Tell the Truth Outro

***Hey everyone. I don't know what this post is. Hopefully a bonus if I get time to write tonight. Please excuse the errors. We'll get to them!***



"One day the skeletons are gonna come out
One day the elephant in the room will make a sound
Watch out for lions and tigers and bears
It's bout to hit the fan, better beware
Tell the truth(x4)
The closest people to you, you can't trust
Your family hurts you more than your friend does
There ain't nowhere to hide, nowhere to go
You better watch the finger too damn close" Tell the Truth by Jussie Smollett


My original outfit I picked was a blue and green plaid skirt and crop top with Ked sneakers a la Taylor Swift. After scrutinizing my stomach, I decided the outfit would only work if I had a taller, thinner body like Taylor Swift or Jordan...

I put the crop top/skirt combinations away and went for a more flattering black polo dress. It showed off my boobs and legs, while hiding my flabby arms, thighs and stomach. I still channeled Taylor Swift, rocking my red Keds, red lipstick, a cat eye, and curls. My hair was thicker than Jordan's, so I slayed her in that category.

"You look great!" Jordan smiled at me as we headed out.

"So does my dress on you, but you already know that..." I joked, half heartedly. Jordan laughed and we got into her car and headed to Top Golf.

There were a few locations in the north Texas area, but they chose the one in Allen. I wasn't familiar with the area at all, but Steven and Q were and they said the location was bigger. It was 3 stories of completely craziness in the best way. It was a mixture of a driving range,  (there were lanes to hit the ball off on all 3 levels) nightclub (with the DJ blaring music and lights flashing from the golf targets) and restaurant (full service bar, food, lounge areas to eat)

Steven text Jordan what bays we were waiting for. We made our way up to the third floor. Gregory, one of the nurses, spotted us first and waved us over. I greeted him, Denise, Q, Steven, Tami and Robert with hugs. Besides Q, I hadn't seen any of them since before my suspension. We caught up, talking loudly over the music.

"Derek's not coming?" Steven asked Jordan.

"Probably not." She replied, shrugging.

"Damn. He missed up my numbers." Steven complained.

"My boyfriend is coming!" I told him.

"Is it the same guy that was at Pappadeaux?" Steven question me.

Jordan laughed. "No Steven. That was last year!"

"Ok. Lily, team 1. Jordan, team 2." Steven delegated.

"I'm team shots!" Jordan joked. I smiled and walked with her to the bar. We didn't get shots, but while we contemplated the drink menu, a guy in front of us asked what we were having. Before I could open my mouth to decline, Jordan answered margaritas. While we waited for the drinks, Jordan chatted him up. When the drinks arrived, she thanked him, telling him the bay number we were playing at.

"What the hell Jordan?" I asked as we walked away.

"What?" She said, sipping on her drink.

"You totally used that guy for drink."

"How do you figure? He offered."

"Thinking you were single."

"He should have asked before he offered the drinks." She grinned.

I shook my head at her, but drank too. By the time we came back, everyone arrived including Trevor. He was talking with Kendall and Kendall's friend who named I did not remember.

"There she is." Trevor smiled, looking me over.

"There you are. What team are you on?" I asked, hugging him.

"Team 2." He said, leaning over to give me a kiss. I leaned in too, angling my head to avoid his ball cap.

"I'm team 1." I pouted when I pulled away. "Why are you wearing that hat?" It was red and didn't match his khakis or blue plaid shirt.

"Because I need a haircut. Why are you wearing a dress?" He asked.

"'Cause it's cute." I replied, smoothing it down, self consciously.

"Yeah, remember that when we start playing. I know how you get. Be cute, not a sore loser." Trevor teased with a smile.

"Whatever. I'm always cute and never a loser!" I taunted before we split up and went to our respected bays.

Each bay was kinda like a bowling alley lane. The balls automotive popped up when you swung your club. The object of the game was to hit your ball as close to the targets as possible. The closer you got, the more points you received. The score was kept electronically on screens above us. We were competing individual and as two separate teams. In between turns, we sat, ordered food and drinks and talked to each other over the music.

I've never golf other than putt putting, so on my turn Trevor tried to step in and give me pointers. Kendall stopped him since we were on opposing team. Steven, our team leader, talked me, Q, and Heather through it.  Denise and Robert didn't need advice: she played in college and Robert was getting some lucky hits that were rolling onto targets. After the first couple of swings, I had it down; I just had to work on aim.

Individually, I did ok. I wasn't the worst on my team, but we still losing to team 2 that consisted of Kendal, his friend, Jordan, Tami, Gregory, and Trevor.

"It's because we have more girls." Steven complained.

"Fuck off Steven. I'm kicking Q's ass." Denise commented.

"I'm black. We don't golf." Q exclaimed.

"Tiger Woods." Everyone said.

"He's not really black. We don't claim him anymore." Q shook his head.

We were laughing when Jordan turned on us. "Be quiet, I'm concentrating." She said, with a playful grin.

"You can't complain Steven. We have Jordan!" Gregory laughed.

"Keep talking and I'm going to blow my turns" She threatened pointing her club at him.

"That's not what you're doing already?" Kendall asked, sarcastically.

"I quit!" Jordan declared while we laughed. I peaked over to look at her score. They would not miss her few points.

"No you don't. C'mere." Trevor coaxed her, grabbing her wrist and guiding her into the proper stance. I knew he was just helping her out, but I couldn't stop the flash of jealousy and annoyance at them both.

Everyone on my side cheered. I forced my eyes away from Jordan and Trevor and looked at Steven. Apparently, he made a great hit.

"Come on guys! Time for a comeback!" Steven rallied us.

All Steven's coaching didn't help. We still lost. Between Trevor's and Gregory's high ass score, they slaughter us.

"Why didn't you tell me your boyfriend plays golf?" Steven said.

"You didn't ask. He doesn't, at least not regularly anymore. He just got lucky." I explained. He used to golf on Sundays with my brother. Now, he hung out with me.

"You're sounding like a sore loser over there..." Jordan teased me.

"Oh, you shut up. You got the lowest score out of everyone!" I pointed out while everyone "Ohhed"

"Lily-" Trevor started.

"Girl fight!" Kendall laughed at us.

"Bet you won't hit her!" His friend called out.

"Worst score on the winning team is better than the best score on the losing team." Jordan bantered back.

She was right. I didn't even have the best score, so I shut up, defeated.

The best players decided to play another game. It really was just Steven trying to beat Trevor and Gregory, so we condensed down to one bay to let them play along with Denise.

I sat down with Q, Heather, Kendal, and Robert after declining another trip to the bar with Jordan and Tami. I was limiting myself to one drink and Jordan was irritating me so I needed a break.

I told them the whole twisted tale of the suspension and my subsequent quitting.

"The whole thing was so stupid." Q shook his head. I nodded.

"Avoidable if you just talked to Sandra." Robert added. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Or she could have talked to Lily before going to Ann." Heather added. "That's why I don't like Sandra; she's never on our side. Whether it's patients or doctors, when there's a problem, it's something we did." Heather complained.

"She has a hard job. Managing everyone." Robert defended her.

"Which she made harder by dating and trusting the word of a former patient."Kendal stated. "Even I knew it was kids acting stupid."

"Winner's fishbowl." Jordan cheered, sitting a huge drink in front of us. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Losers want a drink?" Q offered.

"I'll come!" I said, standing.

"Me too." Heather joined us.

"Is it me, or is Jordan super annoying tonight?" I asked them at the bar.

Heather gave me a little smile. "She's always annoying."

"You two need to stop. Heather thought you were annoying too." Q told me.

I looked at Heather, and she shrugged. "Yeah, I did. Not going to lie."

"Why?" I asked. "We didn't even talk."

"Exactly. You latched on to annoying Jordan. Then the whole Kendall thing-"

"What Kendall thing?" I questioned.

"Y'all weren't talking?"

"No! I don't date co-workers. I learned that the hard way!" I denied.

"What about Valentine's day?"

"Fuck no. I was dating Trevor! I took Kendall to bitter ball and he hooked up with my roommate."

"Scumbag." Heather muttered.

"If it makes you feel better, she hooked up with her ex at least once and dumped him."

Heather gave me a wryly grin. "It kinda does. Thanks."

We returned back to the lounge seats and watch the end of the game. Steven and Trevor were neck and neck. Jordan was sitting, chatting with the guy that bought her a drink when her phone rang. "It's Derek. Be right back!" She squeaked, standing up and leaving to answer it.

"Who's Derek?" The guy asked.

"Her boyfriend." I smiled. He got up and left.

 I was chatting with Q about the jobs I applied to when Jordan returned.

"Is he coming?" I asked, hopefully.

"No." She huffed. "Where'd Paul go?"

"He left when I told him who Derek was." I replied.

She gave me a dirty look but didn't say anything as she sat and finished her drink.

Steven won and Trevor was the first to congratulate him graciously. We moved to the terrace and finished our drinks. I honestly had a great time and I gave everyone a hug at the end of the night and promised to stay in touch.

As much as I didn't want to work at the clinic I was going to miss them; even Heather and Kendall. Not Sandra or Robert. I knew once I started working I was going to miss my lunches with Jordan, even though she drove me crazy sometimes.

"She seems sad. I feel bad for her." Trevor said, when I told him everything, including how Jordan irked the hell out of me.

I wanted to be really spiteful and say she didn't seem sad when she was flirting with random dudes and was getting golfing tips from him, but I bit my tongue. I knew she was sad, but she also had control over that. It was hard to have sympathy when she chose to stay unhappy, so I said nothing.

Speaking of choices, on Monday as I waited to take my drug test, I called Rocky's job to set up an appointment with her. She didn't get in touch with me the entire weekend, so I decided to speak to her at work. I figured that was the best choice: She couldn't hide from me at her job.

I made the appointment for Tuesday under the name Carol Alan. I giggled at my cleverness. She would figure it out if she thought about it: it was the combination of mine and Trevor's middle name.

She didn't think about it. She completely froze when she came out in the lobby to greet me Tuesday afternoon.

"Miss Smith? I'm Carol Alan" I said with a smile.

A dark gleam settled in her eyes as she narrowed them at me before she caught herself.

"Of course. Follow me." She said, her voice calm, her face neutral, but I could tell she was holding in her wrath.

I knew she wouldn't be happy with me just showing up. I figured she offered plenty of times to help me with buying a house. I knew should would be professional. I hoped it would break the ice so she would talk to me later without me being a crazy stalker. It was a win-win situation.

"I'm sorry for coming out of the blue, I just wanted to talk to you." I said, with a sly smile as I sat.

"You couldn't take the hint that I didn't want to talk to you?" She said, still standing across from me. Now I wished I didn't sit.

"I got the hint. I just don't want you to feel that way. You shouldn't feel embarrassed or ashamed to talk to me-" I explained

"Why would I be embarrassed or ashamed?" She said through gritted teeth.

"I heard about you and Brandon and the nail and bail-"

"It wasn't a nail and bail!" She said, raising her voice.

I looked around, wide eyed.

Why was she mad at me?

"Rocky, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? You don't get it, that's what's wrong. I don't even know how to deal with you anymore."

I stiffened up. "I'm not a child you have to deal with. You can start by talking to me."

"I have! I told you I don't want anything to do with Bilal and you didn't listen."

I leaned against the chair, physically taken aback.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"That text! I told you I wanted him out of my life and you text me about him!"

"I sent that as a heads up." I argued. "I thought you would want to know."

"I didn't need a heads up! I needed you to listen to me, then you would have known I didn't want to know!"

"I'm sorry. I was looking out for you. I sent the text in good faith-" I tried to apologize, sincerely. Rocky scoffed and crossed her arms. "Are you seriously still mad at me? Over a fucking text?" I said, shocked.

"Are you done? I have work to do." She said, moving behind her desk.

I sighed and watched her. When she glared at me, I crossed my arms too.

"No, I'm not done. I want to buy my dream house. I was told you would be able to help me figure things out financially." I said, stubbornly.

She rolled her eyes before typing on her computer.

"Well, Mrs. Alan, what is your price range? About how much would you like your mortgage payments to be?" She asked me.

"I'm not sure-"

"That's perfectly fine." She said, with an offsetting bright smile. "How much are you paying to rent right now? What can you afford?"

I fidgeted. I couldn't afford anything right now without a job. She knew that. "I don't know yet. My boyfriend and I haven't discussed it-"

"Boyfriend? Who's name is the loan going to be under?" She said, feigning surprise.

"Both..." I said, unsure. We hadn't actually talked about that...

"I must advise you that if you two run your credit together, the scores will stay attached long after you break up." Rocky commented.

"Rocky!" I gasped at her.

"You know what's worse than a break up? A property dispute. Buying a home before marriage is risky. You both should protect yourself. If you decided to apply for a loan together, you should plan what will happen when- excuse me-if you no longer want to live together."

I just stared at her, horrified. How could she say that about Trevor and me?

She handed me a stack of papers and offered me another smile. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm looking out for you." She said with a fake smile. "So many people do things in good faith without out thinking it through." She explained, pulling out forms from her desk. "Look over these with your boyfriend. They have a lot of great information. Feel free to call me if you two have any questions or concerns. I look forward to helping you find your dream home."

She said it so warmly, I wouldn't have questioned her intentions if I didn't know she was mocking me. I took the papers from her, watching her closely. The smile stayed plastered on her face, her eyes had the same dark gleam. I couldn't believe this was the same person I considered family. Better than family considering I knew her longer than some of my blood relatives. I turned around and left the office.

I was proud of myself. The first tear didn't fall until I pulled out the parking space. I wiped it away quickly, willing the tears away.

I failed miserably as I silently sobbed the whole drive home.