13. Nicknames

GIANNA

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I loved that Bernice was slapped but I hated that I wasn’t the one to do it.

As chaos broke, Bailey remained quiet. However, I could see the small smirk on her lips. She was happy with how things were playing out, especially as she didn’t have to get involved. I hated Bernice but I hated Bailey even more. I barely had violent tendencies but I wanted to scratch her eyes out.

I was low-key wishing she was involved in the fight so I could smack the shit out of her.

“That’s enough!” My father yelled out but Sheila and Bernice were too busy fighting to care. They were fighting over the table so there wasn’t much physical damage but they still had to be pulled away from each other and I had no part in it. I was more than happy that Sheila came with me to put her in her place. “Can you guys stop acting like kids so we can have a mature conversation here?” He continued when their respective mothers had pulled them away from each other.

Sheila came back with Bernice’s hair so I would say she had the upper hand in the fight and I was proud of her for that. I always wanted to slap her once but thankfully, Sheila represented me in doing that. She was breathing heavily but she wasn’t physically hurt and even if she was the one who fought, I could tell how good it made her feel. She had hated Bernice from the very start.

“Go to your room, Bernice.” Her father instructed her. “You keep fanning the flames.”

Bernice was frustrated. Her face was red from Sheila’s slap and her hair was wild. “What about her? She’s at fault too!” She said, pointing to my sister.

“Go upstairs, Bernice, or I’ll cut your allowance.”

That was enough of a threat for her. She huffed and stood up from her chair with so much force that it scraped against the floor. She stomped away, like a child who didn’t get what she wanted and I was thankful for that because she somehow spun the story to blame me for what she did.

“Now that she’s gone, can we talk about that picture?” Her father continued. “You knew about this, Brand?”

Brandon bit down on his bottom lip but nodded.

“And you still wanted her?” I almost scoffed at the question. He wanted me to sweep his son’s cheating under the rug but he couldn’t fathom the idea of mine.

“I did it first. I can’t fault her for retaliating.”

“I didn’t retaliate!” I cried out. I was well within my rights to retaliate and I could have, but I didn’t, and I hated that no one was hearing that. “It was a setup!”

“That doesn’t sound very believable, honey.” My mother patted my back.

I pushed her hand away, feeling even more frustrated now. The root of the problem was gone but she had always sown the seed of doubt. “That’s because none of you choose to believe it. You’d rather believe the brat who has been acting out ever since I got married.”

“This isn’t about who is right or wrong, Gianna.” I hated Brandon’s father’s patronizing tone. “It’s about the fact that’s right in front of us.”

I looked around the table and the only people who weren’t looking at me were Brandon and Sheila. Everyone wanted me to own up to it but Brandon had his head down while Sheila couldn’t even be bothered with whether I slept with another man or not. I hated that we were discussing my sex life at a family meeting.

I bit down on my bottom lip hard, but nothing I did could hold back my words. Nobody believed me. Brandon wasn’t even supporting me. He claimed I insisted on the divorce, but it seemed like he was happy to get rid of me. The meeting was for the intent of talking about Brandon’s infidelity but somehow all fingers were pointing at me and I hated it. I despised it.

“Fuck it, I did it.” I spat out. “I fucked a random man because I couldn’t stand the idea of my husband with his best friend. Are you happy now?”

“Gianna!” My mother scolded but I genuinely didn’t give a fuck anymore. They weren’t going to believe my words anyway.

I didn’t even care about offending them again. They clearly didn’t give a shit about what I had to say, did they? “I’m leaving.”

Everyone called me back but I ignored them all and left the dining room. I wasn’t going to sit there and let them attack my character with no one to defend me. Brandon sitting there idly and letting them say anything was the last straw. I was only disappointed in him but now, I actually hated him. I didn’t want to see his face. I didn’t want to hear his name. I didn’t want to deal with him and his arrogant family.

Thankfully, I came with my car so after leaving through the front door, I went straight to my car. I was about to open the door when I felt a hand on my arm.

I was spun around by Brandon and my already sour mood turned even worse. “What the fuck do you want this time?”

“Can I see the texts between you and Bernice? I know how she types so I’ll be able to tell if it’s from her or not.”

I let out a humorless laugh. Even till now, he didn’t believe me. He wanted to be certain I wasn’t lying about the texts. “Have I ever lied to you, Brandon?”

He took a step back and tried to recall. The fact that he was still trying to think about it was pissing me off even more. It was understandable that my parents and his wouldn’t believe me but I’d been so honest with him that my chest hurt because he didn’t believe me.

“Fuck you, Brandon.”

“Come on, G. Everything is so confusing that I don’t know what to believe.”

“You don’t believe me and that’s everything I need to know about what you think of me.”

“G–“

“Don’t fucking call me that,” I screamed. He was the only one who called me by that nickname and it was messing me up. His attitude at the table today showed me everything I needed to know. I didn’t want to hear any more silly excuses. He was trying to make himself feel better but I wouldn’t be present to entertain that. I was stupid enough to agree to stay with him after I found out he slept with Bailey. He most likely thought I would still stay even after finding out she was pregnant. “I hope you have a great time with your baby mama. You’d make such a good father.” My tone was sarcastic as fuck and he caught onto it.

“The baby did nothing wrong. I can’t punish the baby for my sins. I had to follow her to the hospital.”

“I don’t care, Brandon. You can make many more babies with her and live a happy life with her. I don’t fucking care. She won, and I lost. I accept that.”

“Gianna.”

“Don’t ever call my name again. I don’t want to hear that.”

Without waiting for his reply, I opened the door to my car, got in, and drove away.