Leighton vs Lydia
Lydia: Leighton, my name is
Leighton: Lydia
Lydia: Yes.
Leighton looked the girl up and down.
Lydia had reddish brownish hair, emerald green eyes and even under her clothes, Leighton could tell she was toned and athletic. Leighton had to agree with Taron, Tatum’s twin brother: Tatum had impeccable taste.
Lydia: We should talk when you have a moment. Maybe tomorrow over coffee?
Leighton squints at Lydia: Why would I do that?
Lydia: I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say.
Leighton collects herself, washes her hands and heads back into the lobby with Lydia right behind her.
George and Sharon are sitting down with Leighton’s parents.
Tatum’s twin Taron as well as her younger brother Trevor, who just arrived, stand close by.
Kate and Brenda, along with two other teammates and Maddie are within foot distance of everybody. Somber expressions are all around.
Henry sees Leighton and gets up to hug her: How you holding up, honey?
Leighton hugs her dad tightly: I’m alright, I guess.
H: We’re going to get ready to go. Maybe you should come home with us. Nico will be there.
Leighton: I think I should stay.
Sharon gets up: Ms. Murray, young lady, you should go home and get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.
L: What did they say?
George soon follows behind his wife.
G: She’s lost a lot of blood. She’s unconscious but she is breathing on her own, it seems. We’ll know more in the next couple of days. We will definitely contact you if and when anything changes. Go home, my dear, get some rest.
Leighton nods.
As the Murrays get ready to leave, Leighton pulls Lydia to the side.
Leighton: Meet me at Andrew’s on 7th Ave at 9:30 am. We’ll talk then. Here’s my phone number.
Lydia puts Leighton’s number in her phone, nods and says goodbye.
About an hour later, Leighton, Mimi and Henry arrive at one of their homes in Manhattan. Nico is in the den and rushes out to greet his family. Leighton sees her brother and he rushes to hug her. She bursts into tears as he gently consoles her.
N: Hey sis, it will be okay. I’m here, alright.
L: I need a shower.
N: Well I wasn’t gonna mention it but yeah, you could use a touch of soap and water.
Leighton slightly laughs and taps her brother.
L: Fuck you!
Nico laughs.
Leighton goes upstairs and unwinds as she gets into the shower. As the hot water splashes across her face and body, she remembers a time when she and Tatum had showered together not long after they decided to try again. Leighton thinks about Tatum gently holding her and peppering kisses on her forehead, nose, lips, clavicle, neck and then her breasts. She remembers it tickling but feeling good at the same time. Leighton begins to cry in the shower as she washes the remnants of dried blood off her skin.
I can’t lose her! she thinks to herself. We were just starting to get it right. This is unbelievable. I can’t imagine what that Lydia has to say. She was a bit forward, that’s for sure.
Leighton gets out of the shower, goes back into her bedroom and puts on a striped short pajama set by Neiman Marcus.
She makes her way to the den, with two glasses of scotch. One for her and one for Nico.
Nico looks up from his phone. Wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with his wavy brown hair and a smile, Leighton loves her brother to death. She hands him the scotch.
N: What happened, sis. Is this the same Tatum you broke up with because she wasn’t woke enough? He lightly laughs.
Leighton nods and shrugs: Yes, it is. We agreed to try again with a little bit of compromise. We both have things we have to change.
N: I get that. What happened?
L: We were here for a getaway weekend and a couple of days. Just to spend time together and go to the US Open. We wanted to be alone without worrying about roommates or teammates or whatever distractions life brings. But a big distraction followed us…her ex.
N: Whoa!
L: In the back of my mind, I wondered if Tatum invited her here behind my back but when I saw how Tatum reacted to seeing her, I quickly forgot about that. She was shocked and angry. The ex screamed at us, pissed at Tatum for breaking up with her, and then lunged at me. Tatum got in the way to protect me and got stabbed in her back.
Nico, drinking his scotch, stops for a moment shocked: Oh, fuck me! Sis, you could have been killed behind some crazy ho.
L: I know.
N: How is Tatum now?
L: I don’t know. Her folks said she’s unconscious but breathing on her own so I guess that’s good, right?
N: If a machine isn’t helping her breathe, that’s good news.
L: Nico, we’ve only been back together for a couple of months. We’ve had challenges every step of the way but we’ve both been willing to fight through them. But this? Bro, what if she dies? What am I supposed to do? She’s so loved and so popular, I know I’ll be blamed if she does.
N: Sis, the only one who should be blamed is the bitch who stabbed her.
L: I know. Consciously, I know that. But you know how cliques go. A D1 athlete from a renowned family. This will be eaten up. I saw press at the hospital as we were leaving.
N: Dad can deal with that. Don’t worry about it. The important thing is you’re alive, you’re safe and you’re here with us. And Tatum has her family with her. It will all work itself out.
L: I hope so. I’m exhausted, bro. How long are you gonna be around?
N: I leave tomorrow evening. We should have dinner.
L: Sounds great. I love you.
N: Love ya too, sis.
They hug goodnight. Leighton heads up to her bedroom and was asleep within seconds of her head hitting the pillow.
Next morning
Leighton takes an Uber to Andrew’s NYC Diner. Lydia was already waiting when she walked in.
The server comes by. After giving their orders, Leighton wastes no time.
L: What do you want?
Lydia: I wanted to see what girl had gotten Tatum to start to act like she wanted to be in a relationship. You’re quite beautiful.
Leighton inadvertently blushes.
L: You are too.
Lydia smiles: Why thank you.
She continues.
Leighton, I also dated Stacey.
Leighton’s eyes widened.
You know how it is with lesbians. We’re friends with exes or we end up dating our exes ex.
Leighton: I’m new to this still but I picked up on that phenomenon quickly.
Lydia: Before Stacey and Tatum hooked up, I was with Stacey for about seven months. She was jealous, insecure, and emotionally abusive. When she hit me, that was the first and last time. I had enough and broke it off. I met someone else not long after and began casually dating them. Stacey was pissed. She stalked us…followed us everywhere. She was at my window one night while me and my new girl were having sex. It was so creepy.
Leighton nods.
Lydia goes on: It got to the point where I was in fear for my safety. I lodged a complaint with campus police. They never seem to take the issue seriously. I have a feeling it was filed and then forgotten about. Tatum and I knew each other as we were both on the tennis team. I blew out my knee so I had to stop playing by junior year. We were together for a little while. We met each other’s families and I thought we were going to be serious. But I was insecure and I would get jealous when girls would talk to her.
Their food arrives and Lydia pauses. Leighton gives her a sympathetic nod.
She goes on: She liked the attention too, I mean, we’d be lying if we said we didn’t like when pretty girls looked our way. I don’t have any proof she was unfaithful other than texts she would get from girls she wouldn’t let me see. We started to fight constantly. She never let you know when she was upset and she would always be the one who ended up calming me down.
Leighton can’t believe how familiar this all sounds.
Lydia: We mutually agreed to end it. It’s a fact with Tatum. Even if you’re together, there’s always a woman or two that’s not far behind waiting her turn. She’s like a white Bette Porter.
Leighton looks mystified: Who?
Lydia giggles: Google it. Trust me, Tatum wouldn’t know who she is either.
But we were still friendly. She is correct, though. She’s very close to a lot of her exes…and Leighton, there are a lot of us.
Leighton: Why are you telling me this?
Lydia: I should have warned Tatum about Stacey but because I was angry with her, I didn’t. I feel so guilty.
Leighton: Lydia, you couldn’t have known….
Lydia: I knew she was capable of this. I let my jealousy and ego get in the way of warning Tatum.
She bites into her egg and cheese biscuit. She takes a swig of her black coffee and goes on: I know you said you’re new to this so you should look up the stats of violence between romantic partners. I doubt Stacey ever hit Tatum. Tatum would have ended it on the spot. I got into it with her after she found out Stacey and I were an item. I was called a twat and a bitch more times than I can count. It’s the only time I have ever seen Tatum lose it. I begged for forgiveness and she said she didn’t know if she could.
Leighton: She said “this or that” ended your relationship but you were still friends.
Lydia: I guess that’s right for the most part. After she met you, I didn’t hear from her so much. She really liked you, kid.
Leighton: You’re using her in the past tense.
Lydia: Oh you’re right, I’m sorry. She likes you, a lot. How did you do it?
Leighton: Just being myself. She seems fascinated with the things I’m into even if she’s not into it.
Lydia: The gay activist stuff.
Leighton: Well…yeah. But we’re all gay here, she should want to know a little about herself.
Lydia: Tatum is never going to be an activist. Everyone on campus knows she’s out so she’s not hiding anything. She’s just never been for the rah-rah and marching. Me neither.
Leighton: Why?
Lydia: It’s just not our thing. Doesn’t make us any less of a lesbian than you or your butchy ex.
Leighton: Alicia?
Lydia: Yeah. I saw you and her and people from that center posting flyers around campus for various events. Imagine my surprise when I discovered you were the Leighton that Tatum had dated, got dumped by and then got back together with.
Leighton: I’m sorry, I’m not going to apologize for wanting better for us and our community, Lydia.
Lydia: I guess not.
Leighton: What is this really about? Are you jealous? Is that it? Are you upset that Tatum is dating someone like me?
Lydia doesn’t deny Leighton’s accusation.
Leighton: That’s what this is about?
Lydia: If not for you, Tatum wouldn’t be in that hospital room clinging to life! She should have been out with us enjoying herself with people who really know her.
Leighton: No, Stacey is the reason Tatum’s clinging to life right now. Maybe had you warned Tatum before your childish jealousy got in the way, we wouldn’t be in this current predicament. Stacey hit you, stalked you, stalked Tatum and god knows who else but you’re blaming me for this?!
Lydia: You know what…you’re right. And it’s something I have to live with for the rest of my days. But you may not be equipped for what happens after. If she survives, she is forever altered, maybe not physically but definitely psychologically. She’ll always resent you even if she says different. Tatum protecting an activist, I thought I had seen it all with her…
Leighton: I come from your world Lydia or did you not know that?
Lydia: I’m very aware.
Leighton: I grew up the same way you evidently did, the same way Tatum did. So you can’t bully me into submission or silence like you can other people . You can’t make me go away. You know what, I feel bad for you that you feel bad for not warning Tatum but here we are. But I’m not going to walk away from her to appease your Mean Girls crew.
Lydia: You’ve done it before.
Leighton angrily smiles: What goes on between myself and Tatum is our business. I don’t have to justify myself to you. So you can tell her teammates they can kindly fuck off. And that goes for you too.
Lydia is shocked.
Leighton: I know this is hard for people like you to understand but I can be from both worlds. Hell, I am from both worlds. Okay, maybe Tatum didn’t understand it or like it at first but she got over herself. She got over herself for my sake.
Lydia: And it may cost her her life. Just walk away Leighton. We will be there for her when she wakes up…if she even does. Just go back to the butch and your center. Go tie yourself to a tree and argue how “The Man” is trying to bring you down.
Leighton raises her voice: We are in a relationship, you good for nothing bitch!
A couple of other patrons look over in their direction.
Lydia: It’s only been a couple of months. It’s not like it’s serious. Trust me, this isn’t gonna be easy if she ever wakes up.
Leighton: You honestly think she won’t ask for me? My name was the last thing she said before she collapsed. I’m not walking away from her!
Lydia: Why don’t you just write a check for her medical expenses? I heard you’re good at giving girlfriends money.
It takes all of what Leighton’s got in her not to slap Lydia.
L: Tatum was absolutely right about you. Your personality is as ugly as your name.
Leighton puts a $100 bill on the table and gets ready to leave.
If I never see you again, it will be too soon.
With that, Leighton leaves Andrew’s.
Just then Whitney calls.
Leight! I heard what happened! Are you good? How is Tatum?
L: I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything. No news is good news I guess but something else is brewing.
Whit: What do you mean?
L: I just got out of a very contentious breakfast with one of Tatum’s exes. She basically told me to go back to Essex and forget about this.
Whit: What…the…fuck!
L: I don’t know Whit, I think they’re about to ice me out…I feel like they’re about to close ranks…
To be continued…