Page 10 of Cooly

She took a drink from her bottle.

"He didn't yell. Didn't call me a bitch. Didn't break anything. He just looked at me. The heartbreak... the disappointment." She swallowed. "I think I would've preferred if he'd called me every name in the book."

I stared at her.

"I tried to apologize, begged to start over, told him all the shit people say after they do something they can't undo."

"What'd he say?"

"He told me, 'Belated love ain't worth shit.'"

I whistled low. "Doctor got bars."

"Shut the fuck up."

"I'm just saying."

"I begged him, Chinedu. It was so embarrassing."

Something ugly and bitter moved through my chest. "So now you know."

She looked at me. "Know what?"

"What it feels like to be standing there asking somebody you love not to leave while they've already decided they're gone."

Her face changed.

I took another drink, thinking my comment might have been petty. Actually, it was definitely petty.

Ayo nodded slowly. "Yeah. I know how it feels."

She sounded sad about it. Somehow that took all the satisfaction out of it.

"Are you done with the cheating?"

She laughed softly. "I don't have anyone to cheat on now. I'm alone. That's the whole point."

"That's not what I asked."

She met my eyes.

"Yes," she said finally. "I'm done. It was a wake-up call. Losing him... realizing I'd become the kind of person my mother would be ashamed of." She paused. "He's about to get married, by the way. Got over me in six months." She laughed bitterly. "Him moving on hurt the fuck out of my feelings, and I’m the one who cheated."

"That’s what your wishy-washy ass gets."

"You sound bitter," she rebutted.

"I am," I chuckled.

My phone rang. It was Diamond. I noticed it was after midnight, which meant we’d been walking and talking for about three hours. I pulled it out of my pocket and hit speaker.

"Where the fuck y'all at?"

"Off Fulton, walking."

"Have a seat. Drop me your location, Imma come pick y'all up. There’s a kickback at this one place. They got jerk wings and jollof."

"Bet." I hung up and texted her the location.