We were riding back to the house when LaShawn asked me what time I had to be at work tonight? She was deep in thought, she finally pulled over on Lynwood road and put on her emergency lights.
“When I was in the Levi’s store with Mark, I was telling him about things you may like. Things you guys can talk about doing together. Things that may interest you. He nodded his head like yeah, yeah. So, I just broke down and asked him what’s up. I asked him why he wouldn’t just tell you how he feels? Everybody can see the look you guys give each other. And you know what he told me?”
I shrugged my shoulders like what.
“He told me I needed to talk to you”. “So now I’m talking to you. What’s up? Cause I don’t get it. You talkin about leaving Eric. And I know Mark ain’t serious about nobody. My brother’s a good guy and he’s cute. He’s my brother and all but if he was ugly, I’d say so.”
I sat in the passenger seat quiet for a second thinking on what would be said if LaShawn knew what happened back then and she was never told about it.
“Well Val, What’s up?”
“Damn! I don’t know where to start.”
“Just start talking. You know me. Damn near my whole life. Don’t be trying to act all knew and shit. Spit it out.”
“That year my grandmother died was the year I broke up with the guy I was with who was a DJ in Vegas on a radio station. I went back to school after the funeral and caught this chick coming out of his apartment. That was like my first real relationship and I was hurt, and all bent out of shape, you know.
Well anyway, you remember my girl Shanice I told you about who interned with me at the radio station, right? She came home with me that summer. She didn’t want to go back home to Boston and wanted to make sure I would be good.”
LaShawn nodded her head at me listening very carefully. I kept right on spilling the beans.
“Shanice’s boyfriend Charlie flew out here to be with her and we all stayed at my house. Well the house my grandmother left for me. I was like the third wheel, but Mark use to come over a lot since we were both home for the summer.”
LaShawn’s eyes got big. “Wait, You and Mark? And you didn’t tell me?”
“Let me finish. You done got me started now.”
“Well, at first it was just us hanging out, you know. I never even looked at Mark that way. He was always the little brother who lived next door, but before I knew it, he was a grown ass man who had put on some weight and muscles that was in college like me.
We must have accidently become a couple by just hanging out with Shanice and her boyfriend Charlie. It wasn’t planned, and I certainly never thought it was gon last. So, when the summer was just about over, I broke it off. Not thinking of how he felt about me. I just couldn’t take getting my heart broken again that year.
It wasn’t until we both went back to school. Me at UNLV and him at UC Santa Cruz did I realize I missed him. And that bugged me that whole fall quarter. I had my heart set on telling him the next time we were both back home for Christmas break. The only problem was, he had gotten his new girlfriend pregnant that fall and planned on marrying her the following summer.
So, I guess my heart got broken anyway huh?”
“Bitch!!!! You didn’t tell me yo ass was with my brother? Had me running around dropping hints, doing everything I could to push y’all together and y’all had already been together? Are you serious? You couldn’t tell me”
“You were in England LaShawn. We were out of touch for a while.”
LaShawn shook her head at me. Turned the flashers off and pulled back into traffic.
“So, what else haven’t you told me?”
LaShawn was pissed she was out of the loop on me and Mark. She started talking to herself, shaking her head and wagging her finger up in the air like she was talking to god.
I shrugged my shoulders and let her vent. That ten minute ride was the longest ride of my life.