
Elijah denied it repeatedly. "It's not your fault. I was just being dumb--"
"And you," I stepped around him and pointed at Carmen. "I don't wanna see your trifling ass ever again," I said through gritted teeth.
She stood up and smirked. "I wish it didn't have to end like this. But since we letting the truth out, I think Tia has something to say." I lunged at her from behind Eli, but he held me back. "She ain't worth it, ma. Chill out."
She grabbed her purse and put a fifty on the table, then sashayed to the front and out the double doors.
"You don't get to tell me what to fucking do. Get off me." I pushed him and walked around, back to the table.
"And what does she mean, Tia?" I turned towards her, trying desperately to ignore Elijah. She started scratching her arm, a nervous tick of hers. "Sai, you need to sit d--"
"Oh God. I am so damn tired of the secrets and lies. I'm not going to sit down, so if you gotta say something, say it."
Some people around the restaurant were looking, but this was a rowdy place anyways. It wasn't nothing new. Plus, I needed to get answers. I didn't care who was judging. It ain't they business anyway.
"I found out they were, you know, a couple months ago. But I only kept it from you to protect you. I swear--"
Today was supposed to be a night of fun, it became the complete opposite ten minutes ago. I had lost 3 people in just that short time.
"Save that shit. I'm not even surprised. Y'all do share the same blood. " I sucked up my tears and walked outside. The sun was gone and a nice breeze hit my hot face. I spotted Ada's car near a street light. She followed me out and handed me her keys. "Imma be right out, okay?"
I sobbed and sobbed until my eyes were red. I couldn't breathe, my vision was blurry, and I was lightheaded. My chest ached like it never had before. My thoughts were scattered and I couldn't focus on anything.
The girls wanted to check on me but I needed to be alone.
Remembering bumping into him on campus, our first date, running errands with him, all of it. Those memories- good and bad- didn't mean shit to me anymore.
It was over.