“Brielle, you know this is fucked up and you still gone—“
“You told me to be happy Street.” My voice held even though it cost me. “So that’s what I’m going to do.”
I turned and started walking back toward my car before he could say anything else. Before I lost the battle with everything that was trying to come up through my chest and out of my eyes in the middle of a gym parking lot.
I made it to my car.
Got in.
Pulled the door closed.
And sat there for a full minute before I could make myself start the engine because my hands weren’t cooperating the way I needed them to.
He had done to me exactly what I had been doing to him for years.
And it hurt exactly as much as I deserved it to.
—
When I left there, I drove straight to Simone’s direction. I had her location and saw that she was still at Gutta’s house. This was too much for me to handle on my own. I tried my best for years not to bring up my feelings for Street or hardly mention him because of the respect I had for Gutta and Simone’s relationship. I knew first hand that drama between me and Street couldn’t trickle down and cause problems with Simone. I never wanted that.
Although Gutta is hood as hell, and rough around the edges, he treats Simone so damn good. Everything he promised that he’d do once he got her, he stood on that and he loved her more than I ever expected.
I pulled up to Gutta spot, parked, and called Simone telling her I was outside. She came to the door and waited for me to walk up. We hugged tight as soon as I got into the entrance. I followed her inside.
“You still over here? Is your man home?” I asked, checking to see if the coast was clear before I started running my mouth.
“Girl yes, I’m going home tomorrow, supposedly. The renovations should be done at my place. And I need to be back in my own shit before I kill Deon ass! Why the fuck I got a random text about him not being who I think he is last night while wewere on our date. Hoes are playing on my phone behind him and he swear it’s not that.”
Wait? What? Gutta? Are you sure about that? I just can’t see him having another woman, or cheating at all. That nigga love your dirty drawls. Let me see the message.” I said as we walked into the living-room and sat down. She passed me her phone and I read the message. I told Simone that message could mean anything, but I understood why she was pissed.
“Girl, pissed ain’t even the word. Then the nigga tried to fuck the sense out of me last night so that I wouldn’t remember or at least not bring it up again. I know my man, and I know something ain’t right. I don’t feel like he’s cheating for real, but I know he’s hiding something big.”
“Well, I hope not. All you can really do is trust his word. I came over here to cry, and you have your own stuff going on. I’m sorry friend.”
“Sorry? Girl please. What’s up? You know I’m always here for you.”
“First off, the other night when I went with Marcus to that political event, Street was there with Kyla Bridges! They were hugged up, and together the whole night. She was his date.” I revealed and Simone picked up her coffee cup from the coffee table in front of us, she took a sip and leaned back. I knew then that this wasn’t a shocker to her.
“Wait, you knew?” I asked.
“I mean, you see the blogs, who in Dallas doesn’t know that. I honestly don’t think it’s real, but I don’t know. Gutta don’t speak to me about Street love life, but as much as I’m around Street,I’ve never been around her. He’s not with her like that. Maybe it’s just for his image.”
“See, that’s what I was hoping, then I popped up at his gym today to talk to him about Marcus, and Kyla was there. Again, they were hugged up. That shit triggered me so bad and it hurt like hell to see. The other night when I saw them at that event together, I slid away from Marcus and blew Street phone like crazy, only to be ignored. He no longer wants anything to do with me and I know it’s all because of her. You know people are calling them a power couple? He’s in the public eye with another woman! You know how much he means to me,” I explained and damn near cried.
“Wait! You taking me too fast! Bri, you need to hear me when I say this. You made your decision over four years ago, and you didn’t choose Street. Please let it go, if he’s truly happy with Kyla, and this isn’t just a publicity stunt, why can’t you just let him have that? You don’t think you’ve hurt that man enough? Now that you see he’s not obsessed and chasing you, you want to come around and cause friction. Please don’t be that girl. It’s not you, and it’s not cute! You have a man, be happy with that.”
“And what did you mean when you said that you went to talk to him about Marcus?” She asked.
I took in everything Simone had just said, and she was right. I couldn’t stand to see Street happy with someone else. Since his fame, all people knew and cared about was Street, but all my life I had been in love with Xavier. Hell yeah I was jealous that it wasn’t me on his arm, but he knew why that couldn’t happen. I was stuck.
I told Simone what I’d heard Marcus say and she placed her hand over her mouth while she listened. She agreed that that wasn’t a coincidence and there had to be some kind ofconnection. She said that once harming kids came into play, she couldn’t be quiet and that she needed to at least tell Gutta. Mazi was no longer a kid, but I understood what she was saying. I didn’t want to be wrong about what I’d heard and place Marcus in harms way for no reason. Street and Gutta together would be hell for Marcus. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t given out false information, but I know what I heard, and I know how it made me feel when I heard it.
Simone set her coffee cup down again and looked at me straight.
“I have to tell Gutta about this. I know you don’t want to put Marcus in a bad position off a gut feeling but this ain’t just a gut feeling Bri. You heard what you heard. And if that man had anything to do with Mazi getting shot that’s not something I can sit on.” She shook her head. “Gutta would never forgive me if I knew something that could protect his family and stayed quiet about it.”
I nodded because she was right and I knew she was right.
