Apparently, that night he was practicing, my
phone rang, and Tiffany suggested he hang
up and keep playing.
His buddies teased him about being whipped,
<
so he answered, but he hung up before I
could even say a word.
That night, I didn’t tell him goodnight like I
usually do.
I didn’t even go home.
He didn’t notice a damn thing.
Or maybe he did, but he just didn’t care.
If he’d just given a tiny damn, maybe things
would’ve been different.
He looked shocked. “You went to look at the
security footage over something this small?”
“Small? You’re right, it’s small. Just that I got
into a car wreck that night on the way home. I
<
LI IW L
called you three times, and you hung up on
me three times. I missed the window to get
my hand fixed, and now I can’t paint anymore.
Yeah, it’s small. No biggie.”
I started laughing like a maniac, trying to pin
all the blame on him.
Why didn’t you pick up the phone?
Why did you give me hope just to crush me?
Marriage… I actually thought he was someone
I could spend my life with.
I never thought he’d hang up on me three
times because of something some other
woman said.
I broke down sobbing
<
I was the outsider all along.
His voice was shaky. “Why didn’t you tell me
sooner?”
I stared right at him. “Did you even notice?
How many times have you been to the
hospital? Once. What was the first thing you
said when you saw me? When did you even
realize I blocked you?”
A flash of panic crossed his face.
The situation was slipping out of his control.
“This morning, right? You didn’t even notice
all week. You didn’t ask me once.”
An artist who can’t pick up a brush, a pianist
who can’t play the piano he knew how
<
important our nanas were to us.
I flew towards him like a moth to a flame, but
I didn’t know it was an abyss that would
destroy me.
Silence hung between us.
Bitter tears stung my heart.
“I’ll take you to get the best treatment.
There’s gotta be some hope,” he said after a
long pause, reaching for me.
“There isn’t. Kevin, it’s over.”
I couldn’t see any hope for the future.
I didn’t know what my life was going to be
like, but everything I’d worked for was
L
My painting, Kevin… I had so many dreams,
even put him in my art.
In an instant, it was all gone.
“Over? What’s over?” he asked, his voice full
of anxiety.
“Everything’s over,” I said, closing my eyes in
pain.
