This time when she stopped, she sat down and moved into my side giving me her full weight. I’d made eye contact with Tabby many times throughout her speech, asking with my eyes if I should do something, and each time she’d given me a small headshake. I got why now – Jose had defended herself to Evette, but she’d also put any nay-sayer’s minds to rest. It had been purposeful and cathartic, but it also left me feeling on edge for her. No one should have to make themselves feel as vulnerable as she just had, and the fact that she’d even had to do it in the first place sickened me. She’d been so quiet about it all up to this point, and I just hoped that now she’d taken this step that something good would come from it. I also hoped that she knew that she now had a strong support system who took her back, even if she was the one who’d had to lay it all out. It was no one’s story to tell but Jose’s, but that didn’t mean if it went to shit that we wouldn’t all jump up and do our best to fix it.
“I think you need to leave,” Rose growled, still standing with Raoul’s hand in the waistband of her pants.
“And quickly,” Tabby added, passing Liv to her mama for some cuddles.
With a blank expression on her face, Evette looked from Liv to Jose one last time, and then pivoted on her heel and stalked out of the diner. Not one person said a word as she went, but every patron in the diner watched her the whole time.
“Ah, to hell with it,” Tabby hissed, and went to spring out of her chair after her.
“Fireball,” DB warned. “Don’t make me arrest you.”
Ignoring the man who had a trigger finger with his cuffs and his woman, Rose smacked Raoul’s hand away, and said, “Well, I have no issues doing it. I gotchu, bruh,” to Tabby, and made to follow after Evette.
Just then, we heard the deep tones of Jarrod Kline as he started singing. I hadn’t even seen him in the diner when we’d come in, but he obviously hadn’t missed the whole drama as he sang Kelly Clarkson’s Since You Been Gone. It had to be said, that woman made the song so awesome that even I sang along with it when I drove, but Jarrod’s deeper voice was even better.
And it distracted the women from their plans of vengeance and added a bit of humor to the situation. “Jarrod, my man,” Tabby called, waving at him. “Good choice.”
Not looking up from what he was doing, he just waved a hand and continued singing. I’d known this guy since he’d moved here, and he was one of the best men I’d ever met. Down to earth, loyal, and never missed a beat – like now as he smoothly moved onto Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together making us all laugh, even Jose.
Turning to look at her, I leaned in and whispered, “I’m so sorry you had to do that, baby.”
I expected some sort of shit from her because it had been my ex who’d made it necessary for her to defend herself, but when Jose looked at me she was smiling. “Why? Yeah, it sucks that I had to bear my dirty secrets to everyone,” she gestured to the rest of the diner. “But it gave me a chance to tell my side, one that doesn’t have any gossip or tall tales added into it. I’m not stupid, I knew there had to be people who thought that, and for a while it weighed on me. If they still think it after this, I genuinely give not one shit.”
“Everyone heals in their own way, Jose,” Raoul spoke up. “What’s for one isn’t for another. It would drive me crazy thinking people believed something that was wrong about me, but I wouldn’t have been as nice about setting them straight as you were there.”
“I’d have lost my shit,” Rose added, taking another mouthful of Raoul’s drink. “I still want to kick her ass.”
Like they had a trigger under them, both Rose and Tabby jumped up just then, and went to run out of the door. This meant, we got to witness both of them being arrested by DB and Raoul, adding a nice little cherry to the top of our ‘oh, what the fuck’ day. Although, the little kid who waved at Tabby as she was carried past him over DB’s shoulder and yelled, “Hey, fart lady!” lightened the situation for everyone.
My favorite part by far, though, was Jarrod singing I Shot The Sheriff by Bob Marley – or Eric Clapton, depending on who your favorite out of the two was. Hearing it as they exited the building, Tabby stopped threatening DB’s balls and shouted, “Right on, my dude. I love that song!”