Trinity
As I lay in bed on my phone with my best friend. I haven’t caught up with her in weeks. I turn the tv TV down to put her on speaker.
“Hey, my favorite BFF!” She cheers through the phone, her excitement contagious even through the receiver. She screams through the phone.
I giggled. “Hey boo. Oh, and correction, I’m your one and only BFF. Don’t play. Stop playing with me!.” A chorus of laughter followed our exchange.We laughed.
“What are you up to?” I asked, casually flipping through the channels with the remote control. Shyann and I shared a friendship spanning two decades, and if anyone knew me, it was her. Despite her vehement warning not to marry Ayden due to some unsettling intuition, I was blinded by love. Back then, I detected no warning signs, not until the recent past, spanning the last two years“What are you up to?” I ask while flipping through the channels. We have been friends for the past 20 years. If anyone knew me, it was Shyann. She told me not to marry Ayden. It was something off about him, but I was in love..
I saw no red flags at the time. Not until recently, over the past two years. After updating me on her hectic work and life since we last caught up, Shyann, being a lawyer, questioned me as if she possessed a special gift for reading peopleAfter she caught me up on her hectic weeks, she questioned me. Maybe she had had that special gift for reading pe. She was a lawyer.
“The last we spoke, you said you learned something about Ayden but couldn’t tell me yet.” She asked.
In that moment, I inhaled deeply, a desperate attempt to keep the pain at bay. I hesitated, not wanting to reopen the wounds, but with resolve, I summarized the agony. “Ayden’s been cheating long before my injury. Discovered it on our trip last year. We’re heading for divorce.” My voice, though calm, concealed the storm inside. The tranquility was a defense, a fragile mask to shield the turmoil threatening to engulf me. I clung to the semblance of peace, praying it would anchor me amidst the chaos within I took a deep breath because I didn’t want to relive this shit again. So, I sum it up in the quickest version possible. “Well, Ayden has been cheating on me way before my injury. I found out when we were on the trip last year. We are also getting a divorce.” I said peacefully.
Having laid bare the painful revelation, I braced myself for Shyann’s reaction. As the weight of my words settled in the air, I discerned the audible sound of her inhaling sharply, an involuntary reaction that mirrored the weight of the distressing news I had just shared with her. She sucked her teeth in disbelief.
“What the hell? Trin, you gotta be playin’. That no-good piece of shit. I’m sorry, honey. I knew he was trash. I just wish I was wrong. I just can’t...Damn.” Shyann’s voice quivered with a mixture of disbelief and anger, as if grappling with the harsh reality of Ayden’s betrayal. She trailed off mid-speech, and I sensed the weight of her genuine concern for my marriage. I smiled to myself, appreciating the authenticity of her words and the unwavering support she offered in the face of my heartbreak. “Trin, are you serious? I’m sorry. I knew he was a piece of shit. I just knew it. See, my senses are never wrong about men.” She rejoiced.
“You called it, Shyann. Should’ve known he was a trick. I guess I was young and naïve back then,” I admitted, a bitter laugh escaping my lips—an attempt to drown out the pain, one of the many coping mechanisms I had adopted lately.
In discussing the divorce, I mentioned one silver lining—the prospect of being touched by a man again. The idea of being physically close to someone again felt both liberating and daunting, leaving me uncertain about what emotions I might experience when I find myself a new man.
I laugh at her claims, and we discuss everything from her men’s woes to mine. I told her the best thing about this divorce was that I could finally be touched by men again. I wouldn’t even know what to think or feel if I did. “So where you at spillin’ the tea freely? Ayden ain’t eavesdropping, right?” Shyann asked with a hint of caution.
“Ayden’s somewhere in the house, but I’m in bed. I think he’s in the den, sippin’ on something, tryna drown his sorrows,” I admitted with a heavy sigh.
“Did he even try to say sorry for his mess? What he throw at you when he got caught?” Shyann pressed for details.
“My bad, Shyann, I’m in a rush and gotta hit the bathroom real quick. I’ll hit you back in a minute.” The questions Shyann asked brought all the sad memories about Ayden’s infidelity back to the fore of my mind, and I felt so sick. I didn’t want to go down that rabbit hole again, so I faked a bathroom emergency. With that, I hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief.She asked where Ayden was. I assume the den. I called his name, but he didn’t answer me. I shrugged it off while chatting with Shyann until she had to answer the following line.
I called shouted Ayden’s name loudly but there was no response. I shouted for the second time and still, there was no answer. This time I calledSo I decided to call his phone. As soon as he answered, I asked where he was, and he told me he was in the den, having a drinking in the den.
Before I could say any more words to Ayden, a shadow emerged from beneath my bed. My eyes widened in terror, rendering me motionless. The intruder, dressed entirely in black with a black ski mask concealing his identity, raised his handgun to his lips, signaling for silence. Despite Ayden’s voice calling my name through the phone, fear paralyzed me. The intruder gestured urgently for me to hang up. Complying with his silent demand, I disconnected the call just as Ayden’s footsteps echoed down the hall, the ice in his glass clinking ominously.Before I responded, I saw a figure come from under my bed. My eyes grew wide as I froze. He looked at me with his hand to his mouth to warn me to be quiet. He was wearing all black with a black ski mask a black male. He had no visible marking on his body. I could hear Ayden calling my name on the phone, but the fear in me wouldn’t let me respond. He mouthed to me to put the phone down. I did as I was told. I heard Ayden coming down the hall as his ice rattled in his glass. The intruder swiftly concealed himself from Ayden’s line of sight just before Ayden entered the room.
“How you call me and stop talking?,” He lingered by the doorway, taking a moment to savor a sip of bourbon from his glass. His steps, however, lacked any signs of staggering, leading me to believe he was only mildly tipsy, not yet fully intoxicated. As he observed my shaken demeanor, he approached intending to inquire about what was wrong with me. However, his attention swiftly shifted as he noticed the masked intruder positioned on the other side of our bed, right beside me.
“Drop that fucking glass right now before I blow your wife’s head off. And don’t you make any funny moves,” the intruder barked, prompting Ayden to hastily release his glass to the floor.He asked while sipping his bourbon from his glass. After he saw me shaken, he noticed the unknown male standing on the other side of me. He dropped his glass on the carport.
“Listen, whatever you want, you can have it. You don’t need to hurt us,” Ayden pleaded. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. I was terrified, unsure of the intruder’s intentions and feeling trapped since I couldn’t escape. The situation became even more ominous with each passing moment. “Listen, whatever you want, you can have it. You don’t need to hurt us.” Ayden begged. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I didn’t know what this man wanted or what he could do—the fact I couldn’t run either made it even scarier.
He snatched my phone off the bed and took Ayden’s phone out of his hand.
“You want money? I’ll give you whatever amount you need. No one has to get hurt, you can just leave. We won’t even call the cops,” Ayden pleaded desperately, trying to negotiate with the intruder. “You want money? I’ll give you that no one has to get hurt whatever amount you can leave. We won’t even call the cops,” Ayden pleaded.
The unknown masked intruder male looked at us both and signaled Ayden to the chair in the room. As the masked intruder turned his back, Ayden attempted to surprise him from behind. The intruder, slightly taller than Ayden, resisted the sudden maneuver. Ayden struggled to maintain control over the larger man, who grew agitated and vehemently attempted to break free. With a swift move, the intruder delivered a powerful elbow strike to Ayden’s right side, causing him to scream in pain. Seizing the opportunity, the masked intruder turned around, hurling Ayden across the floor. He pounced on Ayden, who shielded his face in defense, anticipating further attack. The enraged intruder relentlessly targeted Ayden’s ribs with the butt of his gun, repeatedly striking the same spot. Eventually, as Ayden’s hands came off, the intruder proceeded to unleash a barrage of blows to Ayden’s face.As he turns his back, Ayden attacks him from behind. He instantly became agitated and threw Ayden across the floor, hitting him repeatedly with the butt of the gun. My fear intensified as I let out a horrified shriek. The intruder seized Ayden, forcefully sitting him in the chair he’d directed him to earlier. He swiftly taped his mouth shut and secured his feet with black zip tiesI shriek in fear. He snatched Ayden up, sat him in the seat, and tied him to his feet with some black zip tie.
“I brought had these for the lady of the house,” He waved a pair of handcuffs in the air.
“But it don’t seem like you can run from me anyway.” A diabolical grin etched across his face as he left he ransacked our closet and tossed our belongings on our bedroom floor. He proceeded to the dresser and repeated the same actions, leaving me bewildered about his intent. As he exited the bedroom, the sound of crashing items echoed through the hallway, signaling his destructive path.
As I looked around the room, I found our phones where he’d placed them on the dresser by the room door. An impulsive plan formed––if I could crawl quietly and reach the phone, I might lock him out. I weighed the risks, then decided, “Fuck it.” Silently sliding off the bed, I managed to crawl halfway to the door until, unexpectedly, he walked back inHe grins diabolically. My anxiety was going throw the roof. He searched the house for something, but we didn’t know what. Then I heard him throwing things around. I saw our phone on the dresser by the room door. I thought if I could throw myself on the floor and crawl over, I could lock him out while grabbing our phones. I was thinking of everything that could go wrong. Before talking myself out of it. Fuck it. I slide off the bed quietly as possible. I managed to crawl halfway to the door until he walked back in.
“Well, what do we have here? Were you looking for me, baby girl?” he teased, his tone dripping with malicious amusement. “Well, what do we have here? Were you looking for me, baby girl?” He teases.
“Shit,” I said to myself. He walked closer, picked me up gently,, and dropped me right back in the bed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll stop between your legs before I leave. I promise,” he taunted with a sinister wink. My heart raced as he casually strolled back into the other rooms, continuing his unsettling search for whatever he sought, leaving me in a state of heightened fear and uncertainty. “Don’t worry. I’ll stop between your legs before I leave. I promise” He winked at me. He walked back into the other rooms, searching for whatever he was looking for.
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