As I snuck out to be mentally stimulated by Rhetoric, Craig was out sneaking stimulation of another kind. There were signs. Craig would get calls and walk into the other room, All of a sudden he couldn’t sleep over or he needed some “personal time.” When we would walk together on campus girls gave me a snide knowing look.
One night when he stayed over I looked in his phone.
I can’t wait for you to bend me over a pool table. I copied her name and number on a small piece of paper, sticking it in my bra. I began to shake as I looked at his face. Questions raced through my mind: Who is she? Why wouldn’t he just break up with me? What am I even going to say?
I immediately decided that I would get back at him by spending more time with Rhetoric. Why should I have to give up my friends while he cheats? I never slept with Rhetoric, we may have had flirtatious banter, but that was it. Here I was doing everything Craig wanted. I cooked his meals, I did his laundry. I typed his papers. I nixed my closest friends so he could feel more comfortable.
I didn’t confront Craig about the woman that texted him. I just kept my eyes open. I watched him every time he picked up his phone, I listened to the change in his voice.
“Are we okay?” I asked him once.
“Yeah…why?”
“I just want to make sure this relationship is what you want. I know a lot of girls on campus like you and I don’t want you to feel like you’re settling.”
“What have you heard?”
“Nothing. I just want to let you know that you can always be straightforward and honest with me. If you ever feel that this isn’t working out, we sit down and have a talk about it. I’d like us to still be friends if we ever break up. If you want to move on, you can do so, you don’t have to cheat. Promise me you’ll do that.” He kissed me on the side of my head and went off to practice. I tried to give him an out and he refused to take it.
I tried waiting for him to break up with me, but I saw him less and less. Then he was four hours late to our Valentine’s Day dinner. Weeks later, I was in his apartment waiting for him to come out of the shower when I found his February phone bill. I immediately searched for the 14th. I had my proof.
I watched Craig towel himself off and pull his oversized tee shirt over his thick frame.
“Are you cheating on me?”
“No.” Craig put on his pants and boots.
“Then whose number is this?” I produced his phone bill highlighting the numerous calls made on Valentine’s Day.
“Nobody, wrong number.”
“You call a wrong number 5 times on Valentine’s Day? This is the nobody you were going to bend over a pool table?”
“You went through my phone?”
“You called her after football practice, then again minutes before you picked me up for dinner. Do you think I’m stupid? This call was to tell her you were on your way,” I pointed at the bill. “And this one was to tell her what a good time you had. Then you pick me up and we go to dinner and you tell me you’re full because of a late lunch. You are such a liar!” Craig grabbed the bill from me and I held on to it refusing to let him wrestle it away from me.
Section 2, Part 2 of “A Rhetorical Question” will be published tomorrow – don’t miss it!