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My jaw damn near hit the ground as he smoothly handed Leora back the phone, thanked her, and then grabbed my hand. He damn near dragged me away from the crowd until we were almost on the other side of the campus. My brain was overloaded with so much information, and I wasn’t even sure where to begin to process everything.

Once we made it back to the apartment, Tommie and Draike and a few other guys from campus were making plans to go out for the night. Solomon led me to my room and closed the door behind us. Silence filled the room as I tried to find the right words to say. Even though I was ready to be done with Rondell, finding out the man I had given my heart to was playing me all along wasn’t an easy pill to swallow. I had tolerated so much pain and disrespect from him, and all he ever did was try to break me.

I blocked his number this morning, but there was no doubt in my mind he was probably blowing up my line. When I removed my phone from my purse, I wasn’t shocked to see a multitude of notifications, missed calls, and messages from an unsaved number. I kicked my shoes off and took a seat at the edge of my bed as I read through some of the messages.

740-595-1477: I knew it! You thought I was stupid, but I knew there was sumthin goin on with you and that nigga.

740-595-1477: Answer me!

740-595-1477: I’m not playing with you, Honesty. Pick up the phone!

740-595-1477: You love that nigga? You couldn’t wait to call him after what happened last night.

740-595-1477: I should beat your ass again for even thinking you could play with me. Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job.

740-595-1477: Answer me bitch!

740-595-1477: You’re gonna regret this. I promise you will.

740-595-1477: I’ma kill that nigga and then myself so you can suffer for the rest of your life.

740-595-1477: You don’t know what I’m capable of.

740-595-1477: Please don’t do this.

740-595-1477: I need you. Leo doesn’t mean shit to me; I don’t even want that baby!

740-595-1477: I’ma kill myself if you don’t answer and tell me you forgive me.

740-595-1477: Do you see what you’ve done?

Rondell sent me a link from a tea page. The comments were a mix of praise and hate as they called us both weak for cheating on the other. Some men in the comments said he was a fool for fumbling me and that you can never trust a girl with a guy best friend.

740-595-1477: You’ve embarrassed me in front of everyone!

740-595-1477: PICK UP THE PHONE!

740-595-1477: Bitch, I fucking hate you!

740-595-1477: Are you fucking that nigga?

740-595-1477: I need you! I can’t live without you! Please don’t do this. We had a plan.

740-595-1477: What do you want me to do? Just say the word, and I’ll get rid of Leora right now.

“Hey!” I squealed when my phone was snatched from my hand. My first instinct was to try to get it back because not only did I not want him to see the messages, but I also worried about him stumbling across my photo gallery where I had collected pictures from each one of Rondell’s outbursts. No one knew what he had been doing to me, but I made sure to document everything in case I ever needed to file a case against him.

“Solly, give me back my phone.” My voice cracked as I stepped closer to him.

“What the fuck?”

I flinched at the sound of him yelling. His head shook as he looked at something on my phone. I froze in place when I heard the sound of me screaming.

“Ronny, please!”

“Shut up, you stupid bitch! You must think I’m some kind of fool, don’t you? You think I’m gonna sit around and let you and that nigga play in my face. You think I’m a weak-ass nigga, huh?”

“Ahh! Please no! You’re gonna wake Tommie up! You have to stop this!”