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Her arms were folded with her lips poked out like the spoiled brat she was.

“Trust me. No one stresses me out the way you do. You have nothing to worry about.” I chuckled.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it because I don’t think the media would want to hear about me beating your ass for cheating on me already.”

I waved her off as I set up my things. When I opened the box, I was surprised when Honesty snatched it from my hands.

“The food just arrived. You go get it, and I’ll do this for you.” She offered, with her eyes trained on me as if I was hiding some big secret.

Once I secured the food, I headed to the kitchen to grab some silverware. For some reason, these delivery drivers always forgot them. I headed back to the living room where Honesty was perched on the couch with one foot tucked underneath her.

I took a seat next to her, and the two of us ate in silence. These were the parts of our friendship I appreciated the most. We could spend time together and enjoy each other’s company without all the extra shit. Her presence brought me a sense of peace I had never experienced before. We could sit with each other for hours bingeing our favorite TV series, and not say a word. Then there were times when we would spend hours talking about what our futures would look like.

It felt good to have someone who hyped me up and made me want to plan for the life ahead. Honesty understood me, and that was something I could never replace.

After several moments passed, Honesty paused the show we were watching, set the remainder of her food down, and shifted her body to face me. Her face grew concerned, so I held my breath, waiting for her questions.

“You know I love you with my whole heart, right?”

I chuckled lowly because she sounded like she was trying to butter me up before she pissed me off.

“I know you love me,” I confirmed.

“Then you should already know I’m not going to let the night pass by without you telling me what happened today. When I walked up to your car, you were spaced out, and you looked like you were in another world. Where were you coming from?” She questioned.

I sat there for a moment, debating how I was going to answer the question. Honesty was very passionate, but it also meant she could be really emotional, and I wasn’t in the mood to revisit those dark places again.

“I came from Draike’s house. We were kicking it and playing the game.”

I paused, stupidly hoping she would drop the subject, but no such luck.

“I see you’re gonna make me work for this information tonight, huh?” Honesty scoffed, leaning back against the couch pillows.

“It’s not something I want to talk about if I’m being honest.” I scratched the back of my neck, feeling myself become anxious.

“Yeah, well, that’s just too damn bad. I want to know, and you know me better than to think I’m going to leave it alone. Do us both a favor and spit it out.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to get it over with. “His momma showed up, and I left.” I kept it short, not in the mood to elaborate any further.

“Brenesha? Oh hell no. Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I would have driven over there and clocked her over the head with a brick or something. That raggedy hoe needs her ass beat.”

Honesty couldn’t bust a grape, but I loved the passion behind her declaration. It reminded me how much she loved me.

“It really wasn’t that deep. I haven’t seen her in years, and it caught me off guard. She said some shit to get under my skin, and I got out of there. The end.” I shrugged, trying my best to keep my poker face on.

“She shouldn’t have said anything to you with her stank breath, missing side tooth, having ass. I can’t believe she even had the nerve to try and be funny with you when she needs to be in jail with her dusty foot momma,” Honesty fussed, clenching her fist in anger.

“Calm down, Honey Bee. I promise it’s not a big deal. She said some words; I told her ass I wasn’t fuckin’ with her and left. I think I was just frustrated because I go out of my way to stay away from her, and she popped up out of nowhere. I’m straight, though.”

Honesty cut her eyes at me like someone had slapped her in the face.

“You know me better than anyone, so you should know that I know you the same way. You were downright despondent when I found you out there. You may not want to admit it, but her presence disturbed your spirit, and I have a problem with that. I don’t like the idea of her even breathing the same air as you, but she certainly shouldn’t have been confident enough to address you like everything was cool. She’s a fucking child abuser!”

I stared at Honesty as she unraveled, because there was so much she didn’t know. When we first met, she would often question me about the healed scars and burn marks on my body. At first, I simply brushed it off as boys being boys, but quickly realized that she was going to continue to ask until she got an answer she believed. I gave her a brief synopsis about the history with my sister, but I never went into detail about how brutal the abuse was.

In my eyes, there was no point in bringing up the past when no one could change it. It happened, I survived, and all I wanted to do was move on.

“The nerve of her. What did she say to you?” She pressed.