Chapter 16 #2
“Your girl was handling her business just fine, and it was enough of us out here to stop it!” Chopper shouted back.
“Well, from where I was sitting, y’all wasn’t doing shit about it. How come it took me to run from my car, shoot in the air, and make it all the way over here, and nobody had broken this shit up? Huh?” he shouted, walking closer to Chopper.
Tunisia and Karter ran up to us.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Karter demanded, grabbing my hand while Tunisia grabbed the other one.
“I’m staying with Dom, Karter,” I defied, jerking back.
He dragged me forward like I was a rag doll. “Nah, he doesn’t need you in this shit right now. Trust me, he’s gonna be pissed. Give him some space, baby doll.”
I allowed him to pull me forward as I looked over my shoulder at Dominic.
“Karter’s right, Char,” Tunisia declared.
“Y’all’s asses can’t be out here fighting. You’re supposed to act like ladies. You’re a mama, TT.”
“I know, baby, but I can’t let my girl get jumped,” she argued.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
I heard Dominic’s voice grow louder, and I stopped and turned around. That brief moment caught both Tunisia and Karter off guard. They released my hands, and I turned around and ran back toward Dominic.
My steps slowed the closer I got to him, especially when I realized that Tunisia and Karter weren’t chasing me.
Dominic had his back to me, and though Chopper was facing him, he couldn’t see me among the rest of our team members who stood around them.
The guys were all much taller than me, and they blocked me out.
I walked up at the end of their conversation, but what I heard hurt my heart.
“Look, Reaper. I get that you’re mad. I would be, too, but chill out. I’ve told you about this,” Chopper declared.
“Told me what, Chop?”
“About Charly. You can’t see shit when it comes to her. Your view is obstructed, and you can’t see shit when it comes to her. She’s cost you everything, Dom. Your relationship with your brother—”
“Don’t speak on shit you know nothing about.”
“I know that she cost you this race, the money you put on it, and the money folks bet on you. What’s next, huh?
I told you a while back that she’s your blind spot.
You can’t see shit where she’s concerned, and it’s causing you to make some costly decisions.
I can’t have her on this team with her temper.
They’ve started calling her burnout, not because of how she does them, but that temper of hers is going to wear you down.
She’s too much of a distraction. I tried to give her a chance, but it ain’t working. ”
“Why? Because she got you the race that you wanted, and now you don’t need her anymore?”
“It’s not even like that, and you know it.”
“I don’t know it. It seems like you used her, and at the first sign of trouble, you’re bailing.”
“Whatever. I ain’t got shit to prove to you. Now, either you’re gonna be on this team and for this team, or you’re gonna be on hers. It’s time to choose, Dom. Ain’t no more chances,” Chopper argued.
“Man, fuck you!” Dominic shouted and spun around.
He stormed through the crowd of team members as most of them tried to calm both him and Chopper down. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me. The empathy in his eyes almost broke me. I knew he wouldn’t have wanted me to overhear what I’d heard, but the fact was that I did. There was no going back.
“Dominic,” I started.
He shook his head. “Let’s go.”
“But, Dominic, you can’t just give this up. It’s your life. This is what you’ve always worked hard for.”
“I said, let’s go!” he demanded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward where my car was parked. Once I got in the car, he leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Head home. We’ll talk when I get there,” he stated.
I nodded. “I love you.”
“I love you more, baby girl.”
I knew that he meant it. His actions had proven it today.
But I wasn’t sure that I wanted him to give up everything for me.
I had never meant for Dominic to lose anything because of loving me.
And if loving me cost him his place on the team, then maybe I needed to give him the space he needed to think things through.
I no longer wanted to bring pressure on him or to be his blind spot. I simply wanted to be the woman who loved her man and pushed him to be the best and to achieve his goals. If I caused a division between him and his dreams, then I wasn’t the woman for him.
“You can’t love me so much to the exclusion of everything else, though, Dom. I don’t want to be that distraction for you. I cannot be the one who comes between you and your dreams. I’m here to lift you, and if that’s not what’s happening, then maybe I’m not good for you.”
“What are you saying, Char?”
I could hear the hurt in his voice and see it in his eyes, and it was ripping me.
“I’m saying that I want what’s best for you. And maybe I’m not it. I heard everything Chopper said, Dom. Maybe you and I do need some time apart so you can think about things clearly.”
He placed his hands on his hips and bowed his head. “I’ma give you a few seconds to drive your ass the fuck up outta here. I’m not on that bullshit you’re talking right now, Char. So I’m gonna give your ass the benefit of the doubt that these are your emotions talking.”
I pulled out of there with sorrow in my heart and disappointment that I had upset him. When I looked into my rearview mirror, he still stood there with his hands planted on his hips and anger etched onto the planes of his face.