Running Away From Love (21 page)

After snapping out of his thoughts he said to her “Listen never was I the one who takes someone threatening me lightly. I’m not playing these games with you so do what you have to do. Just know your actions will most definitely have consequences. As I recall it I’m still paying your bills, and giving you the money you’re accustomed too. You stand to lose way more in this situation than I ever will. I’m man enough to admit all of my mistakes to my woman. That includes telling her the truth about you and me. If the baby turns out to be mine, then I will take care of my child. But you will get used to Jasmine being around, because soon she will be my wife. Understand we will never be together like that. I mean you knew what it was when we first started messing around with each other. You were never asking to be in a relationship with me before. Now all of a sudden you’re pregnant, and you want everything to change. Your motives are sounding real fucked up. You don’t really love me Lisa you love what I have to offer you.” After he said all of that she was quiet on the other end.

              As far as she was concerned she deserved a ring from Quincy, not Jasmine. She played her position long enough. She even went to the extent to get him drunk enough that he wouldn’t care to pull out. They had sex plenty of times with no condom, but he never wanted to pull out when he was drunk. She knew if he was sober he definitely wouldn’t have slipped up like he did that night. She had planned that night perfectly. Anything he asked of her she did for him. She let him live out all of his sexual fantasies with her, and never said no. She thought that he would eventually come around, but not go into the arms of another woman. She made up in her mind that Jasmine had to go, and she would make sure that it happened. But she also knew that she shouldn’t piss Q off anymore. Hell she was angry but far from stupid. She depended on him for way too much.

So she said “Alright, I’m sorry, baby. I guess I’m just a little bit upset that you fell in love with another woman, and didn’t even find it necessary to tell me about her, Q. You’re treating me like I don’t matter to you, and that’s hurtful, Quincy. But regardless of what you want to say, you and I both know this baby is yours. You’re going to have to deal with me when it comes to this child whether you like it or not!”

Q was pissed off at this point so he just said “Listen I don’t need to explain anything to you about what I do, or who I choose to bring into my life. You were never my woman. So like I said get used to Jasmine because she is here to stay. I’m not the only one who has something to lose if you decide to start getting reckless with your mouth!”

She had enough of him so she said “Good luck getting back in good with wifey Quincy.” After that she hung up.

Q walked over to the refrigerator and took out a Corona. As he laid down on the couch, Jasmine’s dog, Lyric, hopped up onto his lap. She had the saddest eyes looking towards the door as if she was wondering where her mommy went.

He said to the dog “I know you miss mommy, Lyric, but she will be back. I hope she will be back.”

He rubbed her head as he turned on the TV, and tried to watch sports center to clear his mind. He knew that the situation with Lisa was far from over this was only the beginning. As he sipped his Corona he hoped that Jasmine would come back home eventually. She just needed some time alone to calm down. The ring he had bought was a beautiful princess cut white and canary yellow diamond engagement ring he had customized just for her. Engraved inside the ring it read “I will never let you fall.”

He was beginning to question the idea if he was really ready to get married. After what had just happened he wasn’t even sure if he was ready to be the husband that Jasmine deserved. He couldn’t believe that he let his anger get the best of him where he put his hands on her. He never hit a woman a day in his life, and he was feeling like shit for what he had just done. Every time he closed his eyes the look on Jasmine’s face after he hit her haunted him. He cringed just remembering the look on her face. That look of hurt made him sick to his stomach. He never wanted to be the cause of any of her pain. All he ever wanted to do since the first day they met was love her. Nothing made him happier than to be the reason she smiled. But in reality Jasmine had the ability to make him run on pure emotion. This is how he knew he was deeply in love with her. No woman ever made him feel the way that she could make him feel. If she wasn’t the one then he didn’t know if he would ever meet the one. Just the thought of never seeing her again was enough for him to get serious about everything that she deserved. He would do whatever it took to bring her back home to him. He needed to see the ring he bought placed onto her finger, and her walking down the aisle so that he could make her his forever.

              I sat outside of Trey’s apartment feeling nervous as hell about going inside. Out of all places that I could have possibly gone here I am. All I knew was he would always take care of me. I went back and forth with myself debating if seeing Trey in the mindset that I’m currently in is a good thing. My phone just wouldn’t stop ringing; Q wouldn’t let up. I kept sending him to voicemail. I needed someone to vent to, so I decided to just go inside. What’s the worst that could possibly happen? I just hoped he still lived in the same apartment since I haven’t been here in a while. This place immediately brought back a lot of memories for me. The last time I was here, I was running out of here with my heart in shambles. This time, I’m here and another man is the cause of my pain.

I glanced over myself in my compact mirror, and I looked a complete mess. I couldn’t go in there looking like this. So I wiped away the tears that stained my cheeks, and fixed my hair. I tried my best to hide the side of my face that started to bruise slightly. So I combed my hair over that side of my face. I was about to get out of my truck, but I froze up. I still had so many mixed emotions when it came to Trey. So I sat there for a minute holding a debate in my mind. I wasn’t sure that going in there would be a good idea. I mean he could have female company, or he could even slam the door in my face after our last exchange of words a while ago. I just didn’t want to leave here feeling any more hurt than what I already was. After about 10 minutes of sitting outside his apartment I decided to just go inside. At this point I felt like this day couldn’t possibly get any worse. The worse he could do was slam the door in my face. So I got out of my truck nervous as hell as I walked inside his building.

              As I got up to his door I knocked lightly hoping that he wouldn’t even hear me so I could have an excuse to leave. I swear it felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest I was so damn nervous. I heard him call from the other side asking who it was. I spoke softly saying “It’s Jasmine.”

There was a small pause, and then he opened the door asking again who it was, as if he didn’t believe it was really me. But when he opened the door, and saw it was me standing there, he looked shocked. After seeing his reaction I wasn’t sure how he felt about seeing me standing here. I wasn’t sure if he was mad, glad, or could care less.

“I know I shouldn’t have come here unannounced, but I really had nowhere else to go. I needed somewhere and someone. But I completely understand if you don’t want to see me.”

I was stammering on my words I was a nervous wreck. He just stared at me without saying a word. At that moment I knew that he probably didn’t want to see me so I said “I’m sorry I should just go.”

I turned around to leave and the tears were already starting to form in my eyes. As I was about to walk away he grabbed me softly by the arm to stop me, and I winced slightly in pain. My arm was hurting from when Q grabbed me.

He said concerned “What happened, Jasmine? Did he do something to you? What’s wrong with your arm?”

As soon as he said that I busted out into tears as I said “We just got into this really big fight. He grabbed me really hard to stop me from packing up my things. Then he wouldn’t let me leave so I punched him in the face. I guess he reacted to me hitting him, and he hit me in the face.”

He examined my arm and then he gently grabbed my face examining it as well. Once he saw my bruised face I think he flipped out. He yelled “What the fuck! Jasmine, look at your fucking face! Is he still at your house? We’re about to go over there right now, and he can answer to me about this shit! I’ll be damned if he will get away with putting his hands on you like that!”

He went back into his apartment trying to find his car keys. So I stood in his doorway so he couldn’t leave out. I didn’t have the energy to deal with this right now. I said calmly “Trey, please just calm down. I’m fine; I swear. He didn’t mean to hurt me.”

I couldn’t believe that I was making excuses for Q after he slapped me. I should be smacking my damn self for defending his ass. But I knew he just reacted after I hit him. I knew he was not a woman beater. We had an incident where emotions and anger were able to surpass logical thinking on both of our parts.

              He calmed down a little bit after he saw I was somewhat okay, and he invited me to come inside. He said “Come in here, let me put some ice on your face. Hopefully that will stop it from swelling.”

I accepted his offer and walked inside. The apartment looked the same except he decorated. I looked around and said “Wow this place looks the same.”

As I sat down on his couch he walked over to me, and sat down next to me and gently placed the icepack onto my face.

He said “So do you want to talk about what happened? What made you come by here to see me of all people? I thought that you hated me.”

I said “No matter what may have happened between us I could never hate you. I came here because I guess I felt like you are the only person I really know here. You’re the only one that I trust seeing me like this. If anything I thought you hated me after the way you sped off that night we last talked.”

He said “I could never hate you either, Jasmine. A lot of things was said that night, and yes a lot of it I did not want to hear. But we both know what to do, and say to piss each other off. You said you wanted your space, and for me to respect the fact that you moved on. So I fell back and gave you that space. That doesn’t mean I wanted to do that shit. I guess I was trying to just deal with the situation accordingly.”

I smiled slightly as I said “Wow, for once you actually listened to me; I’m shocked. You know how hard headed you usually are.”

He laughed a little bit before he got serious again and said “Now you know I’m seriously concerned about your so called man putting his hands on you. Why were you two fighting?”

I sighed before I began to speak. It was such a long story that I didn’t really even care to repeat. So I said “Basically he was in the shower when his phone rang. And some half naked picture of a chick popped up. So I answered it and the girl told me she was sleeping with Q. And that she is pregnant with his child. I asked him about it he denied it all. I mean the evidence was right there in front of my face. I would have been a fool to ignore it. I was trying to leave the apartment, but he stood in my way refusing to let me leave. And you know when I’m pissed off I don’t wanna talk or be bothered. He wouldn’t move so I slapped him in the face. After I did that, he grabbed me, and wouldn’t let me go. So I shook myself loose, and I punched him in the face. I guess it was a reflex after I punched him, and that’s when he hit me. He backhanded me right into the wall. That’s basically everything in a nutshell. I know it’s a fucked up story; you don’t even have to say it, it’s written all over your face, Trey.”

              He took his time before he responded. I could tell that he was thinking about what he was going to say. He broke the silence and said “I don’t know, Jasmine. I can’t really tell you if he is telling you the truth or not. Only he and that girl really know what the truth is. I think you should trust your instincts. But honestly speaking there really is no excuse for him putting his hands on you. A man should be able to control his temper when it comes to his woman. Shit me and you got into plenty of heated arguments, but I would never in my life even think about putting my hands on you. No matter how mad you could make me I would never go that far. I always walked away until we both calmed down. But I’m sure you that know when you’re mad your damn words are like venom. Your little ass can be brutal when you’re pissed off. You gotta think about if now he just slapped you what will happen if ya’ll get into an even bigger fight. And I really don’t want to go to jail for killing this nigga for putting his hands you. You saying to chill now, but he will see me about this shit regardless. I can’t believe how calm you are about this shit right now. You being this calm is making me nervous. Why are you so calm?”

I really had no idea why I was so calm right now. It just didn’t feel real just yet. Or maybe being around Trey was the calming factor that I needed. But what Trey said did make a lot of sense. I have never seen that side of Quincy before. The look in his eyes when he hit me was so different. It was like he completely blacked out, and nothing but pure anger took control of him. I couldn’t help wondering if there was another side of Q that he never let me see. My father always told me that you never really know a person until you really make them angry. But right now I couldn’t seem to focus on my situation with Quincy. My thoughts were consumed by Trey. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. And as I looked into his eyes finally I saw the Trey that I first fell in love with. This Trey was my protector and my comfort zone. It felt really good to finally see him, and not see my pain when I looked into his eyes. I must have zoned out because I didn’t even hear him calling my name.