Who’s Kacy?

‘Hey, this is Kacy, I’ve tried calling the last few weeks. I need you to know that I had a baby and it’s yours. I know we were just a fling, but she’s your daughter so we need to talk about it. I’m moving in with my mom for some support, I didn’t realize how expensive a kid would be. I want to talk to you before I leave the city so please call me! ’

“What is this?” Jasmine, my girlfriend of four years stood there with my phone in her hand.

“My phone?” I answered, unsure of what she was getting at.

“Don’t try to be cute James, this isn’t funny.”I could tell by her tone I was in trouble, but for what? “Who the hell is Kacy?” She demanded.

“I don’t know, did someone named Kacy call me?” She shoved the phone in my face with the text message pulled up on the screen.

“You better have a good explanation, or I swear to god we’re done.”

“I didn’t have a fling Jaz, she has the wrong number.” I explained to her but I could tell it wasn’t getting through.

“Oh, so you’d be fine if I replied with ‘wrong number’?”

“Go for it.” I told her, as I grabbed the remote off the coffee table and sat down on the sofa, assuming the conversation was over. My mistake.

“You are unbelievable! Not only did you cheat on me, but you just found out you have a baby and you won’t take responsibility?” She screamed as she threw my phone at me.

“Well I would take responsibility if it was my baby, but it’s not and I never cheated on you.” I picked up my phone and reread the message, seeing a new message sent one minute ago underneath it that read,

‘I am so so sorry, I just realized I had the wrong number!’

Before I got the chance to show Jasmine, she says, “no point in trying to lie to me, that ship already sailed.”

“I didn’t cheat on you and I don’t have a baby, if you look at—”

“Ha!” She interrupted, “you’re still trying to lie to me? You know what, it’s good I found this out, cause I’ve been sleeping with Tristan from your soccer team.” She looked proud as she told me she cheated on me with my friend. “Doesn’t feel great to know I slept with someone behind your back, does it?”

I put the phone back down and just stared. I decided not to show her the message for now. She started digging her own grave, let’s see how deep she’ll go.

“You slept with Tristan?” I needed to say it out loud to let it sink in. Not only did my girlfriend cheat on me, but my friend, my teammate, someone who’s supposed to have my back was sneaking around behind it with my girl. It just didn’t feel real. “When?”

She giggled like I just told her a joke, “Which time? We’ve been getting it on for the last year. Maybe twice a month if I had to guess.” Oh… I guess I was the joke to her.

I stayed silent for a moment. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to scream, or cry, or leave. I was angry, and sad, and betrayed, and just about every negative feeling I could think of at one time. I really wished I could pick one emotion and stick with that because I’d at least know how to react.

“Anything else you wanna tell me?” I managed to ask in what I thought was a calm, emotion free voice, but it was hard to tell in the moment.

“Hmm, let me think.” She casually tapped her finger to her chin pondering my question. She acted like I just asked her where she wanted to eat. Like our entire relationship wasn’t burning to the ground. Like I meant nothing to her. “Well, I’ve had some hookups here and there from the bar and a club I’d go to with the girls. But nothing serious, I don’t even remember their names.”

“Who are you? Cause you’re not my girlfriend. My girlfriend was sweet and considerate. We loved each other.” Jasmine used to make dinner for us on nights I worked late. She would massage my temples when my anxiety caused me headaches. She was so supportive of me during my last year of college when I couldn’t afford her anything nice. When the only gifts I could give her were some flowers and a picnic. This girl now, she wasn’t the girl I fell in love with. The girl I had just bought a six carat diamond ring for.

I was going to propose during the lantern festival in a week. We would be on a boat as the sun set, releasing lanterns and as she looked up at them, I’d go down on one knee and hold out the ring waiting for her to look back down and smile. But this wasn’t that girl. What happened to the girl I fell in love with?

“You’re girlfriend is a lie.” She told me, but I couldn’t understand. How could four years be a lie? She sighed, “look, you were getting your doctorate when I met you. You were going to be very wealthy when you finished school. And I was right. You’re successful, you’re athletic, and you gave me everything I wanted. So of course I’d put on an act. I didn’t want to lose that future.”

“So, why are you telling me this now?”

Her cocky expression turned into a glare as she told me, “I refuse to be with anyone who cheats on me.”

“So you can cheat on others, but no one can cheat on you?” I knew she was a bit of a hypocrite, but was she being serious? That was inconceivable. I had to be getting my wires crossed somewhere because no one was that shameless and admitted it.

“Are you serious? Look at me. I can get anyone I want so I won’t have a problem finding some other pitiful and wealthy man to be my hubby.” She laughed, “but have fun finding someone to put up with your pansy panic attacks.”

“Alright,” I said with a new found confidence. I may have been feeling sorry for myself at first, but if this was the real her, I didn’t want it. And I would definitely make her regret it. “But you should know that you screwed yourself, because I never cheated.”

I grabbed my phone to pull up the message while she groaned, “are you on that again? I thought I was clear, I already know you did it. You think you can take the moral high ground on this one? I don’t think—” she stopped as I held my phone up for her to read. The color drained from her face as she looked back and forth between me and my phone.

“Baby, I—”

“Stop.” I interrupted her. “And get out.”

“But I didn’t mean it! I was just trying to get back at you for—”

“I don’t think I stuttered. Get your shit and leave.” I stood up and started to walk away until I remembered something I had to say first. As I turned back around I saw her face light up, thinking I changed my mind. “And just so we’re clear, I won’t be paying for your cosmetology classes, I won’t be paying your car payments, and I want your parents to move out of the apartment I’ve been renting for them.” I didn’t know her face could get any more pale until I finished speaking. So I smiled and landed my final blow, “didn’t really think this one through now did you.” Then I left.

I should have known who she was. I should have picked up on all the little signs, like the fact she didn’t want to move in with me despite being together for four years, her playful flirting with other people in front of me, the outbursts she’d have when she didn’t get her way that she’d eventually blame on PMS, or the weather, or the stars, or who the fuck knows. I should have realized, but I didn’t want to.

I could hear the door slam shut as Jasmine left. I looked around to see all her stuff gone, and it barely made a difference. She never kept much of her stuff here, another sign I should have noticed. So the last thing to do was get rid of this ring. I don’t need the money and I don’t want to deal with the mental toll of returning it, but it’d be a total waste to throw it away. Then I thought of the perfect solution. Poetic justice in a way. I picked up my phone and messaged Kacy back.

‘No worries, there’s something I want to send you to congratulate you on your new baby girl! Could you send me a PO Box number and zip code? It’s something you’ll have way more use for than me and could help you and your daughter out a bit.’

The End