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naomi
I held my umbrella just over my head as I felt the first big splashes of rain on me. It was colder today, almost the weathers way of telling me to turn around and go home.
Here I was though, walking faster just to get where I was going.
I feel like I'm going to regret this.
I walked into the bistro and let the waiter know I was here to see someone in the "private room". They walked me through the small cafe to small dining room in the back of the restaurant.
He was already there.
"You made it" says Dean with a small smile. "We have to figure this out."
I feel like a horrible person. No, I am a horrible person.
"We ? You mean you, I had no part in this. You fucked and had a kid with her, not me" I say while sitting across from him.
"Knowing about the situation is just as bad as being involved Naomi" said Dean.
Truth be told, I did know. I knew from the beginning.
Marnie was a lot of things, beautiful, loving, smart, even badass but a flaw she had was naive.
Part of me feels like I made up for it, I kept her on her toes. I've always been that way.
I've always had an intuition on sneaky shit, something in me just knew something was happening because Dean has been off. He was missing days of school and shit just never added up.
I remember one day specifically though.
My mom had asked me how school was, so I said good but Dean wasn't there. I asked her if he was at the office, which is where he "was" if he wasn't at school.
She said no.
But Dean isn't a liar? For as long as I knew him, which was since we were kids, he didn't lie. Even white lies, he kept it straight up.
So I followed him one day, I wound up at a apartment building in Brooklyn, and knew that he was a cheating ass bitch.
I confronted him but he begged me not to tell the others. Something in me felt for him though, I mean this was his kid.
So I just never said anything. Neither of us ever talked about it again. It's his business after all.
The guilt never left me though. I was keeping a big ass secret from not only the world, but my best friend, who had never done me wrong. Truth be told, I knew it was grimy and horrible, but I didn't have the heart to tell Marnie. I couldn't.
"How is she?" He asks.
"Call and ask her, I'm not her keeper" I said simply.
"She won't talk to me. I call her at least twice a day and it goes to voicemail, I can't tell if she blocked me or declines the call" he said rubbing his hand through his hair.
"She functions, goes through her day with a smile but I can tell she's just going through the motions. You fucked her up".
My words resonate with him. I can tell he's soaking them in. My question is, is he understanding?
"I don't know if she ready to talk to you though, sometimes we bring you up but your a topic we don't typically speak on like the weather."
The whole time I'm talking he just sits, staring.
We both know I'm his only window into knowing what's going on. None of us talk to him, and after his outburst at Antonio's house, none of us want to.
Another reason I'm flabbergasted that I even came here.
Finally he breaks the silence.
"I saw Keith is back, how is he?" He asks changing the subject.
"Good. He's a positive vibe added to the mix. Keeps us positive, he helps her" I say with ease.
He tenses, I've hit a nerve. "Are they?..." he drags.
"Don't know, but why do you care? They're friends as far as I know. And even if they were, you don't own her, she's grown" I say defensively.
Another pause.
"I need your help" he says. I looked him in the eyes.
"No" I said simply. I'm done.
"Naomi, I need her to forgive me. I can't function. Please" he begged while spinning the gold ring on his hand. A sign of weakness, I could tell he was genuine.
His words had no meaning to me. Just noise.
"You don't deserve her, it's simple." I got up and walked out. I reach the door in strides.
