CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Bee stayed off TikTok for the rest of the day. That did not make Wes’s video disappear. By the next morning, his version of their breakup had spread. People were sending Bee screenshots because they seemed to think they were helping.
Maya intercepted most of the messages before Bee could see them. She also glared at Bee every time she reached for her phone. Bee found it annoying, even though she understood why her cousin was doing it.
“You can’t keep my phone hostage forever,” Bee said as she sat at Grandma’s kitchen table.
“I can try,” Maya replied, keeping Bee’s phone beside her own.
“You have your own phone,” Bee pointed out.
“I do,” Maya said. “Mine currently has fewer people calling me evil.”
Bee looked down at her coffee. “Lucky you,” Bee said.
Maya’s expression softened immediately. She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table.
“You know you don’t have to look at any of it,” Maya said.
“I know,” Bee replied.
“You don’t have to say anything either,” Maya reminded her.
“I know that too,” Bee said.
Maya watched her for a few seconds. The determined expression on Bee’s face was one she had seen enough times to recognize.
“You have the face,” Maya said.
Bee frowned at her cousin. “What face?” Bee asked.
“The face you make when you’ve already decided what you’re going to do,” Maya replied. “Now you’re waiting for me to call it a bad idea.”
“That’s a very specific face,” Bee said.
“I’ve known you my entire life,” Maya reminded her.
Grandma stood at the counter preparing breakfast. Bee could tell she was listening to every word. Grandma had said almost nothing about Wes’s video since the night before. Her silence told Bee she had plenty to say.
“I’m making one video,” Bee said.
“No,” Maya replied immediately.
“You didn’t even hear what I’m going to say,” Bee complained.
“I heard the word video,” Maya said.
“I’m not going to scream at him,” Bee assured her.
“That wasn’t my concern,” Maya replied.
“I’m not telling everybody what happened at the hospital,” Bee said.
“Good,” Maya answered.
“I’m definitely not telling them I told him I loved him,” Bee added.
“Very good,” Maya replied.
Bee looked directly at her cousin. “I’m going to tell the truth,” Bee said.
Maya leaned back in her chair and studied her. “How much of it?” Maya asked.
“Enough,” Bee replied.
The answer made Maya suspicious. Bee had spent most of the night deciding what she would say. She refused to give strangers every painful detail simply because Wes had made their problems public.
“I’m tired of people saying I left him because he got hurt,” Bee said. “That isn’t what happened.”
“I know it isn’t,” Maya replied.
“I’m tired of people coming to my page and asking where Wes is,” Bee continued. “I can’t post anything without somebody bringing him up.”
“That part is probably going to keep happening for a while,” Maya said.
“Then I want to answer them once,” Bee replied.
Maya studied her cousin’s face. “What happens after that?” Maya asked.
“After that, I’m done talking about him,” Bee answered.
Grandma finally turned away from the counter. She wiped her hands on a towel and looked directly at Bee.
“You sure?” Grandma asked.
“Yes,” Bee replied.
Grandma gave her a long look before nodding. “Then say it once and leave it there,” Grandma said.
Bee understood exactly what Grandma meant. She was not giving Bee permission to start a public war with Wes.
“I will,” Bee promised.
Maya sighed and reached for her coffee. “I still reserve the right to take your phone if you lose your mind,” Maya said.
“That seems fair,” Bee admitted.
“You say that now,” Maya muttered.
Bee stood from the table and picked up her phone. Her hands were already starting to shake. This felt different from the panic she felt while reading Wes’s comments.
She was still hurt. She was still angry. More than anything, she was done letting other people tell her story.
Bee went to her bedroom and set her phone on the stand she had used for hundreds of videos. Maya followed but stayed near the door. She gave Bee enough room to make the decision herself.
Bee checked herself on the screen. She did not fix her hair or reach for makeup. She did not search for better lighting. She no longer cared about hiding her swollen eyes.
The woman on the screen looked exhausted. She did not look like the woman who made the recovery video a few days earlier. There would be no forced jokes today. Bee was done pretending everything was fine.
Bee pressed record and looked directly into the camera. For several seconds, she could hear nothing except her own breathing.
“Some of you think I’m the villain,” Bee said.
She paused before continuing. Maya remained quiet near the bedroom door.
“I wasn’t going to make this video,” Bee continued. “I didn’t want to make it. People are going through my posts and asking about Wes. They’re tagging me and saying I abandoned him after the accident.”
Bee took a slow breath and kept her eyes on the screen. “That isn’t what happened,” Bee said.
Her voice remained steady. She had already decided what she needed to ask of them.
“I’m talking about this once,” Bee said. “After this video, stop asking me about Wes under my posts. Don’t tag him. Don’t come to my page to tell me what he’s posting. Don’t ask me for updates about him.”
Bee glanced down before looking back into the camera. She did not want anyone mistaking her explanation for permission to attack Wes.
“I’m not asking anybody to attack him,” Bee said. “Don’t do that for me.”
Maya’s expression softened. She did not interrupt. She stayed near the door and let Bee speak.
“Wes and I argued at the hospital after the accident,” Bee continued. “It was bad. We were both scared and overwhelmed. Neither of us handled it well. Then we argued again at his house, and things got worse. By the time we argued at Grandma’s house, we had both said things we shouldn’t have said.”
Bee stopped because she wanted to choose her next words carefully. Wes had suggested space first. She refused to leave that out.
“Wes said maybe he shouldn’t be with anybody right now,” Bee explained. “Then he said maybe we needed space. I agreed.”
Bee swallowed before continuing. This was the part Wes had left out.
“The next morning, Wes texted me and asked to talk,” Bee said. “I told him I wasn’t ready. I told him I needed time.”
Her voice shook for the first time. Bee paused long enough to steady it.
“He came to my grandmother’s house anyway,” Bee said. “I hadn’t invited him. I didn’t know he was coming.”
Maya crossed her arms near the doorway. Her expression tightened as she remembered what had happened.
“We argued again,” Bee continued. “The conversation kept getting worse.”
Bee’s throat tightened at the memory. She kept her voice controlled and forced herself to finish.
“Grandma asked Wes to leave,” Bee explained. “She didn’t want either of us saying more things we would regret. Wes asked if I wanted him to leave too. I said yes.”
Her eyes started burning. Bee refused to look away from the camera. She wanted people to hear the part Wes had not told them.
“That’s the part he told you,” Bee said. “He didn’t tell you I had already asked for time before he came over.”
Bee looked at her cousin. Her hands trembled out of view.
“I didn’t leave Wes because he was injured,” Bee said. “I didn’t leave because he lost his truck. I didn’t leave because he can’t work right now.”
Her voice became firmer. She was tired of being treated as though she had walked away from the accident untouched.
“I was in the accident too,” Bee said. “I was hurt too.”
For a moment, Bee could see the hospital room again. She remembered waking up terrified and asking where Wes was. Nobody would give her information because she was not family.
Bee pushed the memory away and focused on the camera. She would not give strangers everything that happened in the hospital.
“I care about Wes,” Bee continued. “I cared about him before the accident. I cared about him after it.”
Her mouth trembled. She pressed her lips together before saying the part that mattered most.
“That was never the problem,” Bee said.
Bee looked down for a few seconds. When she raised her head, tears filled her eyes. Her voice remained controlled.
“Then Wes made a video saying I broke up with him,” Bee said.
Maya straightened near the door. She watched Bee carefully but did not interfere.
“I wouldn’t have called what happened between us a breakup,” Bee continued. “I thought we were taking space.”
Her voice became quieter. Saying the words made the difference between space and a breakup painfully clear.
“Wes told all of you we weren’t together anymore,” Bee said.
The next words hurt before she spoke them. Bee took a breath and forced herself to continue.
“I guess there’s no confusion left,” Bee said. “We’re officially broken up.”
Maya’s expression softened. Bee kept talking because she knew she might not be able to finish if she stopped.
“That’s the first and last time I’m saying that online,” Bee said. “I’m not making another breakup video.”
She wiped beneath one eye. The tears had started falling even though she was trying to control them.
“I won’t post screenshots of private conversations,” Bee continued. “I won’t tell you everything we said to each other. I won’t ask strangers to decide who was right in every argument.”
Bee leaned closer to the camera. She needed the boundary to be clear.
“You don’t know everything that happened between Wes and me,” Bee said. “You’re not going to.”
Bee sat back again. Her next words were harder to say than she expected.
“Some things were ours,” Bee said.
The words almost broke her. Bee looked away from the camera while she tried to steady herself.
Maya moved as though she wanted to come closer. Bee lifted one hand and let her cousin know she wanted to finish alone.
“If you like Wes, keep liking Wes,” Bee said when she faced the camera again. “If you support him, keep supporting him.”
Her voice remained calm. Supporting Wes did not require hating me.