Afterburn

“So he’s told you about me?”

“He and I have both briefly discussed our pasts. Everybody has one.”

“Did he tell you how long he chased after me?”

“Yardley told me that he had a crush on you in high school, that you lost touch for a long time, and then reunited for a bit. No big deal,” I stated nonchalantly as I applied a fresh coat of lipstick in the mirror.

“Oh, it was a big fucking deal!” She came up closer behind me. “Yardley has always been and will forever be my man!”

“Is he aware of that?”

I laughed as another sister came into the restroom and entered a stall.

“You think you’re cute, don’t you?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “I’m not ugly.”

“But you’re fat!”

That comment stung. I wasn’t fat but I hated skinny little women who said shit like that.

The other sister finished up and came out to wash her hands. She lingered a little longer than she needed to; trying to be nosy, no doubt.

I turned my neck to the right to glare at her, making her aware that she needed to bounce. For that matter, I should’ve stormed out right then. I wanted a piece of the bitch, though, so I stayed and waited for the other one to leave.

Once she was gone, I turned to face Roxie.

“I’m not fat. God didn’t intend for me to be skin and bones like you. It’s true that society has played up this anorexic image of what’s considered sexy but the fact of the matter is that more sisters look like me than you.”

She inched closer to me. “Your point?”

“My point is that none of us seem to be lacking in the relationship department. I know more miserable petite women than I know large ones. Think on that.”

“This is a cute conversation,” Roxie said, “but it’s irrelevant.”

“You brought it up.”

“Yardley’s using you, trying to get over me on the rebound, but he’ll never get over me.”

“Being that he’s here with me, it appears he already has.”

“Did Yardley ever tell you his nickname for me?”

I laughed uneasily, quite sure I didn’t want her to reveal it.

“He used to call me his dick slayer.”

“Cute name. Kind of like the nickname I have for his penis; my dick,” I came back at her. I turned to the mirror and straightened my hair.

Roxie pushed me on the back and headed for the door. I started to whip her little ass but wasn’t about to get into a brawl on a night that was so special to Yardley and his friends.

I heard Roxie say, “Hello, baby. Your slut and I were just getting a few things straightened out.”

Yardley was standing outside the door. I glared at him in the mirror’s reflection; even though I knew what Roxie had said to me wasn’t his fault.

“How dare you call her a slut?” he lashed out at her. “You fucked my best friend, on my damn balcony, and you’re calling someone else a slut.”

Roxie smacked her lips and pushed him out the way. “Whatever, Yardley. It’s only a matter of time before you come running back to me. Once you realize what you gave up, you’ll be kissing my ass to get me back.”