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“If I don’t hear from her in ten minutes, I will come back and stand here until
she faces me. Understand.”
“No!” Teo says too loudly. “We’ll call the cops for trespassing on our

property.”
Our property? I shrug as casually as I can. “If you must. See you in ten.”
I storm to my vehicle. My long strides eat up the pavement. I refuse to cry. Not
now. I peel off towards my home. My phone rings a few minutes later.
“Sanya?” I work to keep the hurt out of my voice. “What’s going on?”
“Uh…Hi, Henry.” Henry? She hasn’t really called me Henry since she

learned the French pronunciation. “I want to explain this to you. Don’t hang
up.” I probably would have but she sounds different. “I am with Teo now…” I pull
over.
“What!” I don’t understand, it doesn’t make any sense.
“Please listen, Henry. It’s good for closure. I’m with him right now because he
loves me.”
“Sanya! I lo….”

“Henry! Listen, it’s like the movies. He loves me like how Ali Larter loved Idris
Elba. He loves me like how Mark Walberg loved Reese Witherspoon. That kind of
love can’t be ignored.”
“That’s right!” He yells in the background. I grip the phone. Forcing myself to
listen.
“When you process it, you’ll see sending you away was for the best. I highly
suggest that you talk to a professional. Someone like Halle Berry when she had that
terrible wig. Or Mr. Reese, Ms. Shaw, Root, or Fusco.

“Get some medical attention, bro,” Teo shouts. “That’s enough. Tell him
bye.”
“One more thing, Henry. When you accept this, maybe we can go get some of
that beer you love so much.”
Then she is gone. Just like my heart. I sit in the car parked in front of a
stranger’s house while my insides fall apart. What is it with women and their exes?
“I fucking hate beer. All beers!” I argue angrily; I’ve told her that a million
times. A conversation wiggles its way into my mind. Why was she talking about
movies?