Page 3 of The Brooklyn Way
“I don’t even know if I still know how to sew,” I lied. I hadn’t done it in a minute, but I knew that I still had my skills.
“Cap. You always were a terrible liar.”
I groaned in annoyance. “I need to figure out how to feel alive again. I feel dead on the inside. My joy is dead. My happiness is dead. And all you care about…”
My rant was interrupted by the sound of Vince’s keys in the door. I stood from the island to begin making my way to my bedroom.
I would never admit it to anyone, but ever since Vince had taken up with his little friend, I lived like a prisoner in the home where I paid half of the bills. I spent 95 percent of my time holed up in my bedroom. After the breakup, I claimed the master bedroom. Since it came with an adjoining bathroom, I was able to meet most of my needs without leaving my sanctuary. The only other room in the apartment that I occasionally used was the kitchen. And I always tried to do that when Vince wasn’t home.
I didn’t want to have to see him, and for some strange reason, I didn’t like for him to have to see me. I did everything in my power to avoid him—staying in my bedroom when I was at home, setting my life up so that our schedules were staggered, only speaking to him via text message.
“Ay, Brooklyn, before you go hide in your cave for the rest of the night,” he called out, effectively ceasing my almost seamless getaway, “I want to talk to you!”
I continued to make my way to my bedroom. “Text me!” I yelled back.
“This is stupid as hell,” he said, and before I knew it, the both of us were just outside of my safe haven. “We need to talk.”
“Well, my bedroom is my sanctuary. We’re not talking in there,” I informed him.
He scoffed before chuckling to himself. “I’m not interested in doing anything in your bedroom, bro.”
My eyes rolled of their own volition. “I’ll meet you in the living room in a minute.” I waited for him to walk away before opening my bedroom door and entering.
“You let him talk to you like that?” Carrington queried through the phone.
I had forgotten she was there. “Forget him.” I slipped out of my robe and stomped over to my dresser. I pulled out a T-shirt and baggy joggers, throwing them on quickly. “I don’t care what he says. It’s just words.”
“They’re not just words, Brookie. Words have power. Words cut.” She sucked her teeth. “Acting like he wasn’t running around here with his nose permanently stuck between your thighs now that he’s fucking this Instagram ho. You know I never liked him. He’d better not make me catch a flight. Don’t make me catch a flight!” she yelled into the phone, causing me to giggle.
“You do know that he’s in the living room and I’m in my bedroom, right? He can’t hear you.”
“Have you been apartment hunting?”
“No,” I admitted, quickly tacking on, “I don’t have to. The lease is up in four weeks. He’s been bringing home boxes almost every day. He’s moving in with Kelly.” I spat her name. “This apartment will be all mine. I’ll be able to spread out into every space.”
“Why would you want to keep an apartment in a town you hate? Girl, when that lease is up, chuck the deuces to Londynville, Kentucky, and that apartment and move back home… or move down here with me. You would love Jackson Island. It’s warm. It’s on the ocean. The pace is slower. The quality of life here is giving… everything.”
“It also has hurricanes and super-sized bugs. Don’t think I’ve forgotten those fist-sized grasshoppers from the last time I visited.”
“Bryce and I close on our new house next week. You can come here and move right into my old place.”
“Isn’t your old place the little guest bungalow on your brother’s property?”
“It is, but it’s nice. You know I wouldn’t make my home in some run-down shed. It’s a guest house, emphasis on the word house.” She was exasperated with me. I could tell by her tone. “Look, I’mma get it ready for you, because you cannot stay in your current situation. Ain’t no way.”
“I’m not staying in this situation. I told you the lease is up in four weeks. One more month and things will start turning around… hopefully. Love you! I’ll call you back.”
I walked into the living room like I was walking the green mile. Vince had stopped speaking to me months ago. While I was busy avoiding him, it wasn’t like he was seeking me out. He took my absence in the common areas of our apartment in complete stride. I figured if he was requesting a conversation, something was up.
“Yes?” I asked, as I came to a stop on the side of the sofa.
Ever since our breakup and subsequent transition from life partners to roommates, I’d been awkward around Vince. In my former breakups, the two of us went our separate ways to heal or what have you. That was healthy and normal. It was not healthy to have to keep seeing, hearing, and smelling the person you were trying to get over and move past, particularly when they had gotten over you and moved past you very swiftly. I didn’t know how to be—how to act around him, which made me self-conscious, which made me awkward. I hated it.
“You should sit down.” He gestured to the sofa, which momentarily pissed me off because I bought the damn sofa. Who was he to offer me a seat on a sofa that I’d purchased?
“I don’t want to be here long enough to sit down. I want you to say whatever it is that you have to say so I can go back to my room.”
He rolled his eyes. “Cool. Kelly isn’t quite ready for us to live together yet. You know she’s the mother of two young children. She had to speak to her ex about me moving in. It was only right because he is their dad.”