Page 35 of Girl, We Go Together
One young white man locked eyes with me and then looked me up and down. It was like his brain was registering the description that Orion had called out. I shook my head from side to side quickly to silently plead with him, but he didn’t give a shit about any of that. I guess he figured it was better me than him.
“She’s here!” he shouted.
I saw Orion placing a hand over his eyes to block the lights out so he could get a good look at me.
“Ah, there she goes.” He turned and looked at the man who had given me up. “You look like a Chad. Chad, I got two hundred for you when I get off this stage.” He turned and looked back at me. “Hey, baby.”
I felt sick to my stomach and felt like I had to throw up. I knew Orion was a little crash out or had the mentality of one for some time, but I’ve never seen him in action. He handed the mic back to the DJ and then got off the stage. He made sure to pay he man who had ratted me out before walking in my direction. Music started playing again as if the whole thing hadn’t even happened.
“What’s up, y’all?” he said casually to my girls, like he didn’t make a scene. “Let’s go.”
He looked me dead in the eyes, and honestly, he had to be joking, right? His eyes bulged and his head leaned forward while he watched me. I didn’t even budge because I really thought he wasn’t serious.
“Let’s go,” he repeated.
I looked at my group of friends, and they were all staring at me with their eyes wide. I thought one of them would have stood up in my defense, but this wasn’t their battle to fight. Zynea would have been the one to have my back, but she moved when I moved. She went with whatever energy I gave out. So, unless I was about to fight to stay, she wasn’t about to fight on my behalf.
I sucked my teeth and then grabbed my purse from the table before leading the way out. I had taken a Lyft to Zynea’s, and we all jumped in one to the club, so when I made it outside, I just stood with my arms folded.
“Let’s go,” he said again, leading the way to his double-parked car.
The car ride home was awkward as fuck. The bass from the club still rang faintly in my ears. Orion’s hands gripped the wheel so tightly that I could see his fingers start to turn white. He was clenching his jaw, and his eyes locked straight ahead like the road had done him wrong. Finally, he broke the silence.
“So, that’s what you do when I ain’t around? Get on Instagram and shake your ass for likes?” His voice was sharp and low, the kind that cut without him even raising it.
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but he didn’t give me the chance.
“And that club—Secret Obsessions?” He spat the name like it tasted sour. “You know they stole my whole layout, right? My vibe, my concept. They're trying to be me without even knowingwhat it takes to run shit the way I do. That’s my blood, sweat, and nights in the streets that built Obsessions.”
I glanced at him, my fingers tangled in my lap. He looked furious, but under it, I could feel the hurt simmering. Orion wasn’t just mad about me being there. He was angry because it felt like betrayal, like I’d given somebody else the shine that belonged to him.
“You really think I’d support them over you?” I asked carefully.
I wanted to tread lightly with the beast that was sitting beside me since he was so unfamiliar. He shot me a quick look before turning his attention back toward the road.
“I think you don’t realize how quick shit spreads, Cayla. You in there, drinking, laughing, and letting people record you shake ya fucking ass? It doesn’t just make you look bad. It makes me look weak. Like I can’t keep my woman in check.”
Orion had been obsessed with his street image ever since his mother was murdered. It only heightened once he killed Fresh. I found it very disrespectful that he even thought that keeping a woman in check was a thing. The words stung, but I bit my tongue. Arguing with him right now would only pour gas on the fire. Instead, I leaned back against the seat, letting his anger fill the car while I tried to steady my breathing. The night had started out as a fun way to escape the stress and the grief hanging over us, but now it felt like I was right back in the middle of the storm that was Orion’s world.
The rest of the drive was wrapped in silence, except for the low hum of the engine. Orion’s jaw stayed tight as he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel like each beat kept him from saying something else that might cut deeper. Something else that might hurt me.
I kept my eyes on the city lights rushing by. Every word I wanted to throw back at him sat stuck inside me. Not because Ididn’t have a response, but because I knew if I let it out now, it would explode. So, instead, I let him stew. Let his words hang in the air like that invisible elephant in the room that everyone tried to avoid. By the time we pulled in front of the house, the tension between us felt alive, like it had followed us home and was waiting to break loose.
I slipped out of the car without saying a word, and he didn’t stop me. But I could feel his eyes burning into my back, daring me to test him, daring me to speak. I didn’t. Not yet. But I knew that when I finally did that, no one would be able to stop me. In the past year, I had bottled up so much that I knew once I took the cap off, anger and hatred would overflow.
The sunlight creeping through the blinds made my head pound harder than it should’ve. Honestly, I felt like I didn’t even drink enough the night before for this kind of hangover. I sat up slowly and pressed my hand to my stomach. There was an uneasy swirl still sitting heavy in me. I blamed it on the drinks at Secret Obsessions at first, but deep down, I knew better. It wasn’t just the alcohol. It was that gnawing ache, that quiet whisper in the back of my mind that refused to be ignored.
Dragging myself into the bathroom, I stood in front of the mirror for a long time, staring at my reflection. My skin looked a little dull, my eyes tired, but it was more than that. My body felt different.
My heart thumped as I opened the cabinet and pulled out the pregnancy test I’d bought weeks ago but tucked away, just in case. Just in case had turned into right now. With my hands trembling, I unwrapped it while whispering to myself.
“It’s probably nothing. It’s just the liquor… It’s just stress.”
But the longer I stared at that little stick, waiting for the result, the more I realized I already knew the answer. I paced the bathroom, biting my thumbnail as my eyes darted back to the test every few moments. Finally, I forced myself to look. Two pink lines.
The results were clear as day. There was no need for me to be confused, and there was no need for second-guessing anymore. My knees went weak, and I sank down onto the cool tile floor, clutching the test in my hand. All I could think about was Orion. It was his temper, his distance, and the way he still carried his grief like a weapon that made me second-guess opening my mouth. How was I supposed to tell him this? Tears burned in my eyes, but I blinked them back. Crying wouldn’t change the fact that everything in my life had just shifted in the span of a few minutes. I set the test down on the floor beside me and stared at it one last time.
“What am I gonna do now?” I whispered to myself.
