MILEAGE XII

Chapter 12
Explanation.



  SAM AND I sat on her bed, listening to music and cyphering spliffs. I didn't yet tell her about my morning and I guess Miranda hadn't either, because she didn't press me. She just accepted my company and weed.
  I ashed the spliff and dropped it in the tray.
  "Sam, I gotta tell you what happened, bro," I said suddenly.
  She leaned back and hit her blunt.
  "Oh man. Shoot," she agreed.
  I ran down the eavesdropping through my door, the discussion with my father, Miranda confirming the sex between Sam and Catherine and then the fight over some failed setup between Miranda and Catherine. I added the argument between Miranda and I at the end and let her take it all in.
  "So wait," Sam said, looking confused as she hit the blunt. "Your dad knows about me and Captain?"
  "Yeah," I answered. "But I don't think he feels any type of way towards you because of it, his beef is with Catherine."
  "But, nah, see Tiki, that's fucked all the way up. I don't want your father feeling a way towards me. I love him like he's my own father."
  Sam was obviously upset her spot was blown but I couldn't feel bad. She should've thought about that. She risked our relationship sleeping with Catherine's dumbass as well.
  "He's not upset at you, Sam. He's upset at Catherine. She cheated on him with a man and two women to his knowledge and he has a feeling on a third person. He's not worried abut you over here thinking with your strap like you always do. But, how about this shit you and Miranda tried to pull on Catherine?" I asked. I glanced at my phone and saw no text from Miranda. I hit her up with a message asking if she was okay and locked my phone.
  "Well, you know that I wanted to get revenge on Capt., right?"
  I nodded.
  "Well, I had Miranda start flirting with her and texting her shit. I wanted to show out Catherine's hoeness. I set it up to the point where her and Miranda would end up in a room together expecting to fuck, so I could record it all. Miranda would reject and play her, of course, and then I would show you and your father the footage. Catherine would get the boot, life would go on. But-"
  "But what?" I cut off, annoyed. What a stupid game. This shit isn't Maury, as much as it resembled it.
  "But when Miranda seen just how much Catherine was down for it, she got pissed off and quit the plan. And wanted to fight Catherine, which apparently, she did. Yo, she ohdee loves you and I just absolutely cannot with this shit."
  I sat taking Sam's words in. I glanced at my phone to see that Miranda still hadn't texted back. I wasn't the type to blow up phones and I was trying to figure out if I was mad at her or not so I put my phone down and let that situation rock.
  "My sister is an idiot, and she has this sassiness to her and she doesn't take shit. And that's something that I know you like, maybe love about her, shit, that's something that I love about her. She doesn't like people crossing her or people that she loves and when that happens she don't take it. She don't allow it. Yeah, she has some growing up to do but you knew that. So you can't be that mad."
  I let Sam say what she had to say and she had valid points that I could agree with. At the same time I was annoyed and found all of them childish. The turned my situation into some sort of game and it was serious. And on top of all the bullshit sat Catherine's hoe ass. She needed help. She obviously had a problem. She couldn't really love herself, especially when she kept fucking over everyone that loved her. I sat in silence for a couple seconds thinking everything over and smoking. I looked at my phone, no Miranda.
  "Well, she's not talking to me," I sighed.
  "Probably because she feels like you were caping for Cap. Which you were low key. Which I understand. You love Catherine at the end of the day despite her ways and you are falling for Randa, and you don't want anything to happen to anyone, but you have to understand that nigg*s gotta reap what they sow, including you and me. She'll get over this in due time and you gotta apologize, but you looking like you don't want to do that right now. Leave it alone until you're ready and you got your thoughts through." Sam slapped me on the shoulder and snatched the blunt out of my mouth, laughing.
  I chuckled but really absorbed her words. Sam was goofy as shit, and didn't love these hoes, but she had a good head on most of the time. We were partners for a reason. Best friends without the title. We definitely had a bromance and it was a strong one, one that a thot almost fucked up but never really could.


  I left Sam's crib with Miranda still not talking to me. I tried calling twice, texted her a "?" and left it alone, especially since I wasn't completely over the levels everyone around me was stooping to.
I sat to myself in my room watching Family Guy until I couldn't take it anymore and shut the TV off. Before I left Sam's house she showed me the messages between Catherine and Miranda. I was dumbfounded. How could Catherine be so stupid? She couldn't possibly believe Miranda. The messages from Miranda weren't even believable. I decided that I needed to sit down and talk to Catherine. Not bark at her, yell at her, make her feel inferior, but actually sit her down and have a discussion and try to understand what and how her mind worked. There was something wrong there.
  I called Catherine about three times back to back to back before she answered-- this situation was important enough for me to blow her phone up over.
  She sounded surprised but timidly agreed to come home and talk about things.
  Waiting for her, I got up and started neatening up. I really couldn't stand a mess, but when Miranda stormed out, she managed to clean the majority of the mess we had made.
  I was left with fluffing pillows, picking up lint and putting change away in my coin jar.
  Finally, she sauntered down the stairs, looking as though she was stressed out and tuckered out from working all day.
  "Tiki," she said, sitting on the couch.
  I took her in. I hadn't really checked her out since everything went down but she was naturally beautiful. Brown, curly hair against golden brown skin, a beautiful smile graced with dimples and a crazy body. Her thighs were smooth and golden and could make anyone drool and wish to be in between them. I almost caught myself but remembered who and where I was-- and who and what Catherine was.
  "You look pretty," I started off.
  She seemed to relax a little bit. "Thanks," she responded. "You look okay."
  "Just okay?" I licked my thumbs and ran them along my eyebrows. "Girl. This is more than just some okay," I joked.
  She laughed a little and it was beautiful to hear and see.
  "Okay, you're maybe a little more than okay," she said, still giggling.
  "You sure?" I asked her. Somewhere deep down I was dying to reach over and tickle her just so her laughter wouldn't end, but of course, I couldn't, and wouldn't, so I didn't.
  "Yeah, I'm sure," she answered, still flashing her beautiful smile. Then I felt it- that pain. It struck me hard in my heart and then I remembered what we were here for. She had been sharing that beautiful smile and more with too many people. She fucked us all over, literally.
  "So Catherine," I started, not quite sure of where to begin. "You know that I know now, about Mr. and Mrs. Dr. Auburn and Sam and Miranda. I just feel like, if you love me or loved me like you SAID you did, that you could at lease provide an explanation or something. Catherine, my father was good to you, but I was good to you, too. I gave you all of me, denied my intuition when it was telling me you was on some funny shit and still fucked with you.
  "And I was excited to see you every time I came to pick you up at the airport. I fucked you good, fed you, loved you, all of that shit. Like, can I have an explanation? What did I do wrong? Why all these people, Catherine? Why do you fuck all these people?" I felt almost out of breath after getting all of that off my chest. I looked at her with all of me and noticed that her eyes were wet. She looked down and started crying, heavily, so that her shoulders shook and you could tell she was crying from deep down inside.
  I watched her cry and wanted to console her but didn't. I let her let it all out-- it looked as though she hadn't done that in a while. I passed her tissue from off my table and she dabbed her eyes before blowing her nose. Her vulnerability made me want to take her in my arms and hold her until she was back to normal.
  She looked up at me with big wet puppy eyes. "Tiki, I'm so sorry. I am so sorry. You have to know that I never meant to hurt you or your father, at all. I love you and I love your father, too. In different ways. When I met your father, I met...