“I can not believe you took me here. I haven’t been to one in a good while. Not even a lake. Finally a real beach.”
“Well, I had to find something to reel you in. If you don’t get a good impression of LA now, you may never want to come back.”
"You did good. Our beaches in Galveston are crap anyway. Talking about brown water, seaweed galore, and flying fish. Most days you can't even see the floor. Some days, however, the water is actually clear and only little bits of seaweed wash up on the sand. Those are the best."
"And you still go to the beach why?"
"Because a beach is a beach. Soothing and drama-free. Overall, the most peaceful place for me.”
Looking out at the ocean then back at her foot, Christi sighed, “Too bad we can’t go in. I have this boot thing still on my foot.”
“Who says WE can’t go in? YOU can’t go in. I can. Both my legs are still in working order,” Justin spoke as he started toward the water.
“Stop playing, Justin! You’re gonna drop me! Put me down! Justin!”
Jeans soaked and knee-deep in the water, Justin laughed, “Are you sure about that? I don’t think you’re suppose to get your foot wet.”
“You’re such a jerk,” Christi pouted, “Did you know that?”
“And you’re a baby. Did you know that?”
“No, I am not.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Am not.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
“So if I did this, you wouldn’t cry?”
Justin moved Christi to his front, but as soon as Christi realized what he planned on doing, Christi held on to Justin’s neck as if her life depended on it.
“Justin, stop playing around!”
But he didn’t pay attention to her. Justin managed to pry her arms away and flip her before dunking Christi, head first, into the water. Justin dipped her to her waist before pulling her right side up. Christi came out, practically gasping and panting.
“You are such a JERK.”
“You are such a BABY. But I like you.”
“I guess I like you too.”
“You GUESS? You GUESS you like me?!”
Christi smirked at Justin reaction. ‘That’s what you get for dunking me,’ she thought before saying, “That’s what I said, didn’t I?”
“Oh, really? I think you need another dunk.”
“Justin, I was just playing. I like you a lot! A LOT! A LOT!” Christi finished her chant with a kiss.
Realizing Christi was shivering, Justin broke away from the kiss. “I think we need to get you home so you can change.”
“Ok, but thank you for this. Tonight…today…the whole weekend. I’ve enjoyed myself A LOT!”
“Good. Me, too,” Justin said as he started back toward shore.
Once they were back in the car, Christi opened her phone, only to find out that she had twenty-four messages. Justin watched the color from Christi’s face drain as he tried focusing on the road.
“You okay?”
Christi remained quiet and kept on listening to whatever message was playing at the time. By the time they had made it back to Justin’s house and were sitting in the driveway, Christi still had the phone to her ear even though her messages were through playing.
Justin reached over and rubbed the small of Christi’s back.
Continuing his motions, he spoke softly, “We’re here.”
Christi shut her phone and leaned back into Justin’s hand. “Why can’t I go five days of peace? Peace is all I ask for.”
Justin didn’t interrupt and she continued, “We have to pick up Kaci. Apparently paparazzi got a hold of Jessi and JC’s breakup. And they bombarded them outside of some pet store. Max says that she just broke down right there, he had to get both Jessi and Kaci out of the enclosed circle they were swarmed in.”
Somewhat alarmed, Justin spoke, “Are they okay?”
“Max says that Jessi is still shaken up and Kaci was a little restless at all the flashes and noise,” Christi answered, “That’s not even where the problems end. My mom’s been calling me all night, trying to get a hold of me. Courtney’s in the hospital.”
Christi watched Justin take in the news before continuing, “Get this, Jordan did it. He did more than just a hit. He messed her up completely. Seems like they been involved all this time.”
“What are you going to do? You want to go back to Houston?”
“How about we deal with what we can deal with? Jessi and Kaci first. Then we’ll figure out Courtney and Jordan.”
With that, Justin reversed back out his driveway.
**
Nose sniffling and shoulders shaking, Jessi laid, curled into a ball with her back facing the door. She did not see Christi in the doorway nor her best friend making her way toward Jessi sitting on the edge of the bed.
“If you didn’t have bigger problems, I’d be yelling at you,” Christi sighed before continuing on, “I mean, who in her right mind buys a stray dog, let alone allows a baby to play with it? Huh, Jessi? Where’s it going to go? There’s no room for it at my place.”
Tears still streaming down her cheeks and shoulders slightly shaking, Jessi turned on her back, “Yelling aside, a lecture is still a lecture.”
“Yeah well this is a far cry away from what I felt like doing to you when I walked in the living room and saw my daughter rolling around with some dog that may have some kind of disease for all I know.”
“The shot records are in Kaci’s bag.”
“What, were you going to slip the puppy in there, too? Hoping I wouldn’t find out?”
“No. I didn’t know how I was going to tell you. Kinda glad you found out on your own.”
“What the hell am I going to do with a dog, Jessi?”
“Simba’s not for you. He’s for Kaci,” Jessi smarted around Christi’s point. Truth be told she hadn’t really thought about where Christi would keep Simba. Jessi took one look at Kaci’s smile and the dog was her's.
“No shit. Now stop avoiding the question? Where am I going to put him?”
“I guess he could stay with me. The house won’t be so lonely with him around. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such an active thing in my life.”
“How’s that going to work? You’re hardly ever home.”
“I don’t know, Christi! I guess I wasn’t thinking things through. Is that what you want to hear? I’ll just have to take Simba wherever I go or get someone to watch him.”
Not wanting to add to Jessi’s agitation from early on in the day, Christi sighed, “That’s not what I want to hear. We could figure all that out later. I came here to see how you were doing. Well I see how you’re doing. But if you need anything, I want to let you know I’m here for you.”
Christi nudged Jessi’s side, and Jessi scooted over to make more room for Christi to lay next to her. The two friends laid in silence staring up at the ceiling, waiting for Jessi to gather her thoughts. And when she did gather her thoughts, Jessi just about cracked.
“How on earth did the little vultures know? Wait, did I say ‘little’? Because they were anything but little. I mean, did they have to swarm in on me like that? Did they not see that I had a baby with me? They just straight up attacked me about what happened.”
“I don’t know, but Justin says they can be ruthless. He’s been in the business forever and stuff like this still happens to him. He told me to tell you you’re not alone. He also informed me to watch out as well. Something like this may happen to me with our not so subtle relationship announcement on set earlier.”
Pausing for a second, Jessi turned to Christi, “Shit! Where’s Justin? Didn’t ya’ll have a date tonight? I forgot all about that.”
Christi sighed, “Yeah well, it was cut short. He’s watching Kaci in the living room.”
“I’m so sorry. If I had remembered, I wouldn’t have called.”
“No, it’s okay. You weren’t the only reason it was cut short. Apparently, Courtney and Jordan had a little couple’s spat,” Christi turned her head toward Jessi, “He put her in the hospital.”
Christi watched Jessi’s face as the same disbelief washed over her friend’s face.
“There goes that word ‘little’ again. I’m willing to bet that ‘spat,’ as you call it, was everything but little,” Jessi shook her head in wonder, “So they stayed together after all this time, huh? Did know you about them?”
“No. I was just as, and still am, as shocked as you are.”
“You know what? If I didn’t have a heart, I would actually believe that she had it coming to her. But lucky for her, I have one. No one deserves Jordan’s shit. Despite how stupid one can be for carrying out a relationship with one’s cousin’s husband and all the while knowing that the husband tried to abuse his wife, her own cousin, toward the end.”
Jessi felt Christi staring her down so she continued, “So sue me. I don’t like the girl. But even you can’t deny that she’s stupid for putting herself in that position. I swear you would think she didn’t go to U of H. Plus, if it was me in that hospital bed, Courtney would be saying the same thing or worse. She’s lucky I even pity her. What do you think about all this? You’re the one whose opinion really matters. How do you feel?”
Jessi turned her head in Christi’s direction, trying to gauge her reaction to the situation. But Christi had turned back over on her back and was staring at the ceiling again. They had switched positions. It was Christi’s turn to talk and Jessi’s to listen.
“To tell the truth, I don’t know. A huge part of me can’t help but think that she’s family, someone I was close to all my life up until a little over a year ago. Combine that with my belief that no one should have to put up with a relationship like that and I can’t help but sympathize with her. But at the same time, I don’t know if I ever got over the hurt her betrayal caused the first time. I felt so stupid after finding out about Jordan and Courtney the first time and then that she was feeding Jordan information about Kaci and me. Finding out that she stayed with him all this time twists the knife she already had in my back even more. Kinda proves that she wasn’t just another girl he went to on the side. And then there’s Jordan. He had the nerve to be sleeping with my cousin then try to cause a rift between Justin and me. You know what, I wonder if Courtney even knew that he was trying to get back with me recently since they’ve been together all this time and all,” Christi turned to Jessi once again, “If you were in my shoes, how would you feel?”
“I honestly don’t know. Should I be lucky that all I have is a father? And I doubt I’ll have to worry about him sleeping with someone I’m seeing.”
Christi laughed, “EWWW! You are so disgusting. I pour my heart out and you put that imagine in my head. He’s like a second dad to me. Thinking of dad like that is like envisioning my parents in bed.”
“What? You don’t actually believe your parents are virgins. How do you think Chris and you were created? I’m just kidding. Come to think about it, a thought like that is gross. But it lightened the conversation, didn’t it?”
Christi sobered, “Yeah but we still haven’t figured out what we’re going to do?”
“According to Justin, there’s not much I can do. I’ll just go on, finish up this album and what not in the business and go back to doing modeling. And as much as I’d hate to admit it, JC got me into this, and I really don’t want anything to do with it.”
“No, you just don’t want to admit how much you’ve grown to love it. Don’t let some people who don’t even know you make you quit something you’ve worked hard at and have grown to love. If you do, you wouldn’t be the Jessi I have known most of my life, my best friend. That Jessi would fight, fight until her opponent backed down. No matter how vicious they are, I know you’re ten times as more. Show ‘em that they’re messing with the wrong person.”
“Yeah well what about you? Are you going to let Courtney and Jordan bring you down?”
“I’m not even worried about them. Obviously, they’re going to do what they want. But I’ll tell you one thing. I’ll be damned before Jordan raises one finger to Kaci.”
**
“What are you doing here?”
Avoiding the question, Christi spoke, “It’s kinda different on this side of the bed. As many times as I’d been to the hospital this year alone, you’d think that I’d be used to this. But just between you and me, I don’t think I am.”
“What are you doing here? I thought you already unchecked the box next to my name when it comes to family.”
“I’m here to take you home.”
“You? Home? Are you kidding me? I’m not going anywhere with you. For all I know, you have something waiting for me.”
Pulling up a chair beside Courtney’s hospital bed, Christi sighed, “I’m don’t have ‘something waiting for you,’ nor am I here to judge you. Believe or not, I care about you and know that you deserve better than Jordan. All feelings of how you hurt me aside. I don’t want to lose you.”
From her head’s bowed position, Christi saw Courtney watch her phony sincerity performance with caution before falling for it hook line and sinker. It’s not that Christi didn’t care for Courtney because she did. After all she’s family, close family. However Christi had enough sense to know that Courtney was going to do what she wanted regardless of what advise anyone threw her way. And Christi was going to make sure she was there to guide Courtney in a direction she could use to her advantage. For all Christi cared, Courtney could go running back to Jordan all she wanted. Christi just need to secure her daughter’s safety and then she would let Courtney run back into Jordan’s arms like Christi was more than sure her cousin planned on doing.
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. Seeing you like this,” Christi paused dramatically and looked Courtney in the eye again before continuing on, “I barely recognize you, Courtney. All I can think about is how I could have lost you and you dying thinking I still carried some kind of hatred toward you. Because I don’t, you know?”
“I do now. Thank you. I know that takes a lot after all that I put you through. I want you to know that I didn’t do it to hurt you. At first things just happened…”
Did she honestly think Christi wanted to hear the details? Was she really serious? Christi couldn’t believe what she was hearing and had to tune Courtney out if she was going to be able to get through what she came to do. ‘Man, I forgot how she can talk things to death,’ Christi thought and continued to drone out Courtney’s voice until her ears perked at the mention of Jessi’s name.
“…always stood in the way of our bond. I mean, I’m your cousin. Blood related. Yet I felt like a third wheel. You went to her for everything and vice versa. She was the first person you called when you went into labor…”
“Wait, you mean to tell me that you hooked up with my then-husband because you were jealous of the closeness between Jessi and I?” Christi couldn’t stop the disbelief from showing through in her voice.
“Jordan included me. I know it’s a lousy excuse but he made feel wanted, needed.”
Christi remained silent and Courtney continued on with her confession. Christi zoned out once again until something else caught her attention. “And then Justin showed up, and Jordan felt threatened like how I was with Jessi and you. I felt it was my turn to be there for Jordan. Like he was for me. To make him feel needed. But I couldn’t manage to hold him together for too long as you can see. Jordan’s been moody ever since the court allowed him visitation rights of Kaci. From there, everything went downhill. But it wasn’t until this past month that he became rough with me. Shoving me around. Twisting of my arm behind my back. Slapping and punching every now and then. Nothing I ever ended up in the hospital from. At least, not until now.”
Christi struggled to contain her composure as Courtney finished her so-called explanation for her betrayal. Christi had to remind herself that this was her cousin lying in a hospital bed to get out what she really came to do without doing some damage to the oh-so battered Courtney. “Not until now?! Girl, you should have left him long time ago…like when it all began.”
“But I don’t want to leave him,” Courtney snapped.
“Have you looked in a mirror, Courtney? Because I don’t think you have. If you did, you would do the smart thing and leave as well as press charges against his ass.’
“I can’t.”
“Can’t what? Leave him or press charges, which one?”
“Both.”
“What do you mean? You can’t just stay with him after all he the shit he put you through. That’s just asking for more of his abuse.”
“Newsflash, Christi. I’m not you. I’m not as strong as you to leave Jordan.”
‘Sure as hell ain’t if you were weak enough to get yourself into a relationship after seeing the crap I put up with from him,’ Christi thought but played dumb and flat out lied, “What? How am I strong? I practically broke down after dealing with Jordan. That’s just who he is…an emotionally draining person. But I still left him and have gotten my life back on track.”
“And If I leave him, then what will I do? I’ll have nothing.”
“Now that has Jordan written all over it. I’ve never heard such bull in my life. Courtney, what the hell do you mean that you’ll have nothing? You have school, work, friends, and family. Jordan was just a bonus, if you can even call him that.”
“But still, I can’t just leave him after all he’s done for me. It wouldn’t feel right.”
“What? You mean how he’s turned your body into a punching bag.”
Courtney shot Christi a warning look, and Christi knew she crossed the line.
“Look, all I’m saying is that you should get so help and Jordan isn’t it. He’s the cause of all you’re problems.”
“Oh I see, you’re really here to feed on poor defenseless Courtney. To break Jordan and me up. Tell the truth Christi, do you want Jordan back?”
“Why on earth would I want Jordan back when I have Justin, Courtney? Believe it or not, I don’t think Jordan’s worth much and think you can do better as well.”
“Justin, huh? Ya’ll finally came out about that?”
“Not finally. All of it just came about recently. But that’s not the point,” Christi brushed Courtney off, “Something needs to be done about Jordan and here’s you’re chance to do it.”
“I already told you Christi. I’m not strong enough to do it,” Courtney reiterated before continuing on with her nosiness, “Where’s Justin? If ya’ll just started seeing each other, how come he’s not with you?”
“He couldn’t leave LA. He had some last minute obligations to take care of,” Christi sighed, “But anyways, you plan on taking every punch Jordan throws you’re way? You need to realize you can’t live in fear like this. Now what has to happen for you to see that I’m right?”
Before Courtney could reply, the nurse came to help Courtney prepare for discharge, and just like that, the conversation was over.
