Four Fun (Four)

“What the fuck?” Rachel says, her mouth falling open. I’m not really surprised, though this does reach a new low level of pettiness for that asshole.

“There was more too,” Jade says. “So many little things, but this was absolutely the final straw.”

“So what’d you do?” I ask, wanting to hear that she destroyed some of his things, but I know that’s not my friend’s style.

“I told him we were through, and he just nodded. He didn’t even stop playing his game.” At this, she starts sobbing again.

“You did the right thing,” I tell her, rubbing her back. “He didn’t deserve you.”

“I’m so pissed at him, but I keep wondering what I did to make him treat me that way. Maybe he wanted me to break up with him.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” I say in my most soothing tone. “Remember how he wouldn’t even give you space when you stayed the night? Most guys give their girlfriends a drawer or something. It wasn’t you; it was him, one hundred percent.”

“I should’ve seen the signs —” she says, looking up, her nose twitching. “Umm, is something burning?”

I sniff the air. “Oh, shit! The bread!” The garlic loaf is a deep charcoal color when I pull it from the oven. “Ugh, this is ruined. I’m sorry.”

Jade and my sister have both followed me into the kitchen. “It’s okay,” Jade says. “Is this lasagna? It looks delicious.”

“I hope it’s okay,” I say, tipping the bread straight into the trash.

“Did you make this?” she asks. “I mean, I can see from the mess in your kitchen that it didn’t come ready made, but wow — when did you learn to make lasagna?”

“I learned from the guys I was staying with. A couple of them were really good cooks.”

“I didn’t think I was going to have an appetite, but this looks really good.”

We sit down to eat, and I’m glad to see Jade digging in. I don’t want her crying over that asshole anymore.

“Do you want to move in with us?” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize I should’ve talked with Rachel first, but Rachel starts nodding in agreement when she hears my question.

Jade’s eyes go wide. When she swallows what she’d been chewing, she says, “I was in such a rage when I broke up with him, I didn’t even give it thought. Do you have enough room here? I could move in with my parents, though that would feel like an admission that I’ve failed at life.”

“We’ll make room,” Rachel says, sounding excited at the prospect of Jade joining us.

“And you can hang your clothes wherever you’d like,” I say.

We continue with our meal — which turns out to taste pretty good, minus the bread — and I work at keeping Jade’s spirits up while also reaffirming her decision to leave Justin.

When we’re almost finished, she turns the conversation onto me. “Are you still seeing those guys you were staying with?”

54

What’s the worst that can happen?

A complicated mix of emotions swirls inside me, and I’m both excited at the thought of Shane, Khalil, Devin, and Marcos, but also reluctant to talk about them.

“They came into Rusty’s a couple times,” I say noncommittally.

Just as I’m answering, Rachel says, “Becca says the guys were bossing her around.”

“What?” Jade turns her full attention to me, looking for an explanation.

I scrape up the last bit of pasta and sauce on my plate, mostly to stall for time. “When it was time for me to leave, when I was coming to look at this apartment, they told me I needed to stay with them. They tried telling me it wasn’t safe for Rachel and me to live on our own.”

Jade’s brows knit. “Why would they say that?”

“You didn’t tell her?” Rachel asks, sounding surprised.

“Tell me what?” Jade asks.

“We’ve both been so busy,” I say, “I didn’t realize I hadn’t told you.” That’s not entirely true. I don’t like talking about my mother’s nonsense so I usually keep it to myself. “Our mother and Bill showed up at the men’s house demanding money. It was embarrassing and irritating, but they weren’t threatening us. We weren’t in danger.”

“And what happened?”

“I told them to leave, and they did, after the guys stepped in. Bill was scared, of course, because any one of the guys is big enough to easily snap him in half.”

“So the guys were afraid your mother would harass you at your new apartment?”

“They insisted on coming with me when I drove Rachel to school. They were planning to start coming to work with me, as if they were my bodyguards, and when I said I was moving out, they tried to stop me.”

My friend is still frowning. “Were they bossing you around in other ways?”

I think about my bedroom fun with Marcos and feel a blush rise on my cheeks. I’m sure there must be examples I can give her, but as I think about it, nothing comes to mind.