Chapter 37 Justin
JUSTIN
“Bro, what the fuck was that all about?” Tate shouted when we made it to the valet section.
“That nigga put his hands on me first!”
“Bruh, you shouldn’t have gone over to their table in the first place!” Tate ranted. “You instigated the shit, Justin!”
“Man, fuck all of that! Ava instigated the shit by moving on so quickly!”
“You need to learn to let it go. What you and Ava had is a done deal. Clearly, she has moved on, and as you can see, there ain’t shit you can do about it.”
“Man, whatever! She foul as fuck to sit there and let that nigga act the fool out on me. At the end of the day, she and I have a history and were once married. I deserve more respect from her than that!”
“Bro, I really think something is off in your head. It’s like the light is on but ain’t nobody at yo damn house!” Tate snapped.
Before he could say anything else, the valet pulled up in his car. Tate gave the man a tip, then we both got inside then headed out of the parking lot.
“You’re supposed to have my back.”
“I do have your back. I tried stopping you from going to her table, but you were adamant. I get that you feel you have some things you want to talk to Ava about. But you gon’ have to learn to get over the shit.
From what I can see, she is not trying to hear none of what you have to say right now.
If you don’t want to keep having issues with her new dude, I highly suggest that you leave her be. ”
“That’s easy for you to say. It’s cool, though. I’ll get my chance to speak with her sooner or later. When I do, I’ma let her know just how foul her ass is.”
“Dude just let that shit go! I can’t believe how you out here wildin’ over a woman that don’t even want you anymore. You straight fightin’ some random ass dude over some pussy that wasn’t even satisfying you.”
“You’re missing the whole point!” I shouted.
“Nah, nigga, you the one missin’ the point!”
“Yeah, aight!”
“Anyway, are you straight, ‘cause homeboy was really giving you the business. If it hadn’t been for his friend, he probably would have hurt you really bad.”
“Yo, don’t act like I can’t fight, nigga!” I spat angrily. “He only got the best of me because I slipped. He gon’ get his day with me, too, just watch. And you don’t need to talk ‘cause the whole time yo ass just stood there!”
“Hell, I tried stopping you before things got out of control, but you wouldn’t listen. You’re a glutton for punishment. You not gon’ stop until somebody winds up seriously hurt. I wasn’t about to jump in and be out in the streets fighting while looking a hot ass mess.”
“It’s nice to know you don’t have my back!”
“That’s not true!” Tate argued.
“Yeah, okay. So, you recommend that I just let her go?” I asked in frustration. “After all that she and I went through? After all I sacrificed?”
“Yeah, I do!” Tate responded. “Move on with your life and let Ava’s ass be. Like, why are you so concerned about how she is now anyway? That’s some shit you should have been worried about before you ran off and laid up with her friend. I can’t believe you tryna make yourself the victim.”
“That’s how I feel! I’m very much so a victim!”
“That’s fucked up! Something is off in your head, bro!
” Tate snickered. “I’m not trying to side with Ava, but dude, what did you expect her to do?
HIV, bro? I’m still pissed about the shit and probably will never be able to forgive you because of it.
I can only imagine how she must be feeling when she was married to your ass.
What you did was foul, bruh!” Tate emphasized, but I was too in my feelings to have a rebuttal.
“Until you can accept your part in that shit, you can’t expect her to be over it and ready to talk to you. Just leave her the hell be!”
“Just take me home, bruh!” I spat.
I wasn’t about to go back and forth with Tate.
He felt how he felt, and I felt how I felt about it.
I wasn’t about to listen to shit he had to say when he didn’t even attempt to help me when I was on the ground.
He was starting to work my nerves with all of the team Ava shit he kept coming at me with.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was wasting my time trying to be back cool with him if he felt like he’d never be able to forgive me.
Fuck that! That meant every opportunity he got he was going to throw me under the bus, and I wasn’t with that.
Tate kept trying to get me to talk to him, but I didn’t have anything else to say. All I wanted to do was go home and be by myself. When he pulled up to my house, he was still parking, and the truck was moving as I exited out the passenger door. I didn’t even say shit. I was pissed beyond my max.
Walking past my mailbox, I saw an envelope sticking out.
Grabbing it then opening it, I saw that it was an obituary for Shane.
I was so shocked that I tripped over my own foot and fell, landing right on my knee.
The pain that shot through my hip down my leg almost took me out.
It literary knocked a pause in me. I couldn’t even yell out in pain it hurt so bad.
“You straight?” Tate yelled from his truck, and I could have died.
The fact that he was still sitting there and hadn’t pulled off yet had me hot.
That meant his ass saw me fall, and that was fucked up.
I was beginning to feel even less of a man by the second.
Getting back to my feet, I flipped Tate the bird, then limped the rest of the way inside the house.
He had me feeling like he cared more about Ava’s feelings than mine, and I had a serious problem with that.
He could stay mad at me for however long he wanted behind the shit that happened.
I could deal with that but sticking up for Ava and not me was just too much.
I get that he was angry because I was, too.
Hell, I had it worse than him. I’d actually tested positive for the virus so imagine the anger I had running through me.
But for him to consistently side with Ava, sticking up for her and shit, like my feelings didn’t matter was not cool.
Fuck him if he was going to be like that.
Making it inside the house, I leaned against the front door after I closed and locked it.
I had to take another look at the obituary to make sure it wasn’t a prank.
Once I saw that it was legit, I felt horrible and not because Shane died.
As far as I was concerned, he deserved what he got.
He was foul as fuck for passing that shit around to people without letting them know what the deal was from the jump.
What made his death fucked up was that it brought to light the fact that I was battling the same virus he was battling and had lost, too.
No matter how hard I tried to not think about having the virus there was always some form of a reminder of it damn near daily, and it was causing me to become depressed by the minute.
Today was hands down the worst day of my life.
I was glad I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning because I had a list of questions to ask him.
Making it up to the master bedroom, I went into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower.
I was mentally and emotionally drained. Once I was done, I put on a fresh pair of boxers then climbed into bed.
As I laid there waiting for sleep to find me, all I could think about was how I missed lying next to Ava at night.
I hated that her side of the bed was empty, but I guess it was something that I needed to learn to live with.