Raging Blue (17 page)

Chapter
36

Mia

“Mia? Babe? Are you here?”

Mia heard Princeton but didn’t answer. She had managed to get fully dressed without waking him. He called after her again, but Mia quickly slipped through the kitchen to the garage, fired up the Jaguar, and backed out swiftly. Jay still had her car from the night before. A quick tap to the remote opener hopefully shut the garage door. She never looked back to confirm.

She snaked around the curvy road and pulled to the right near the stop sign at the end of the street. Her destination was still undecided. Getting out of the house was her primary focus, and she had successfully managed that.

Mia placed her hand on her stomach. It seemed like overnight she went from having an inconspicuous pouch that she could easily hide to having a small rounded belly that required creative styling to keep under wraps.

Her mind flipped from Jay to Princeton as if some impatient viewer were frantically switching channels with a remote. A horn blared behind her, snapping her from the vivid succession of male images. Mia cursed the driver and tossed him the middle finger before shouting, “Go around, stupid!”

“Where the hell am I going?” Mia questioned with her hands in the air. She banged her hands against the steering wheel, grunted, and then dialed Jay’s number. After several attempts, she still didn’t get him, so she headed toward the townhouse in Buckhead, hoping he’d be there anyway.

Mia smiled as she drove up to the house. At least the sale was going smoothly. Getting the house sold and impersonating Blue was easier than she had anticipated.

Pulling up, she noticed her car stretched recklessly across the lawn. Mia ran to the car, inspecting it for damage. She found a long black scratch etched into the passenger side door.

“Jay!” she screamed. “Damn you!” She charged to the front door.

Mia banged and shouted for a solid five minutes. Neighbors peeked through conspicuous cracks in their blinds. The man next door boldly came out to his front porch. Mia scowled at him. A woman jogging with her toy Maltese looked Mia’s way, and Mia glared at her, too. The woman picked up her pace.

“Jay! Open this damn door now!” she hollered, then dialed his cell number again.

Finally, Jay opened the door and walked away, leaving Mia at the threshold. Jay wore sleep like a cloak. She stepped in behind him. He shuffled to the stairs and plopped down. The wood creaked under his weight, and he released a wide-mouthed exaggerated yawn. Stale liquor mixed in with the rank air. Mia felt bile rise and tightened her throat.

“What the hell happened to you? What did you do to my car?” Mia shouted from the door, while holding her forefinger under her nose. She held her other hand to her stomach and swallowed hard. “Give me my damn car keys,” she yelled, looking around the empty house. “Where are my keys, Jay?” she asked, stomping into the kitchen. She checked the cabinets and drawers, all while holding her breath.

Jay croaked out his reply. “Upstairs.”

“How did my car get scratched like that?”

Jay shielded his eyes from the sunlight meandering through the front window.

“What scratch?”

“You smell awful. Please don’t tell me you were driving my car drunk.” Mia huffed and kicked at the clothes that littered the floor. She looked around in disgust. “I gave you my keys so you could come here, not to gallivant around the city.” She stomped back towards the stairs where Jay sat. “You’re going to fix it.”

“Could you please keep it down?” Jay scrunched his face and squinted in Mia’s direction.

“Give me my keys!” She shoved past Jay, who rested his head against the wall.

“Oh my goodness! It reeks up here!” Mia pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

The click of her heels bellowed through the empty house as she tried to locate the source of the stench. Her stomach lurched again, and she felt the bile rising fast. Again, Mia tightened her jaw, forcing back the gags. She finally found the keys sitting near a chunky pile of vomit near the door of the master bath. Mia gagged and turned her head. She tipped towards the keys, but as she bent over to retrieve them, the putrid stench of the vomit ascended into her nostrils. Mia gagged again and stood stark straight. Her stomach churned, and she covered her mouth with one hand while the other squeezed her stomach. She tightened her throat to control her insides. She gagged a number of times before turning on her heels and running downstairs. The keys would have to wait.

Jay hadn’t moved from his perch on the steps. Mia passed him, ran to the front door, yanked it open, stuck her face outside, and sucked in air. Once she caught her breath, she turned to him and turned her lip up. He looked pitiful slumped all along the wall. Mia sighed and admonished herself for feeling pity instead of anger. As pathetic as he was, she still wanted him.

“Jay! Jay!” she yelled.

“What?” he grunted, half asleep.

“You need to clean yourself up.” When he didn’t move, she called his name louder. “Jay!” she called again, but he didn’t move. “Ugh!”

Mia groaned and slammed the door shut behind her. She jumped in the Jag and started the ignition. When she looked in her rear view mirror, she could have sworn she saw Blue pull up in a taxi. Mia threw the car in gear and floored the gas pedal.

Chapter
37

Blue

Blue paid the taxi driver, thanked him, and gave him a generous tip. The slanted car in her driveway made her house seem unbefitting against the neat, structured appearances of the other homes. She took a deep breath and charged towards the door in search of Mia.

Blue jammed the key into the lock and swung the door open.

“Mia! Mia!” She yelled, then halted.

Jay sucked his teeth and squinted in Blue’s direction. Blue’s jaw dropped and so did his.

Blue was the first to speak. “What are you doing here? And where’s all my furniture?” she asked. She started towards where he sat on the steps, but the odor made her stop short. She paused and held her forearm to her nose. She looked around. “What the hell is that smell?”

“Listen!”

“No, you listen to me, Jay. Where’s all my money? If you think you’re going to take my money and sell this house from under me, then you have another thing coming.”

“Ah! Would you please be quiet?” Jay yelled, holding his head. “Listen.” He struggled to his feet and teetered before gaining steady footing. He walked towards Blue. “I told you that I wanted this house. I just came here to get my head together. I didn’t want the furniture that was in here, so I sold it.”

“You’re a liar, Jay!”

“You don’t know shit!” he yelled, then put his hands on his temples. “Blue…baby, I’m sorry.”

Blue straightened her neck. “Baby?”

“Blue! Listen, I’m tired. My head hurts. Can we talk about this another time?” Jay shuffled his feet towards the kitchen, turned on the tap, and drank water from his hands.

“I’m warning you. If you try and sell this house from under me, I will sue you for anything and everything you have!”

Jay slammed his hands on the sink. The loud bang echoed through the steel, and Blue jumped. He gripped the sink with both hands and then slowly turned around. She stared at him. Jay slowly walked back toward Blue in the living room.

“It doesn’t have to be like this.” Jay dropped his shoulders. “Just let me fix it.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Damn it, Blue! People make mistakes.”

“Cut the bullshit!”

He sucked his teeth, went to the cabinet, pulled out a half empty bottle of whiskey, and took a long swig.

“You never did know when to quit,” Blue commented while shaking her head. “I’m out of here,’ she said, then turned to walk out. She paused again. “Don’t mess with me, because I will fight you to the end.”

Jay took another gulp from the bottle and began to walk towards Blue. She backed up until her rear end hit the doorframe.

“You made me do this.”

Blue’s head snapped in his direction. “This is my fault?”

“The money in that account belonged to both of us,” Jay added.

“Really?” Blue folded her arms in front of her. “When was the last time you put a drop of money in there, huh?”

Jay launched the bottle against the wall. Amber streams of whiskey trickled down. Shards of glass flew in various directions. Blue ducked. Her mouth dropped and then closed quickly.

“Damn it, Blue! I got cut. They cut off my money. What was I supposed to do? You have money. You always did. You don’t know what it’s like to be broke.” Jay bit his lip. “I don’t have any family. My grandfather isn’t rich. My mother was the other woman, and my dad wanted nothing to do with me until he realized I played for his favorite team. You left me. What was I supposed to do?” Jay slid down the wall and sat on the floor.

At first, Blue didn’t respond. She refused to pity him. He wasn’t the victim this time.

“That gave you no right to take my money!” Blue sucked her teeth and grunted. “I’m not going to sit here and listen to your sob story. Neither one of us came from a perfect situation.” She turned to walk out, but stopped to face Jay again. “I want my money back, and I want my share for the furniture.”

Jay waved her off. “I don’t have anything to give you.”

“Well, get it from your baby’s mother. I’m sure she’s got something stashed.”

Jay threw his hands up. “That baby isn’t mine.”

“Do you know that for sure?”

Jay looked away.

“And you can’t deny that you slept with her,” Blue snapped, then changed her attitude. A treacherous grin spread across her lips.

Jay narrowed his eyes at her.

“I just hope you enjoyed sleeping with her as much as I enjoyed Gavin!”

“What?” Jay’s eyes grew wide right before he charged at her.

“You touch me and I will have you arrested!”

Jay halted. Rage lit his eyes like embers. His chest heaved up and down. Then he calmed down, put his hands on his hips, and chuckled.

“You’re just saying that. Just trying to piss me off.” He snickered. “And it almost worked. Gavin wouldn’t do that. And you…you wouldn’t stoop to that level. You were never a whore.” Jay’s slight laugh faded into a half smile and then turned into a scowl. He looked dead into Blue’s eyes. “Don’t play with me, because I’ll have his ass taken out.”

Blue kept her eye on Jay, knowing he would pounce like a lion. Then she heard the squeal of brakes. She looked back and saw it was Gavin. She turned her focus back to Jay.

“Really!” Blue taunted. “Well, call me what you want. I wonder, did you ever tell Gavin anything about my special spot, because he had me howling like a wolf last night. I guess I should thank you,” she said with a wily smile and backed out.

Jay charged forward, meeting her at the door, but paused when he saw Gavin at her back. The men glared each other down with their chests puffed high. Gavin backed towards the car while holding firmly onto Blue’s arm. Jay glared at them even as they pulled away. Blue had finally taken this fight to a whole new level.

Chapter 38

Gavin

“Gavin! Why are you driving so fast?” Blue asked, gripping the door handle with one hand and her seat with the other.

At first, Gavin just looked at her, shook his head, and then set his focus back on the road.

“Can you please slow down just a little? What’s wrong with you?”
Blue asked, even though she already knew. Never before had she witnessed him act this way. He’d always been in smooth control of his emotions.

Gavin slammed on the brakes, and the car heaved forward, tossing both of them towards the dashboard. Fiercely, he pulled the car to the side of the road and threw the gear in park. He looked over at Blue once again before pushing the door open and jumping out. Gavin paced from the front of the car to the back. After a while, she stepped out and stopped him in his tracks.

“Gavin.” Blue called his name gently and stood before him with pleading eyes.

Gavin wasn’t buying it.

“That’s why you did it?”

Blue sighed. “What difference does it make? Jay and I are no longer together, and the two of you are no longer friends.”

Gavin looked at her and shook his head. “That’s the only reason you had sex with me?”

His accusation and intense gaze made Blue uneasy. He narrowed his eyes when she didn’t respond.

“To make Jay jealous, huh? I was your pawn!” Gavin yelled, jabbing his finger into his chest. His anger outpaced his self-control. “That’s not how this was supposed to go down, Blue. That shit wasn’t right.” He threw his hands in the air and walked away.

Blue ran behind him and turned him by his shoulder.

“Gavin, you don’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like. The pain, the unanswered questions. I wanted him to be angry like I was and feel what I felt for just a moment.”

“So you used me to accomplish that?”

“Gavin, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry,” she said, touching his arm.

“Whatever, Blue!” Gavin shrugged her hand off of him. He walked down the narrow two-lane road away from the car.

“Gavin, wait!” Blue trotted to catch up with him. “I’m sorry,” she said to his back. “Please! Listen to me. I wasn’t thinking clearly. I didn’t believe he really cared. So, I did what I knew would get to him. Whether he cares about me or not, I knew he would get upset. Now I realize I hurt you in the process, and I’m sorry for that.”

Gavin turn and looked at her, but didn’t speak.

“It’s obvious I didn’t think this whole thing through. I never meant to upset you,” she continued, hoping he would see her sincerity.

“Well, now you brought a real problem to my doorstep.” Gavin stepped past Blue and headed back to the car.

“Wait! I’m not in this alone,” she said, shuffling quickly to keep up with him. “My intentions may have been a little misguided, but I don’t remember having to force you to have sex with me.”

Gavin turned fast. Blue flinched from the sudden move.

“Exactly. I had sex…made love to you because I wanted to. I came to Atlanta with you because I wanted to, but not for this bullshit. So, how about we hurry up and handle your business so I can get back home and handle mine.”

Gavin swiftly walked back to the car and jumped in. As soon as Blue pulled her door closed, he sped off and she held on tight. Words didn’t pass between them until they reached the hotel room. The only time Blue opened her mouth was to thank Gavin for holding the door open.

Blue went straight to the bedroom and closed the door behind her, while Gavin stayed in the living area looking out the window at the parking lot and greenery on the hotel’s grounds. He felt his cell phone vibrate again. Someone had been calling repeatedly since they’d left the house. Again, he pressed ignore, sending the call to voicemail.

Gavin waited for the indicator to flash, then he pressed the number one on his phone to dial his voicemail. The electronic voice told him that he had three messages, all of which were from Jay, and all were filled with violent threats. Until then, he'd thought Jay didn’t care about Blue either, but it was obvious from the way Jay shouted, cursed, and cried that he still loved her.

The phone rang again. This time, Gavin took a deep breath and answered.

“Yeah.”

“You finally got your chance, huh? How does it feel to have my sloppy seconds? Are you happy now? You couldn’t wait to take my place, could you?” Jay went on without giving Gavin the space to infuse a single word. “Don’t let me catch you out in the street.”

“Do what you feel you have to do,” Gavin said and hung up.

Feelings welled up inside him that were hard for any man to handle. Both he and his former best friend were clearly in love with the same woman.