Page 33 of Until We Weren't

“She what?”

“Yeah,” Destiny said. “That was a special hoodie because it was Faith’s and she knew how much I liked to wear it. Anyway, she videoed herself, in the hoodie, digging up the plants and moving them to the bed my crew had planted. Then she sent the video to Faith?—”

Mark gasped. “No fucking way! Faith thought it was you!”

Destiny nodded. “Yep.”

“Oh my God,” Mark said. “That fucking bitch! I knew she was no good.”

“I guess she really wanted to win that project,” Destiny said.

“Oh, Des. I’m so sorry.”

“That’s just the beginning.” Destiny sighed. “Faith thought it was me and chose not to tell me or discuss it with me. She simply moved out and wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Why?” Mark asked. “You would never do anything like that, especially to her.”

Destiny nodded and sighed. “That video looks like me, Mark. I couldn’t believe it.”

“But still.”

“I know. She said it didn’t really matter what I said. A guilty person would deny it and if I admitted it, her heart was going to be broken either way,” Destiny explained, her voice catching.

“Fuck,” Mark muttered.

They both sat and swung their legs for a moment, letting the despair of it all hang in the air.

“This is so fucked up,” Mark said. “Does she know now that it wasn’t you?”

Destiny nodded. “We figured out it was Gloria, but that doesn’t make the hurt go away,” she said. “How could she think I’d do something like that?”

“I’m sure she didn’t want to believe it, but folks have been hurting her most of her life,” Mark said. “But if she’d just said something.”

“That’s what I thought, too, but I’m not sure she could believe it then,” Destiny replied. “It’s made me take a look at myself.”

“What are you talking about?” Mark asked. “It was Faith’s messed up past, not you.”

“Maybe things weren’t as great for us as it seemed,” Destiny said. “If something like this could happen, maybe our love wasn’t as strong as we thought.”

“Then doesn’t that mean you have a chance to make it stronger?”

Destiny looked over at him and smiled. “Maybe… But…”

“But?” Mark asked.

“How do I take that chance?” Destiny shook her head. “When Faith left me before, it was all I could do to get out of bed. I went to work because I didn’t have to think about her. I could lay out flower beds, plant shrubs, and work up bids. My head was full of work stuff and had no room for anything else. At night, I was so tired that all I could do was shower and fall into bed exhausted.”

“I know someone else who did the exact same thing,” Mark said.

Destiny nodded. “You know Faith said it means something that neither one of us has dated anyone in all this time.”

“Maybe it means you weren’t supposed to get over each other,” Mark suggested.

“Maybe,” Destiny said. “I just don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“Strong enough,” Mark scoffed. “You are stronger and more sure of yourself than anyone I know.”

“Yeah, I was until I got trapped in a shack with Faith last night,” Destiny said. “It’s making me question my strength.”

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