them. As I’m putting quarters in the washer a woman comes in. I immediately recognize her as Arissa, Kent’s clinger. Her brown hair has golden undertones and when she walks certain parts of her bounce. I imagine Kent on top of her and decide not to like anything out of her mouth. My Kent meter is running out.
She pauses when she sees me. We both make disgusted faces and turn back to our washing machines. I eye her little sexy purple thong as she puts it into the washer. Did Kent take it off? He does have a certain finesse when it comes to taking panties off.
“He’s not worth it.” She looks me right in the eye. “That son of a bitch is why women lose their shit.”
“I haven’t lost anything,” I assure her icily.
“You think he loves you? I thought he loved me too. We were together for a week!” she screeches.
In that moment I sympathize with her. Kent and I haven’t been around each other much longer and my fall has been just as swift. At the same time I know Kent and I aren’t together. I don’t love him yet. I like him, and like has the tendency to become love, but love is not where I am. My common sense whispers obscenities at me. I can’t love him. We barely know each other. I don’t love him.
“Did he tell you he loved you?”
She blinks. “No. He told me he didn’t do the love thing. But we had sex every chance we got. That’s love. Now he likes to pretend I don’t exist. Did you two have fun in the pool the other morning?” She looks at me like I’m disgusting, as if I’m lower than her top.
I turn back to my clothes without dignifying her with a response.
“He’s going to leave you the same way he left me. Men like Kent only want one thing from you. Once you have sex with him he won’t want you anymore.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
She grabs my wrist. “You think he loves you back? You’re not even that pretty.”
“Don’t touch me.” I fling her hand off of me.
She steps closer. She’s got a couple of inches on me but I don’t back down. Right now I think she might need to.
“You think he’s your man now? You think because you gave him some pussy he’s going to forget about all the other girls who gave him some first?” She shoves me backwards.
“Don’t touch me!” I growl. “Why don’t you back off? Just because Kent doesn’t want you doesn’t mean he doesn’t want me. I would never wear that shirt, but I’m sure you love it.” I smirk, knowing I’m riling her up. “It’s all about preference. He prefers me.”
She clenches her teeth and bunches her fists. “You little whore. You’re just a whore to him.”
“What were you?”
I try and block her hit, sensing it coming, but she’s too fast. Her fist flies at me. I’ve never been in a fight before. For one brief second I’m stunned by the pain. And then I’m pissed off. With a scream, I launch myself at her. I smack her across the face and she grabs my hair, flinging me into the washing machine. It hurts my ribs but I ignore it. I reach up and hit her in the side of the face and she releases my hair from her grasp. She’s a cat, pouncing on me with her claws out. Her fist connects with my mouth. I cry out, tasting copper on my tongue. She pulls my hair again and we both fall down on the ground. I refuse to let her get on top of me. I kick and connect with her chest. Scrambling to my feet, I run at her with my fist balled. The moment I nail her I feel better.
“Kent does want me!” I scream at everyone who doesn’t believe me, losing what little control I have left. “He has better taste than you thought. You want more?” I spit some blood on the ground with my fists raised.
She puts her hands up.
I step back, breathing hard, blood dripping down my chin. “Leave Kent alone. Next time I won’t wait for you to throw the first punch.”
I grab my empty basket and take it upstairs, heading straight for the freezer. I need something cold. I grab a bag of frozen blueberries and hold it to my mouth. It hurts. I can’t stand physical pain. Unable to calm down,