Rectify

3

Nia
12:00 p.m.
Her Apartment

John is with me, yet again. "Don't you have a whole apartment John?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I like your guest room bed better than mine," he said. "So, what happened with you and Letitia yesterday?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "You looked like you were about to marry her," I said.

"Anyways, what about you and Michael?" she asked. "We talked and he offered to take me home because you and Letitia were too busy drooling over each other," I explained.

"And nothing happened when you got back?" John asked. "No," I threw a pillow at him.

"So, why were you and Letitia out until two in the morning?" I asked. "We went to a pizza shop, ate and talked for a while," he said.

"Aww, you guys should get married," I chuckled. "Whatever," he rolled his eyes.

"How's it been with your mom?" John asked. "I haven't talked to her in weeks, she didn't even visit me or call to ask if i was okay and I nearly died," I said while my eyes teared up a little. I was getting upset. "Okay, um, did you tell Michael about the crash?" John asked, trying to distract me from the conversation about my mom.

"We barely know each other, he doesn't need to know about the crash yet," I answered.

"Anyways, I'm going out," John said. "Mhmm, have fun with your new wife," I smiled knowingly.

"Whatever," we hugged. "Bye, don't have any kids while you're gone," I waved.

John rolled his eyes and waved before leaving.

* * *

Naomi
2:00 p.m.
Her House

I'm completely hurt by how my daughter has treated me, I'm her mom, I've always had her back.

She hasn't called me back for awhile and I couldn't believe she has the audacity to do that. All I asked for her to do is call me after she got out of surgery.

She went into a coma and when she woke up, she didn't call me, she went home with her dad and his wife, to recover.

All of this hard work just for her to acknowledge her step mom more than she acknowledges me.

* * *

Nia
4:45 p.m.
Her Apartment

"John, you're back," I saw him walking in. He didn't respond, so I walked up to him. "John," I said.

"What?" I know he isn't giving me attitude. "Did Letitia do something?" I asked.

"No, I saw the guy that crashed into you," he said. "John, it's okay, I'm okay, don't worry about him," I replied.

"Nia, you need to file a case against him, now that you're awake, you need to sue him," John demanded.

"John, we talked about this, I'm not suing him," I said. "Okay, that's fine," he walked out of of my apartment, slamming the door behind him.

* * *
2 weeks later

Michael
8:03 p.m.
Nia's Apartment

I'm sitting on Nia's couch and I'm very confused. She texted me to come over, so I did. She said she needed me for some last minute event and I agreed, not like I had anything better to do. She finally came out and grabbed her purse. "Ready to go?" she asked. "Yeah," I said.

She looked really good, but I didn't know how to tell her. We headed outside to my car and got in. "Sorry for the late notice, I just needed someone to go with," she apologized. "It's okay," I started the car. I drove to the venue and we walked in together.

It was very fancy, but Nia assured me it was just a banquet. I let Nia do her thing and walk around and talk while I stood around and enjoyed the food while occasionally accompanying her around. And then someone tapped me. I turned around to see a man. "Hi," I said.

"Hi, I'm Keith," he said. "I'm Michael," I smiled. He didn't return with a smile and just stared at me. "So, you came with Nia?" he asked. "Y-yeah," I said. "Have fun with my sloppy seconds," he laughed. He walked away with a big smirk on his face.

I didn't exactly know what he meant, but I wasn't gonna ask Nia if she didn't want to tell me. Nia slowly made her way back to me with a drink in her hand. "Hi," she said. "Hi," I replied. "I should've brought you back a drink," she said.

"No, it's okay, I'm bringing you home, and plus don't really drink alcohol anyways," I assured her. "I'm gonna use the bathroom," I said. "Okay," Nia said. I walked into your the bathroom and started to handle my business.

Nia
10:54 p.m.
Banquet

I was starting to talk to people again when someone came up to me.

"Hey Ni," he called me. "What Keith?" I rolled my eyes. "Wassup witchu?" he asked.

"Keith, you left me on my deathbed, I have no desire to even talk to you right now," I said.

He put his hand on my shoulder. "Get your hand off of me," I scoffed. He grinned at my reaction before getting super close to my face and strung me straight in the eyes. "I wasn't going to wait around for you to recover, so I moved on," he whispered.

I then realized the girl behind him, slightly snickering as we made eye contact. Keith looked back and let go of me. "Weak ass," him and his girl walked away. Michael walked up to me with a worried look on his face. "Did he bother you?" he asked. "No, I'm fine," she said.

"Do you wanna go?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. We walked out and headed back to my house.

John
12:34 a.m.
His Apartment

"How's Nia?" Letitia asked. "Oh, she's okay, she doesn't really talk about what happened, but..." he said. "Yeah, she's pretty quiet about how she deals with things," Letitia replied, scratching her head lightly.

John agreed as they sat in silence. "What are your hobbies?"John asked. "I like planning events, but I don't really have any other things I do except for eat, sleep, and play with Milo," she answered. "Who's Milo?" John asked. "My dog," she said. "You have a dog?" John asked. "Yes, would you like to meet him?" Letitia asked.

"Sure, I love dogs," John smiled. "Milo!" she called out. The medium sized dog came running out and sat next to his owner.

"He's very well trained, but he might get a little excited, so if you pet him you're basically welcoming him into your space," she warned John.

"That's fine," he said. "Okay," Letitia smiled.

Nia
11:55 p.m.
Her Apartment

"Thank you Michael," she hugged him. "No problem," he said. "I'll see you next week," she said.

"Okay, see you," he said.