#othersideofthegame

Part Twelve || Quentin

I was glad for the apartment to be clean and I hoped it stayed that way. I hated inviting people over and being tasked with cleaning their mess since Griffey only cleaned up behind himself and not his friends. I took another sip of water and thought about last night, if it hadn’t been for the party then I might have not had met Kali. She was unique and in my mind that separated her from all the other girls I knew here.

I put my glass in the sink and sent a good morning text to Isabella. I also apologized for not texting her last night. Just as I put my phone into the pocket of my joggers there was a knock on the door. When I opened it I saw that it was a girl that Griffey had been seeing for a while, all I knew about her was that she modelled and was from a suburb in Upper East Widenburg. Other than that she was usually cheerful and polite to me, but she looked very unhappy at the moment.

“Hello Quentin, is Griffey home?” She asked with a mixture of sadness and desperation in her voice.

“Yeah, he is.” I said. “Come in Candace,” I invited her into our apartment wondering what my stupid brother had done now. “Have a seat. He’s in his room getting dressed.”

“Thank you,” She followed me into the living room and we sat in silence until Griffey entered the living room. He gave me a surprised look and I shrugged my shoulders, he must have not known she was coming over. Good thing Corianna wasn’t here. He sat on the couch next to Candace.

“What are you doing here so early baby?” He asked her with interest.

“I called and text your phone several times yesterday Griffey, I was so worried about you babe.” Candace explained with her arms outstretched as if it was obvious why she showed up here.

 “Oh, yeah. I had to help my mom move in some new furniture yesterday,” He said lying through his teeth. I watched him make a smooth recovery from being caught off guard, but it was just like Griffey to bring an innocent person into his lie. Mom had nothing to do with this. “We’re so tired. Isn’t that right bro?” I had nothing to do with this either, but when he lied no one was safe.

“Yeah, we had to help move some lamps and chairs.” I made an effort to sound believable. Candace’s eyes searched my face for honesty, I’m sure she found none. I wasn’t as skilled at lying as my brother ‘Master Story Teller’ Griffey was.

“So… You’re telling me that you’re burned out from lifting chairs and lamps babe?” She asked suspiciously, eyeing his bulky arms.

“No, no.” He corrected her. “They were couches and industrial lights, her ceilings are really high. I had to help our dad install them too,” He groaned and rotated his shoulders for added effect. He was a tragic case.

“Are you serious?” Her piercing blue gaze set on me and I felt like a deer in headlights. Griffey mouthed ‘just lie’ to me while her head was still turned. Damn it, I hated when he made me do this.

“Yeah, couches – chairs. Same thing, we did a lot yesterday. I’m still tired too.” She seemed pleased with that answer and nodded then looked over to Griffey.

My answer was partially truthful, since we were actually tired. But it was from a kick back that she wasn’t invited to because his girlfriend was there. My brother was a textbook fuckboy.

“Well, I guess since you’re okay I can go home and enjoy the rest of my day of then. I hope your muscles feel better Griffey,” She said to Griffey with something that sounded like attitude and stood to leave. I slid to the middle of the couch to get ready to watch ESPN.

“Okay, bye.” Griffey said chuckling and started walking towards his bedroom.

“All I get is ‘okay bye’?” She questioned him in a surprised tone. “Wow.”

“Um, yeah? What you expect me to say?” Griffey responded with his laughter dying down. He could be so rude.

“You’re unbelievable,” Candace shook her head and looked up to the ceiling. “I drove all the way over here for an ‘okay bye’. I can’t,” Her already high-pitched voice went up an octave. “I really can’t!”

“Man,” He kissed his teeth. “A’aight, just sit down Candace.” Griffey plopped on the couch and she took her previous seat. It was like we were playing musical chairs. All I wanted to do was catch up on the game, I wasn’t about to give them an audience while they bickered or whatever.

“Welp, that’s my queue to go!” I announced. When I stood up, Candace scooted closer to Griffey as if his fuckboyness held some sort of magnetic field.

 “I don’t want you to go, stay here with me for a while babe.” Griffey said flirting with Candace making her smile. “After all, I need to see your pretty face to feel better.” 

“I’ll stay if you quit being rude to me,” She said negotiating with Griffey. He should have been happy that she’d be worried enough to come and check up on him. How did he get girls to fall into his web of lies with no effort? He could be so terrible to them. One day karma was going to catch up with him. The tangled web of deceit he continued to weave was eventually going to trap him in the center of it.

“I’m sorry. I won’t be rude to you anymore, but I’ll make up for it if you stay.” I shook my head as I walked into my room. They fell for it every time. It was so easy for Griffey, it’s almost like the women he dated desired him more when he treated them like crap.

I could hear them smooching and giggling through the door, so I turned on my TV to the sports channel. My favorite soccer player was going for a goal. Richie Striker was easily the best to ever do it. I cheered, clapping my hands excitedly as he kicked the ball past the goalie and raised the score for Bridgeport.

I took a break from the game and hopped in the shower. When I crossed the living area to go in the bathroom, I saw that Griffey and Candace left for his bedroom. After showering I got dressed and sat down on my bed to enjoy the last bit of the game. During commercial I had to turn the volume all the way up because Candace was moaning so loudly that I could hear her through the walls.

At least I didn’t miss the game because of their foolery. I started to think about what Kali was up to and wondered when I’d get to see her again.