Page 17 of Krash & Bern

“What did you fear?” I asked because his statement confused me.

“You need to choose,” he stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at me. I stood and still had to look up because he was so much taller than me.

“What?” Confusion coursed through my body. The unsettled feeling rested in the pit of my gut. I swallowed to ward off the lump inching up the narrow path.

“You heard me, Bern. We can’t do the long-distance shit. It’s either me or the technology school.”

“You don’t want me to choose, Keyshawn.”

“I do, Bernice. Choose now.”

The scoff escaped from my lips. “I’m going to choose my career. You know me better than to think I’d choose anything other than my career. This was something I’ve dreamed about for years. You know this, Keyshawn.”

He shook his head. “You deadass?”

“Yes. I hate it had to come to this, but you should have known I wouldn’t put my plans on hold to save a relationship. I’m going to ask you again. Are you sure you want me to choose?”

He chuckled. “You’ve already made your choice.”

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” I stated.

“It does.”

Krash left the apartment. The silence in the apartment coupled with my emotions had me breaking down in the middle of the living room. I clutched my chest as the tears spilled from my eyes in long streams.

Are we really over?

Waking up, my body felt heavy as I stood up from the floor and stretched. I’d cried myself to sleep and woke up a few hours later. I looked around the apartment to see if Krash had returned, but he was still gone.

My heart ached to the point my head pounded. The throb in my brain made my ears ring. The ringing in my ears mimicked the drum of my broken heart. Krash had always been my knight in shining armor. I’d overextended myself to him for almost five years. Now, as I put myself first… he had a problem with allowing me the grace to do something for me…

I decided to take a bath. After my bath, I ordered pizza and climbed into bed to read a book. I chose a romance novel by C. Monet called Tension. It was one of the books in the Arranged Hearts series. I loved to escape my life and read about black women being loved the right way. Dakota was definitely a book bae. He didn’t play any games with my girl Mariah. I loved it.

As I swooned over the arranged marriage, my phone rang. It was Gary, Krash’s friend from the boxing gym. He never called me before, so my anxiety rose as I wiped the grease off my fingertips and answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Is this Bernice?” he asked.

“Yeah. What’s up?”

“I’m at the bar with Krash, and he’s on some other shit. I’ve never seen him like this. Do you think you can come and pick him up?” Gary asked.

I sighed. “Yeah. I have his location. I’ll head to him shortly.”

The call ended. I tossed my phone on the bed and rubbed my hands down my face. I didn’t want to deal with a drunk and disorderly Krash, but I knew he’d end up in someone’s jail if I didn’t go get him.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a car of my own, so I had to pay for an Uber to get me to the bar. While I waited for the ride, I pulled on some jeans, my Crocs, and a tank top. My wallet and keys were stuffed into my purse.

I pulled out my phone and tried to call Krash’s phone, but it went to voicemail. I tried two more times but received the same results. Then, I called one of my friends, Jaelyn. She was a light-skinned girl with thick-framed glasses and a baby face. She was the sweetest person and smart as hell. We met my freshman year in a math class.

“Hello?” she answered on the second ring.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt you. Were you busy?” I asked.

“Girl, no! I was in bed, reading the Arranged Hearts series you recommended. I flew through the first three books with ease. I started Kay Shanee’s book before you called.”

“I’ll call you another day to talk about the books with you, but right now, I need some advice while I wait for this Uber. It’s about ten minutes away,” I explained.

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