Antagonize Me

by T. L Smith

  When I knock on the door of our old apartment, I hear her yelling though she sounds happy. She swings the door wide open with a smile. Someone else is inside, their hands are wrapped around her waist as she sees me. She jumps away from the hands and into mine, nearly knocking me over in the process.

  “I’m never letting you go, I’m going to keep you forever,” she says, not letting me breathe.

  The person behind her speaks, “Hill, let her breathe.” I look over her shoulder to see Tick, topless and looking mighty fine, as well as happy. He winks at me and pulls Hillary back into his arms. I look between the two and smile.

  “So, um, yeah. He won’t leave me alone.” She giggles and I smile brightly at her.

  “I can see that,” I say, gesturing between the two of them with a wave of my arm.

  “Hey, it's not my fault. Your ass calls for me,” he says and I watch her jump as he squeezes her. She swats him away and pulls me in.

  “Your room hasn’t changed. I’ve left everything alone and only gone in there to clean. I knew you’d be back,” she says, coming for me again. Tick stops her and holds tightly onto her.

  “You both look happy,” I say and I watch as her face falls. “I’m happy you’re happy, Hillary. You deserve it,” I say, easing her worrying brain.

  “It's not weird?” she asks sincerely. I shake my head and lean over and kiss Tick’s cheek before I carry all my stuff to my room. When I open the door, I see she wasn’t lying. It’s like I’ve never left, nothing has changed.

  “So what do you want to do? You have to go out and have a cosmo with me and tell me about all your wild adventures. Or maybe we can stay in?”

  “I say yes to cosmos and telling you everything. How about tomorrow night? Tonight, I just want to sleep. Today hasn’t been that good,” I reply shaking my head as I move into my bedroom.

  “Oh no. What happened with Kyrone?” she asks walking with me and sitting on my bed, getting comfortable. Tick walks in and hands us a bottle of water and then walks out. I smirk and raise the bottle to Hillary.

  “Oh yeah, I have him trained well, right?” She laughs.

  “Woman, you want me to show you who’s trained?” Tick yells from the kitchen and she laughs louder.

  “Yes, later though. My girl is home.” She turns back to me. “So come on, tell me.” She gestures with her hands.

  “Not much to tell, really. I went there, saw the She-Devil and then saw him. He told me he was happy. Then I left,” I tell her while unpacking my clothes.

  “Oh CJ, she is positively evil. She must be good in bed, ‘cause that’s the only reason he’d be with someone like her,” she says and grabs my hand, giving it a gentle hold before leaving and shutting the door on her way out.

  Great that’s the last thing I wanted to think about before closing my eyes tonight. Ky and his devil woman. I think it just hurts more now because I have actually given in, us, me and Kyrone and the possibility, then it got rejected. How was I expecting today to turn out? Ky taking me into his castle and us living happily ever after? Pfft! I had my chance and I let it pass by. I need to stop thinking about this. How am I going to just let Ky go?

  When she asked if I was happy, I was talking about seeing her though I know she couldn’t have known that. I know now that it’s too late. When I walked back inside, Natalia was waiting at the door, looking at me in disapproval. I’ve had enough of her. She’s driving me absolutely mad. She won’t leave when I ask her to and she thinks she lives here with me now. I sometimes feel like I’ve never wanted to hurt someone more in my life and I don’t believe in hitting women. She taps her foot and waits for me to explain and I wonder what I ever saw in her in the first place. She was sweet and fun to begin with and I thought, why not try breaking some rules? Rules are, after all, meant to be broken, right? She also sucked cock like a pro, one of the best head jobs I’ve ever had. So what could go wrong? Fuck! So much has, that’s for sure.

  “Are you going to explain who that trash was that showed up on our doorstep? Then you running after her?” she asks full of hate and tapping her foot. God, I hate that!

  “Christina is not trash, Natalia. Watch your mouth,” I warn her. Her jaw drops, then reopens only to drop again.

  “That… that thing, is the one you pine over? She’s nothing special. Honestly, who the fuck has pink hair?” She throws her hands up trying to make her point. I’m not even going to argue with her.

  “Leave, it’s over. I don’t want you in my life,” I tell her. She screams at me, but I don’t listen. Then come the waterworks, but I don’t give in this time.

  I go upstairs to pack a bag so I can go see Christina. I know where she is. Hillary has plastered it all over Facebook and I’m excited to have her home. I have to go and see her, to tell her. No other woman makes me feel the way she does and I don’t even know how she does it?

  The day before the funeral, when I saw her getting undressed in front of Tanner, I walked out and hit a tree. He’s not allowed to see her like that, to have mental images of her naked like that. No matter how close friends they might be, that body is mine and will always be mine, until the end of fucking time.

  As I make my way downstairs with my bag of clothes, Natalia is crying on the floor, looking broken. I want to walk away and never look back, but I’m not a total asshole.

  “It’s not you, Nat. Find someone who loves you like you want to be loved,” I try to reason with her. I put my hand out to help her up and she goes straight for my pants. Pulling them down in one swipe, her mouth goes for my limp dick, trying to make me stay. I struggle to pull away. “Nat, stop now!” She doesn’t, she starts sucking and for the first time in a long time, absolutely nothing happens. Nothing about her is making me want to keep her here with me, to let her suck me or even fuck me. She realizes this when I don’t respond to her. She looks up at me and anger shines through on her face.

  “Fuck you, Kyrone! I don’t need you!” She slaps me hard across the face and walks out the front door. I call security and have them change the locks on the front door because that psycho bitch is not coming back, that’s for sure.

  Tanner calls when I’m at the airport. I have a game in Texas tomorrow and he’s expecting me tonight though I won’t be coming. “What time are you arriving?” he asks. I hear a girl giggle and he tells her to hush.

  “What bitch you got on your cock tonight?” I ask.

  He laughs, he’s such a slut. “Fucked if I know. But seriously, what time?” he asks again into the phone.

  “I don’t know if I’ll make it,” I say, getting my boarding tickets for New York.

  “What? Please tell me you’re pulling my fucking leg!” he half yells into the phone.

  “I have plans in New York. I’m on the next flight out now. Just go back to getting your cock sucked, Tanner,” I say to him.

  “She’s back, isn’t she? You’re going to see her?”

  I hang up the phone because I don’t need to explain myself to him.

  I’ve been with girls, plenty of girls, and Christina is the only one I want around for longer. She has something about her, a kindness and sass that only she possesses. Most girls I fuck once, but with Christina it was more than once. It could have lasted a lifetime of being with only her, but she had to leave. I went crazy after her, trying to fill that void. Then I met Natalia. She hid herself from me, showed me only what she thought I wanted – which was sex. That did not go too well, she eventually wanted more, they all do. Except Christina, she was more than happy to walk away, to let me go like I’ve done to so many before her.

  Hillary and Christina’s apartment building is nice, small, but nice. I make my way up the stairs and hear her laughter. I knock on the door twice while waiting for her to open it. I can’t wait to finally kiss her like I’ve always wanted, but been too afraid to.

  The door swings open and I’m met with someone who is not Christina.

  I hear her voice straight away. “Hurry up, Tick, or I’m going to
kick your ass!” she yells, laughing. I stare at him like what I see can’t be true. She wouldn’t be with him? Then it dawns on me that she has been with him and my anger takes itself to a whole new level. Before I know it, I’m reaching back and punching him straight in the face. He cups his nose and I storm off. I hear Christina yelling and asking what happened and it makes me even angrier that she cares for him.

  We had beef back in the day. He went crazy at me for fucking his sister and leaving her. She knew the rules, sex only. Tick, being a year older and thinking he’s tougher, jumped me with a few friends. I got a good few hits in before my ass was kicked. Four against one wasn’t very fair, especially when there was no reason for it. His sister knew the rules. I did get him back, though. One night at a frat party, him and his friends decided to gate crash. This time I had my own friends. They held him while I made that bastard pay and turned him black and blue.

  My phone starts ringing and I see Christina’s name on the caller ID. I reject the call and find the nearest taxi, deciding to go to Texas instead. Tanner will have women flocking around him and that’s what I need right now, a good fuck and some alcohol to drain away today… to fuck it all off.

  “I’m on my way,” I say to Tanner in the cab on my way to the airport.

  “Didn’t work out how you’d planned?” he laughs into the phone.

  “Do you want a black eye when I get there? Keep your fucking mouth shut!” I scream and hang up. The cab driver looks back at me and shrugs his shoulders. Today is fucked. I need alcohol, a shit load, pronto.

  Blood is pouring out everywhere. Hillary runs from the shower with just a towel around her body. She sees Tick’s nose and rushes to grab a wet cloth to clean up the mess. I have no idea what happened. Who would come to the door and hit someone? Why would they do that? Tick pushes me away and walks to the kitchen sink to start rinsing his face. I stand there watching while Hillary puts ice in a wet towel and starts kissing him.

  “Did you see who it was?” I ask, breaking up the couple. Everything was fine. We were playing Xbox and then bang, the night turned to shit.

  “Fucking Kyrone.” Tick spits some blood out into the sink and I shake my head. I don’t believe him. Kyrone’s in Los Angeles, happy with his girlfriend.

  “Are you sure?” I ask, wanting to be certain. He looks at me like I’m dumb.

  “Yes, he heard your voice and lost it. Guess he has a thing for you, huh?” Tick raises his eyebrows. I run to my room and grab my phone. I try calling him several times, but my calls go unanswered. I call Tanner. They’re always together and he answers on the first ring.

  “CJ,” he sings into the phone.

  “Hey Tanner, have you heard from Kyrone? Do you know where he is?” I start speaking normally, but then gain speed until I’m talking really fast.

  “Yeah, just spoke to him. He’s on his way home to Texas. We have a game tomorrow. But hey, he was just in New York,” he says, sounding unsure.

  “Yeah, I know. Where are you playing tomorrow? Can you get me a seat?” I ask.

  He agrees and I jump online to book my ticket for tomorrow. It will be my first game and hopefully he will see me, or else it will be my last game.

  ***

  I arrive at the stadium just before they’re called out onto the field. Tanner managed to get me a great seat right in the front row. I asked him not to tell Kyrone. He said he wouldn’t and I hope he doesn’t.

  The fans start cheering, going absolutely crazy, and then his name is yelled. I stand up to see him better, his jersey says number thirteen. He’s easy to spot because he’s bigger than most. He’s the star of the show. People are screaming for him, waving signs saying they want to marry him or they are his number one fan. I laugh at some of them and some, well, some shouldn’t be repeated or even seen for that matter. Girls have his number painted on their bodies. I sit down and watch it all. I can see where the hype comes in and it’s contagious with everyone cheering.

  Kyrone comes to stand with the rest of the team and they aren’t far from where I’m sitting. Tanner looks straight at me and nods his head. That’s when Kyrone turns around and follows Tanner’s gaze. He sees me and looks back to the field without even acknowledging me.

  I watch the rest of the game and cheer when necessary, even booing the other team. Kyrone does not look back at me once during the whole game and I wonder if I should have come at all. Was there a point of even coming?

  “Showering. Meet us near the lockers in ten,” Tanner says as he passes me. I do as I’m told and wait for them to leave. Girls are all waiting there as well. There are no other men, the only men are in the locker room.

  When they all start to leave, the girls begin pushing forward, sweet-talking and offering things that should not be said to strangers in public. I watch as Tanner walks out and beelines it straight for me. He hugs me tight.

  “He’s pissed, what happened?” he asks. I start to answer him when Kyrone walks out. A girl grabs hold of him and he puts his arms around her waist and brings her to him. I look away and back at Tanner.

  “I should just go, it was a bad idea,” I say and start to walk away. I hear Tanner yelling at Kyrone and I don’t pay attention. I need to find a way back to the airport and I can’t see a taxi anywhere.

  Someone runs up next to me and I know who it is because I can smell him. It’s always the same.

  “Fuck off,” I say, not wanting to cause a scene in front of the people waiting around for him.

  “Me? Nuh uh, Pink Bits. Tell me why you’re here,” he orders, stepping closer. I turn away from him, not wanting to acknowledge him, just like he did to me. He follows and blocks my path, stepping in front of me.

  “Where are all your fucking taxis?” I scream. He laughs. Gah, he has the nerve to laugh at me?

  “Where you going? I’ll take ya,” he says waiting for me to reply.

  “Fucking anywhere that isn’t here,” I say, “or around your weird ass.” I step back and bypass him, making my way back to Tanner. “Can you take me to the airport, please?” I ask him. His eyes grow wide for a second then I’m lifted from behind and into the air. “Put me down this second!” I yell at him. He bites my ass and keeps walking with me in his arms. He has his hands wrapped around my waist and I’m practically in a standing position looking ahead of me while he carries me from behind. We stop in front of a black car and he opens the back door and basically throws me in.

  “What are you doing?” I screech at him. He climbs in and shuts the door behind him, then bangs on the black privacy screen between us and the driver.

  “You’re coming with me. You wouldn’t have come here for no reason. So, tell me, why are you here?” he asks, sitting back and scrolling through his phone. I snatch his phone from him and throw it against the black screen. He looks at me in shock and raises an eyebrow.

  “Listen, then! Don’t play with your phone while I speak.”

  “You so did not just break my phone, Pinks.” He shakes his head like he can’t believe it. Honestly, I can’t either.

  “Tick was not there for me. He’s seeing Hillary,” I blurt out and sit back down with my arms folded across my chest, not looking at him.

  “You don’t have to lie, Pinkie,” he says, obviously not believing me.

  “He’s been with her for months now. They haven’t told anyone ‘cause her family won’t approve,” I reply and watch as it slowly sinks in. He knows her family and how much they hate tattoos and bad boys. Just their luck, she goes and falls for one, I guess.

  “So, I hit that bastard for nothing and missed fucking you for nothing,” he says, smiling at his last statement.

  “Oh, there will be no hanky panky, mister. You can go fuck yourself,” I say to him. We come to a stop and he gets out, capturing my hand and dragging me along with him into the hotel. We go straight to his room without speaking. He walks in and flips the light on while I stand in the doorway, contemplating my escape. He looks me up and down and starts walking slowly, but
determinedly, toward me. Oh no, this fucker thinks we are going to fuck. Oh, how wrong he is.

  “Ah,” I say waving my finger at him. He stops in front of me.

  “Ah ha,” he says back to me.

  “I will kick you in your junk,” I warn, and he steps back and grabs hold of his cock.

  “Fine, let’s play a game,” he says walking away. I stand there wondering what he’s talking about. He walks back to me with a bottle of tequila in his hand and a box.

  “Come on Pinkie, it’s time to play,” he says with a sexual undertone. I shake my head at him, but out of curiosity I follow.

  “Should I break your phone too, so we don’t have any interruptions? I would really like to not be interrupted… all night.” He winks, sitting at the coffee table in front of the television.

  I need an escape plan, one where I can run and he won’t see me. I watch as he sits at the table and kicks off his shoes, then he stretches his back out. Damn him and his fine physique. He’s making me horny, I really need to get laid, and soon.

  “No escaping,” he says, not even looking at me. I look back at the front door and huff out a breath of annoyance.

  “You don’t know what I was thinking,” I say, still not moving. He laughs at me and turns his face. “You’re looking for a way to escape. You can’t, I’d catch you. I will always catch you,” he says.

  “Where’s your girlfriend?” I walk in his direction while his eyes follow the length of my body and I try not to blush under his intense gaze.

  “Don’t have one,” he says, his eyes are not moving now as they penetrate me.

  “You did twenty-four hours ago,” I say back to him. She answered the door and I know he was with her.

  “True, though I wouldn’t go as far as to call her that. Maybe a parasite. What does it matter? I’m here with you now.”