Chapter 51
Diana was right next to me, eyes wide, body kinda stiff, like her throat was all choked up. I could tell, of course I could tell, she wanted to say something but nothing came out, and I knew exactly what it was: she was wracking her brain for a way to back out.
“Gonna chicken out, huh, Diana?”
She swallowed hard, shook her head.
“No… it’s not that. I just don’t know if it’s worth it. Maybe it’d be better to just call him and demand my money right now. Then I can tell him I found out.”
I took a deep breath, crossing my arms, already getting a little impatient.
“Could be. You know what? Call him now. He was home anyway, lied about being at work. He’s probably just waiting for me to get home so he can come over here.”
She thought about it for another moment, like she was weighing all the options and hating every one, but she ended up grabbing her phone. She scrolled to his name in her contacts, hesitated, and before hitting the button, she looked at me.
“Put it on speaker.” I said, firm.
“Dumb blonde,” I thought, but I kept quiet.
“Just don’t mention anything about tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay…” she murmured, taking a deep breath.
The ringing echoed through the room. Once, twice, three times. I was already chewing on the inside when he finally picked up, his voice oozing out of the speaker with that fake calm that made me sick.
“Hey, Di, everything good?” said the bastard, like he was some saint.
“Hey, babe…” the blonde went all fake, her voice way too sweet.
I made a face right away. “Our boyfriend” and she’s calling him babe? I pointed at her, corrected in a mocking whisper:
“Hey, hun!”
She almost lost her breath, let out a nervous laugh, but held it together.
“Let me tell you, is there any way you can deposit the money I loaned you two months ago today? My aunt needs it…”
On the other end, silence. Long. The kind of silence only a real asshole knows how to give.
“You know what, Di… I was supposed to give it to you last month, but things got tight. I even talked to my dad, but he’s short on cash too. Could we push it to next month?”
She looked at me. I looked back. Neither of us bought it, but the excuse, if it came from someone else, might’ve passed. Coming from the bastard, it was just another well-rehearsed lie.
“Okay, no problem. When the month turns, you’ll give it to me then…” she replied, all meek.
And then the bomb dropped.
“So, uh, has your student left yet?”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head. She shot me a quick look and lied like only a woman can lie.
“Yeah, she left, babe. You coming over?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in half an hour, that work?”
“Babe, can we do it another day? I’m dead tired, got a ton of issues…”
On the other end, more silence. Then he came back with a voice like a repentant saint:
“Okay… I’ll miss you.”
Me, in the reflection, I rolled my eyes: I mimicked his line, face twisted and whiny voice, “okay, I’ll miss you.” Diana had to turn her face away, nearly choking on laughter, hand over her mouth.
But the blonde knew how to be a real bitch.
“Babe, what about tomorrow? Let’s take a little drive in the afternoon, I don’t know… hit the mall, a motel or something…”
My eyes went wide, I clapped a hand over my mouth. That was a low blow, dirty trick. Diana knew damn well he’d be with me, and she still threw out the suggestion just to hear the fresh lie come straight from his mouth.
And he, of course, fell for it like a duck.
“Well… tomorrow I’m tied up all day. I gotta help some friends…”
She and I locked eyes right away. I wanted to scream in his face, but Diana held steady, and when she opened her mouth her voice came out sweet, almost syrupy, but underneath you could feel the venom dripping.
“Help some friends… That’s why I love you. You’re so helpful.”
The “helpful” came out spat, half mockery, half hate, and I had to bite my fist to keep from bursting out laughing in the middle of it all.
And they hung up.
We collapsed into laughter, laughing loud, that nervous laugh that acts like a cleanse, like it washed the soul clean in the middle of all that filth. But I swear, not even thirty seconds passed — my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and felt my blood boil.
“Jujube?” his voice came out all syrupy, casual, like nothing happened.
“Hey, handsome… everything good?” I replied all innocent, looking at Diana.
“So… I got off early and wanted to swing by your place, that cool? Is your cousin with you?”
Asshole. Asshole! Asking about my cousin right off the bat.
“Dude, I’m just leaving the bitch’s place now!” I said quick, laughing loud so Diana would catch the irony. “I think tomorrow… today’s packed with people over there. My mom’s having a prayer meeting, if you step foot there you’ll end up in the circle of anointed sisters!”
Diana’s eyes went wide and she shot me a fake glare, just mouthing so I could read: “Bitch, what the fuck?”.
“Oh, bummer…” he replied, kinda awkward. “But tomorrow’s still on?”
“Yeah. But come a little earlier, make up some excuse at home so my mom doesn’t get suspicious. Just say we’re hitting the mall, Mariana can cover.”
On the other end, silence. He stammered:
“She’s coming with us?”
I laughed, laughed good and hard, letting him hear my mocking laugh.
“Maybe… who knows?”
And I left it hanging. That’s exactly what I wanted: make the prize bigger, make him drool, make sure he’d walk right into the trap and come into my house with his chest all puffed out. Diana was looking at me serious, not believing what I’d just pulled.
“Girl, I’m almost feeling sorry for him… you’re no joke, you know that?”
I laughed satisfied, biting my tongue, my old kid habit when I felt like I’d won. It was all set. I glanced at the clock — time to go. I wanted to stay with Diana there, glued to her, but it wasn’t happening. My mom was nervous and I needed to be home to keep her steady, not let her back out. That slick bastard needed to learn his lesson, stop running around deceiving women. The world’s not a damn free-for-all.
Diana went to the bathroom and when she came back, I was already dressed, backpack on my lap, packing my stuff.
“Diana, you know what? Let’s head to my place?”
I could tell she wanted to, but the embarrassment was holding her back.
“It’ll be fun. We’ll call my cousin, watch movies, eat popcorn, pizza… whatever you want.”
She laughed, biting her lips, actually considering it.
“I want to, friend… but I’m embarrassed. I don’t know anybody there.”
“Duh, you know me!”
She froze, laughed at me, like she was just waiting for a little nudge.
“Come on, you dumb blonde! Pack your bag so we can go!”
“Don’t call me dumb blonde, I hate that!” shouted Diana, half mad and half happy, running to her room and coming back with a gym bag.
While she got ready, I grabbed my phone and typed quick:
“Girl, come over now, major drama, sleepover! You still up?”