I'd Rather Be Single 2 (15 page)

“You must have just moved in
with him, because there was no way that you lived there during our entire relationship.”

She sunk her head down and nodded
. She seemed stressed. “Like I said, we’ve been together for two years. I didn’t live with him the entire time, because as I said, I was in Florida with my grandma. But we were living together.”

“Well I guess that’s beside the point right now. The person that we both need answers from is him. So
let’s exchange numbers. Hit me when you get there so we can get to the bottom of this shit.”

“He may kick us both out. There is a dark side to Court, I’m not sure if you’ve seen it.”

“You’re pregnant, and if y’all are living together, why on earth would he kick his pregnant ‘girlfriend’ out?”

“Because he’s rude like that. You said you were with him for almost a year. I’m sure you noticed how he shuts down, or takes forever to answer your texts or stands you up at the last minute and then charms you back in with a short explanation. He doesn’t like explaining himself and if he feels like we are closing him in, he’s going to react and throw us both out.”

“Well fuck it, we’ll take our chances.”

She said her name was
Laura, we exchanged phone numbers and then I met Breal and Dalia up at the booth.

“I need a shot
. Give me something right away, seriously before I go crazy.” I was definitely about to fall out. I was embarrassed and humiliated.

Breal was on point
with my request. She poured me a shot of Ciroc and put it in my hand. I peeked outside of the box, we were on top of the field where all the rich people watched the games. The grass on the field was creamy green and the fans, most of whom were dressed in Patriots jerseys, were going wild. I couldn’t even focus on the game. I couldn’t believe what was just revealed to me. He had me and the mother of his unborn child at the same game rooting for his punk ass. Both of us actually had on the exact same Patriots caps, looking like damn fools representing the same man.

Tears slammed my eyes and I
quickly wiped them, fighting to hold back the rest. I was angry, hurt, betrayed and let down. All that talk about how much he valued women was a bunch of bullshit. The thought of him having someone pregnant cut through my soul like a sharp blade. Not to mention, living with her. I questioned how long he was trying to keep up this clown show. How the fuck did this nigga choose up on me? And when was he going to tell me?

“Girl
, I seen this happen more times than a little bit.” Breal nodded.

Suddenly
, I realized, if anyone knew the deal with Courtney, it was Breal. She was with her man for four years; she saw all types of bitches around his teammates. I had to ask her if she had ever seen that girl before.

“Be honest
, Breal. Have you ever seen her before around Courtney?”

With a blank face, she looked away
. I could tell she didn’t want to get in the middle of it, but I was hurt. No woman who was that cool, could leave me hanging. “Honestly, yes. I did see her at football camp a few times. That’s why his ass kept telling you they had meetings after, because he had both of you there watching him practice.”

“
Are you serious?” I was totally shocked. “I knew something was up with that camp shit. I feel so stupid.”

“Don’t feel stupid. It happens. Just know this. Dalia told me that
when that bitch approached you, she asked if you were his cousin. That bitch knew you weren’t her cousin. Mavis was there the night she confronted you at the club. He came home telling me how Courtney’s ex confronted his new girl because Courtney was pissed. He thought she chased you away. So just know you were front line.”

“Yeah
she admitted that she confronted a girl outside of a club about Courtney, but that she didn’t know it was me.”

Breal looked at me like I was crazy. “Girl, she knew exactly who you were
. You are much prettier than her, so of course she remembered your face.”

“Yeah, pretending to think I was his cousin was corny.
I figured she knew who I was when she said that she confronted a girl outside the club. She played it off with that cousin shit.”

“
Exactly. You didn’t remember who she was, because she was irrelevant. But of course she remembered you. You look way better than her so her, ass was threatened, and not to mention Courtney scooped you away by the hand right in front of her. And yo, Mavis said that when Courtney found out she was pregnant, he asked him for advice. It was either, do the right thing and try to make it work with her since the media would swarm about this woman he had gotten pregnant or stay with you and hope that you forgave him for his mistake.”

“Are you serious?
This is exactly why I was through with dating athletes. I don’t have time for a man to have to choose between his career and my heart. I’m sick of this shit. And I can’t blame her, it ain’t her fault. If he wasn’t fucking her too, she wouldn’t have ended up pregnant. He was supposed to be with me, and me only.”

“Nah I feel you.
But you know most of them cheat. Besides, they had history, he met her before you and I’m sure she was probably popping in and out of his life. To me, she seems like one of them bitches that got pregnant on purpose hoping to change him. Women don’t realize having a baby doesn’t change a man, and most of the time it makes the situation worse. But don’t even worry about it, that bitch will learn the hard way. And you win, because you got the choice to walk away. She gotta deal with that nigga for life now.”

“Honestly Breal, this is all too much for me
. I don’t even want to talk about it anymore.”

Dalia was quiet
the entire time. I guess she realized that this wasn’t the time for her to stick up for Courtney. He had a bitch pregnant, there was nothing anyone could tell me to make me want to stay with that bastard.

I had enough of
being at the game. I couldn’t stand watching him on the field, it disgusted me. “Dalia, I’m ready to leave, I can’t sit here and watch this game. I wanna go.”

We gave Breal our good
-byes and we left.

Neither of us exchanged words until we reached the car.

“Can you drive for me, Dalia? I really don’t feel up to it.” I handed her my keys.

I felt like such a fool
. All I could do was stare out the window and wonder why he did this shit to me. The drive home felt like the drive of shame. A fun time at his first game ended up being the very thing that would tear us apart. And the thought of Laura leaving with Courtney after the game and me going home alone tore me up.

I had my eyes closed
in the passenger seat, massaging my temples, when my phone went off in my lap.

Did you enjoy the game
, babe?
Courtney texted me.

I almost threw up.

“Dalia, this nigga just texted me and asked if I enjoyed the game.”

She shook her head
. She had no words of comfort to offer me. I turned off my phone and anticipated the confrontation with me, Courtney and Laura. One thing was for sure, I needed some fuckin’ answers.

I was anxious about the confrontation. I texted Laura telling her that I’d come through around ten that night. She hit me back and said that she wasn’t feeling up to it, and it pissed me off so bad, I wanted to fuck her up!

“Dalia, this bitch just canceled on me.”

Dalia sat up on the couch. “So you’re not confronting him tonight?”

I was
heated and in disbelief. I was so ready to confront this nigga and get my answers, and now this bitch was backing out on me. I kept re-reading the text message. “Dalia, I know this bitch didn’t just play me like this?”

Dalia
wasted no time opening up a bottle of wine and putting some turn-up music on low.

“Here
, take this.” She handed me a glass and I drunk it down and sat on the couch.

“This nigga played me like a fool
, Dalia. I told you some shit wasn’t right with him, canceling shit at the last minute with no explanation, only texting me, sometimes taking hours to respond back, and making me look like a fool at training camp.”

Dalia
panned her eyes my way. Her soft eyes read that she really felt bad. “I’m sorry you have to go through this, T. I just wish that you could get answers from him. And yo, you know that bitch is probably over there bashing you, pretending that you were the one that confronted her and making him feel bad because she’s pregnant. Let’s face it, she didn’t want you to come over and confront him because that means her meal ticket would be over. He would kick her out and her motive to have a baby to keep him would be ruined.”

Dalia was making a lot of sense.
There was definitely a possibility that she was making me look bad to Court and I wasn’t feeling it.

I
finished another glass of wine and then texted Courtney.

“Fuck this Dalia, I’m texting him.”

We need to talk.

While waiting for his reply,
Dalia tried her best to change the subject, updating me on how great things were going with her and Seary, but I drowned her out. Trying to be strong was hard, my heart was so hurt. It literally felt like someone was yanking on it, making it weaker, with the pain worsening by the tug. How the fuck could Courtney do this to me? How could he be so cold and not have my best interest at heart? He was fucking me and this bitch at the same time, but making me think that he was all about me.

Dalia was still rambling when Court
finally texted me back. “Dalia, I don’t mean to cut you off, but I can’t believe this shit I’m reading.

Tyra
, I’m sorry for what I did, but why were you at the game making a scene? I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I thought you were down for me. You were telling her shit that she didn’t need to know.

I let Dalia read the text and she chugged down her wine in disbelief. “I knew that bitch would make it seem like you were out of pocket
, Tyra. You don’t know what she’s over there telling him, because she’s in front of his face and all you have to connect with him is through text messaging.”

A chill of raged rushed through me
and I couldn’t just sit and let this happen. I put on some jeans and a fitted black t-shirt and my black Nikes. “Where are you going, Tyra? Don’t do nothing stupid!”

“Fuck this, he is not going to break my heart, blame me for it
, and not get confronted. This emotionally unavailable shit is getting old. He’s going to have to confront his feelings. I wanna know if shit was ever real with us or was everything a lie. I ain’t going out like this.”

“You need me to come with you
?”

“Nah I’m good, I need to see him alone.”

I sped over to his crib and text him when I was outside.

Courtney, I’m outside of your house. If you don’t come outside, I’m ringing the doorbell.

He texted back ASAP.

I’m not home
, but yes, I will meet you.

Well I’ll wait
, because this bullshit needs to be confronted.

Courtney was always a coward to confrontation. Once he received that text
, he changed his mind.

Nevermind,
I’m not meeting you tonight. I’m sorry for what I’ve done but we’ll talk about this later, when I’m ready.

I felt like a piece of dog shit. He played me like a fool and wasn’t even man enough to confront me.

Courtney, I’m not leaving until you face me
.

I
was texting so fast, I was spelling words wrong.

Listen Tyra
, I love you but don’t make me call security. I’m sorry this happened, but when I’m ready to talk about it, we will.

With those words, I left the premises. I realized that I was dealing with a little boy. I bid him good
riddance and promised myself that I would never contact that coward ever again. I bit my lips trying to maintain my strength, but I grew weak to all the memories. I had no choice but to let him go. I deserved someone whose heart was available to love. Courtney didn’t even know how to express himself, let alone lend his love to someone else. I felt sorry for Laura. She would have to deal with his constant withdrawal of emotions, and I had the option to keep it moving. And that’s what I planned to do.