I shook my head. “I left him.”
Tonya frowns. “Did he beat you?” she asks.
“No.”
“Cheat?”
“No.”
She stares at me as though she can’t quite comprehend any other reason why a woman would leave a man who was still interested in sticking around.
“Then why?” she demands, as though she’s owed an explanation and I’m obligated to give her one.
“…It’s complicated.”
She rolls her eyes. Hard.
“That’s such a fucking crock of an excuse,” she says, practically snarling at me. “You know what my man did when he found out I was pregnant? He told everyone that I was a slut who fucked so many guys that he was definitely not the father.”
“Oh, Tonya—”
“Wipe that fucking look off your face,” Tonya says as she glares at me. “It’s fucking ancient history. I’m over it.”
“What did you do?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I considered an abortion,” she admits. “Made the appointment and everything. But… then I couldn’t go through with it. So I dropped out of school, had the baby, and handed her over to a woman who was ready to be a mom.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Who are you sorry for?” Tonya seethes. “My baby got two great parents and I… well, I got to live my life.”
“Right,” I say. I don’t bother pointing out that she isn’t living much of a life at all.
For the first time, I see Tonya’s eyes land on Phoenix’s pink cheek and linger there a moment. Almost… tenderly.
But then she notices me watching her and she turns her face away instantly.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” she reminds me.
But now I know that she’s just trying to distract me.
I shrug and she cuts me off before I can even open my mouth. “And don’t tell me it’s complicated again.”
“But it is.”
“Fuck you.”
I sigh. “He was… is a dangerous man,” I tell her.
Tonya raises her eyebrows. “Dangerous?” she repeats.
I nod.
“So he did beat you?” she asks with confusion.
“No, no it wasn’t like that,” I try and explain. “He was just… he was involved in… something that I didn’t want in my life.”
“Like drugs and shit?”