Troy
A week has passed since discovering Reece’s deceit, and it looks like I am the one being punished for it. Not only did I almost get into a physical altercation with a customer because his car wasn’t cleaned, but I sort of threw a broom and dustpan at an employee. That was because he was taunting me about Reece, asking me could he fuck her since I wasn’t anymore. I should have knocked his ass out.
When Mark confronted me about it, I didn’t give him the real reason for what I did; instead, I went off on him about bringing her here and insisted that he knew the agreement that Reece and Vanessa had and didn’t tell me. That pissed off Mark and the two of us were going at it in the middle of the lobby. That what made him give me a week-suspension. I didn’t want it, because I knew I would be miserable at home, doing shit, but I could understand why Mark did it. I was becoming more of a liability to the store, and I didn’t want to put Mark in even more shit, so I took the L and went home.
It has been two days into my suspension and all I’ve done was get drunk and sleep. I was tempted to call a few girls that I still had on my phone to see if they wanted to fuck, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Since I’ve been with Reece, she’s all I could think about. I don’t even want to look at another woman, so she has messed me up in more ways than one.
I was laying on the couch with my third beer when the doorbell rang. I wasn’t in the mood for visitors, so I didn’t answer the door.
The ringing increased like s it was being rung multiple times. I rolled my eyes and threw a pillow at the door.
“No one’s here, so leave!”
“Open the door, Troy!”
“Seriously?” I mumbled. I definitely didn’t want to be bothered with Jamarcus right now. I stumbled over to the door as I looked through the glass window, seeing not only Jamarcus, but Mark, Patrick, Dominic, and Cedric. I leaned myself against the door, preparing myself for how this visit was going to go.
“We can see you through the glass, Troy.” Jamarcus said.
“No shit,” I said. I opened the door and mean mugged the entire group.
“What do you want?”
“We came by to check on your ass. We were concerned.” Jamarcus said as he came in. He shoved a bag at me as he walked past me.
“We brought food. We thought you might be hungry.” Mark said.
“I’m not,”
“So beer is taking the place of food?” Dominic asked.
“Listen, I’m glad you all are checking on me, but as you can see I’m alive. So you all can kindly leave, please.”
“You look like hell, Troy. And you stink. I can smell you from a mile away.” Jamarcus said.
“Whatever,” I said as I went to the couch and sat down.
“I hope I don’t piss you off, but I really think you need to talk to Reece. That’s the only way that things will be better for the two of you.” Mark said.
“I don’t want to talk to her.”
“Maybe you should. You probably should hear her out about why she made that agreement with Vanessa.” Patrick said.
“I already know why, right, Mark?” I asked while staring at him.
“Listen, Troy, no one knew you wanted to take ownership with the company. I even suggested that to Vanessa because honestly, I rather would see you at Suds Dallas, but Vanessa didn’t think it was a great idea.”
“Of course she didn’t. The last time I checked, your father gave you, Carmen, and Sebastian Suds, not Vanessa, so she really doesn’t have a say in anything that pertains to franchising.”
“Vanessa is my wife and I gave her ownership after Carmen and Sebastian sold their shares, so she does have every right to say what fits with the company.”
“It seems like she’s wearing the pants and controlling your dick, Mark.”
“Just like Reece was after you got with her.”
I was about to punch Mark out when Jamarcus had to hold me down. Dominic controlled Mark but he was still trying to come after me.
“No te metas conmigo!” Mark yelled, as he was saying to not mess with him.
“¡Te vas a enterar!”
“That’s enough! Go sit your ass down, Troy! You ain’t going to fuck no one up.” Jamarcus said as he shoved me to the sofa.
“What’s going on?”
We turned to see Pamela walking into my house, which shocked the hell out of me. I never told her where I stayed.
“How did you get in?”
“The door was left opened. Now, what is going on?”
“Nothing, except I’m asking everyone to leave. I just want to be left alone.”
Pamela came over to me as she stared at everyone. “Can we be excused, please? I need to talk to him.”
“We’ll be right here,” Jamarcus said.
Pamela sighed like she carrying the weight of the world then she told me to get up. I followed her out to the patio and she closed the door behind her.
“I really don’t want to be given a lecture right now.”
“You’re going to get one. What the hell is your problem, Troy?! Since you found out the agreement Reece had with Vanessa, you have been insensitive and rude. You were even trying to pick a fight with Mark! You know he could fire your ass if he wants to.”
“You saw that?”
“I was standing by the door when it happened. Of course no one noticed me.”
“He won’t fire me.”
“You don’t know that. And you wonder why him and Vanessa never considered you for ownership with any of their stores? You’re a loose cannon!”
I sat down on one of the patio chairs and frowned. “Are you done?”
Pamela sat in the chair beside me and let out a tired breath. “How long have I known you, Troy?”
“Since I was sixteen, when I used to visit my parents at Suds.”
“I have seen you go from being this sweet, ambitious teen to someone who lost his way and never really found his purpose in life. You always felt guilty because of what you put your parents through when you went to prison. You always felt like you couldn’t let go of any of your mistakes because you still blame yourself for not seeing your parents before they passed.”
“I don’t want to talk about this, Pamela.”
“You need to, Troy. You need to finally let go of all the guilt and anger, because your parents would never want you to feel that way. Believe me, they weren’t perfect, but they never judged you for the path that you’d chosen.”
“I did time, Pamela; they were pissed. They didn’t even want me to move back home when I was released.”
“That was just tough love, Troy. Yes, they were angry with you, but they also knew you could turn your life around, which you did when you started working at Suds.”
“Only because my dad was able to get me a job there.”
“Because he wanted for you to do something with yourself. You have turned your life around and I know you want to own a piece of the company because of your parents.”
I looked down at my hands and picked at my nails “I never told anyone this, but I wanted to have that better life that my parents tried to provide for me. I know they tried their best to, but with their education, they couldn’t offer much; that’s why I wanted to go to college. I probably could had been a businessman or an executive somewhere, but that life is not for me. I love to work and get my hands dirty. Hell, that’s all I know.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I saw my parents work day in and day out washing and detailing cars and something in me wanted to do the same, but I wanted to do more. I wanted to make my parents proud and have a store that could help them support not only themselves, but me for years.
“At the time when Enrique was selling, I didn’t have enough money to invest; but now, I’m ready to do this, I’m ready to take the next step in fulfilling my life goal.”
“Why haven’t you ever told Mark and Vanessa this?”
I shrugged. “I guess a part of me was still scared to pursue it.”
“Maybe now is the time to finally fulfill that dream. I’m sure Mark and Vanessa will listen to you if you talk to them.”
“I’m sure they will, but I wouldn’t want a store if it’s a handout. I would want it because I earned it.”
“Who’s to say you still wouldn’t? They know how dedicated you are in the company; you just need to suck up that ego of yours and talk to them. Not only them, but Reece as well.”
I shook my head no. “I’m not talking to her.”
“So, you’re going to still be mad at her over something as petty as owning a store?”
“It’s not even about the store. It’s the fact that she lied to me for weeks about the agreement she had with Vanessa. She could have told me that when things got serious between us.”
“She probably was scared to.”
“Not an excuse. If she’s lying about this, she could be lying about other things.”
Pamela sighed. “I understand how you feel. But I wanted to let you know that she’s going back to Dallas once the store is opened. She’s not going to be the owner there, but she’s just going to be a cashier.”
“Why is she leaving?”
Pamela rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Did you really ask that question? She’s leaving because she can’t work with you anymore.”
I looked at the sky and sighed. “I miss her,”
“She misses you too. I just saw her at Vanessa’s earlier. She’s just as miserable as you are right now.”
“How do I know if she won’t lie to me again?”
Pamela put an arm around me. “That’s a risk you just have to take. No one said love was easy.”
“Maybe she needs to go to Dallas, because I don’t know if I could work with her again.”
“You’re not even going to talk to her?”
“Why should I? If that’s the decision she wants to make, then let her.”
“Troy, she’s leaving because of you.”
“I’m not forcing her out of Houston; that’s her decision to leave.”
“You’re just going to let her leave?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You’re stubborn, Troy.”
“And I’m fine with her leaving. Life goes on, right?”
Pamela got up and sighed. “Be that way,”
I waved good-bye as Pamela went back into the house. I continued to stare at the sun setting, which made me think about the day when Reece and I had our first real conversation. I leaned back in my chair, not knowing what to do. A part of me does want to talk to her and convince her to stay, but a part of me feels as if it’s too soon to talk to her. I still feel some type of way about her betraying me. I know I shouldn’t since I’ve done it to women for years, but I thought she was different.
Now, I guess I’ll never know how things would be between us. It was fun while it lasted, but I can’t think about her. I need to move on with my life.