Ohne Dich (Sequel to Stirb Nicht Vor Mir)

Chapter 43

November 12, 2000

As soon as I got back home from school, I collapsed onto the couch and drank some water. I had finally gotten all of my schoolwork done since I stayed late. 

I grabbed out a card I got Ville, wrote a note on it, then slipped a $20 bill in there. I walked into our bedroom and saw him and Bam on the bed. 

"Oh, hey!" Bam waved to me. 

"Happy birthday!" I ran over to Ville, hugged him, then kissed him. "I got you something."

"You did?" He sat up. 

"Yeah," I handed him the card. 

"Aww, thank you," He said after reading it. "But I can't accept the money."

"Yes you can."

"No-"

"Okay, so what are we going to do tonight?"

"All three of us are going to go out."

"To do what?"

"I don't know."

"You have to choose," Bam said. 

"Yeah, you have to choose, Ville," I repeated. 

"We'll go out to eat," He replied. "Then we can go to a strip club or something."

"Amen to that!" Bam cheered. 

I chuckled. "Okay."

"I don't know what to do!" Ville said. 

"Karaoke?" I suggested. 

"That's lame."

"Fine."

"Waterpark?" Bam asked. 

"Sure," Ville smiled. "Let's do that."

"I don't have a bathing su-"

"I got you one," Ville interrupted me.

"Right."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I walked downstairs and called Neil, but he didn't answer, so I called him again. 

"What?" He asked angrily. 

"Okay, there's something that's been bugging me lately."

"What?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm one of those moms that keeps the child away from the dad, okay? We switch weeks. I miss him just as much as you do. If you want to see him more, why don't you just fucking ask?! You just accuse me like I'm the worst fucking person in the world! You're rude now! We used to love each other, Neil! Don't treat me like I'm a fucking piece of shit because I'm not!"

"That's all?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, don't treat me like I'm a fucking piece of shit either. You act like it's such a horrible thing to talk to me."

"No, I-"

"Ah! I wasn't done talking! You look at me like I'm a fucking junkie or something, but I'm not! I'm done."

"I'm sorry, Neil."

"No you're not."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know you, Adette."

"Totally."

"Hey, I saw the trailer for your movie. It looks good."