Page 33 of Euphoria
I face Bambi again. “My wife will take care of me.”
“Wife?” Lennox’s brow furrows, then it’s like it clicks. “Ah, the little lady who cursed me out and threatened to kill me?” He asks. “I thought she was married to…” I know what he’s asking, but I don’t care to answer him right now.
“She did?” I ask. Bambi’s ears become red, and that’s how I know she’s blushing. “Did she yell at you too?” I ask Bowie, curious as ever, because Bambi has never yelled a day in her life. He hasn’t moved from his wall stance and he narrows his eyes at me. He’s worse than Bambi.
“Yeah,” Lennox answers. “She saved your life.”
“She did?” I’m surprised. “My girl.” I state with pride then I think about the fact that she yelled at Lennox. I smirk. “Give me a copy of the video, I know everything is recorded. I want to see it. Email it to me.”
“No…” She says timidly.
“Come to me.” I command and bite my lip as Bambi seems like she’s waking up as she comes over to my side. “You saved me, baby?” I say as I take my empty hand and reach out for her hand.
Everyone is oddly quiet as Bambi wraps her hand in mine. Once the contact happens, she breaks. The tears I know she was holding back spills. It makes me want to laugh because it reminds me of my nephew. Bambi doesn’t hesitate this time as she leans in and hugs me. “I thought I’d never see you again… You, you died.” She sobs.
Against better judgement, I laugh then groan from the pain it causes.
“This is the wife, huh?” Ares asks. I look at him with a smirk on my face. He grabs Kal and holds him in his arms because he cries too after Bambi.
“Yeah, she’s a fucking big baby,” I answer.
At this, Bambi holds me tighter. “Shut up,” she whispers.
I’m shocked. She’s never told me that before. “Oh yeah, little deer?” I ask.
She sniffles but doesn’t let go. “Yeah, shut up because you scared me and I’m mad at you.”
I kiss her shoulder. “Thank you for saving me.” I say to her. “Now, I’ll never leave you because you brought me back.”
“Good. Now, you need to fix Bowie,” she whispers.
“Why?”
“You broke him or something. He hasn’t said a word. I’m worried about him.”
“Okay.”
“Phoenix…” she whispers, once more.
“Yes, Bambi?”
“I love you.”
“It better not be because I almost died, woman,” I whisper back to her.
She chuckles. “No.”
“Okay good, cause I love you too.”
I’m never letting go of her again and I see the door open again. The rest of my family comes in; Orion, Andres, Ainslee and Jagger. The way Orion is looking at me, I know he’s going to kick my ass as soon as I’m feeling better. The bastard hates that I almost died before him. I smile at him and he rolls his eyes but smiles back. I’m happy to see him too.
* * *
Bambi
I watch as everyone talks to Phoenix. I smile while blending in the background. The one I wanted for him. He has it. He has love from people who want him; a family. My heart warms that he wasn’t alone through all of this but then everything in me freezes. I look at Bowie who is still leaning against the wall watching everything happen. I tilt my head, what’s wrong with him? He pivots and faces me. He stares back at me as if I owe him words, but then he shrugs his shoulders. He winks at me but doesn’t smile. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I miss the playful Bowie. I don’t like this one because he’s making me realize that while Phoenix and I had a family, he didn’t. Who took care of him when he got sick? Who went to his shows to support him? Who told him they loved him just because it was him, and not the rockstar? I clear my throat, trying not to break down and cry. I shut my eyes. It hurts that I didn’t see him genuinely smile all these years. The smile I saw in the tabloids and stuff wasn’t real. How could I not know? I know him from the inside out. I know everything about him but I pretended not to. I don’t remember seeing him make any connections or anything like that. The woman he was in a relationship with, that disastrous thing ended in flames with Bowie being flamed not only from her getting caught because she posted her drunken nights on her social media but also the media making it seem like it was because he stepped out on her with a coworker.
I know I had to leave, but sometimes I wish I was born into a different family, so I didn’t have to leave my husbands. I stare at Bowie hard, knowing that he knows I’m doing it. He looks at me again and I mouth what’s wrong and he smirks cruelly but instead of talking; he looks down at the baggy T-shirt as if wondering the same question as Phoenix. My husbands and their one-track mind.
