Rude Boy USA by Victoria Bolton Page B

according to his logic. He was not worried about it, as he felt that she would be bombarded with enough that funds from the past would not be important.
    John often kept Bunny company when she was alone. He was glad to have her there, but he still felt uneasy despite having the security detail to watch her. They would talk as the tension between them had subsided over time, and they became friendly. Before that point, they had not spoken about the reasons behind their breakup. Celia did not want details, as she felt a tinge of jealousy that someone else had the man she wanted. She had become fully aware of what kind of person he is. Their time at the office became reminiscent of the time that they were dating. Only the intimate moments were missing. John obsessed with her. He had spent nights after their breakup in his apartment either staring at the photos he took of her or sleeping with random women, occasionally calling Bunny’s name as he imagined having sex with her. They had never consummated their relationship while dating. Since their breakup, John had released his frustrations in over a dozen women so far, although never with his wife.
    Bunny had learned a lot more things about John since she started working at Chimera. She discovered his sexual prowess with women and his reputation of leaving a trail of sad women behind him. She realized that she had ended up being one of those women. He was known around town as a man whore. Their relationship was able to heal, however; the lack of physical contact saved it.
    “OK, I’m up for asking. What is the deal with you and your wife? Why do you not stay faithful?” Bunny asked him. “I just want to know how you men think, for the future.”
    “I’m not perfect,” he answered. “It’s complicated.”
    “You told me it’s complicated before, and we ended up here. You can be honest with me now,” she said.
    “Have you ever felt trapped in your life?” he asked her.
    “No. What do you mean by that?” she asked.
    “When I married Edina, we were both young. I thought it was something that I was supposed to do. She’s a Jew, and her family hated my guts the moment they discovered that I wasn’t one of them,” he said.
    “Well, I know what you are. Jerome knows what you are. Ben and Bernie know what you are, I hope. You are light, but that hair, that walk, and those lips ain’t foolin’ nobody, at least on this side of the tracks. Passing can only get you so far,” she said.
    “I don’t care about what anybody thinks. I do it because it gets me ahead. It’s hard out there. I know what I am, and that’s all I care about. I mean, they may look like nice people, they may seem nice and tolerant and understanding ofwho you are, but when they get angry at you for whatever reason—when she gets mad—her white hood comes out. I left Louisiana to get away from that, and I am still in it. Makes me sick,” he said.
    Bunny replied, “Oh. That’s horrible. Well, there is annulment; you would have been done with it all. You should have left that a long time ago.”
    “And what, go back to being one of the boys on the street? I was one of the flunkies we hire to do our dirty work. I was the flunky, Bunny. I was what Jerome was when I met him. I helped him like Bernie helped me. We were all discontented and disruptive. This place saved us,” he said. Briefly stunned at the revelation, she paused. For the first time since beginning work there, she internally questioned what kind of place she had agreed to work.
    John continued his thought. “Her family felt since I slept with her, I was obligated to be with her. She said she was pregnant then lost it, but I never saw any evidence of it. Nothing about the situation is right. I’m not bitter about it; I don’t want kids with her. I like them, but not like this.”
    “Why are you still with her if you feel that way?” Celia asked.
    “When you join a place like this, you stay loyal even when at times you don’t