THE LIE
743 Words
The first 3 days after the loan sharks left were quiet.
Too quiet.
Jessica kept checking her door. Every knock made her jump.
Jimmy kept texting: "You okay?" _
"Did they. come back?" _
" Eat something"
He never asked for the money back.
On day 4, Jessica went to the loan office herself.
The boss was chewing gum, feet on the desk.
"Where's the rest?"
"I'm working on it" Jessica said. "please"
The boss looked past her. To Jimmy, who was standing outside waiting on his boda.
"So this is the man,” he laughed. “You two look broke together.”
He leaned forward. “3 months. 1.2 million. Or we take the salon you work at. And we take her.”
Jessica felt sick.
On the boda ride home, she finally broke.
“Why did you say you’re my man? Now they think we’re together.”
Jimmy stared straight ahead.
“Because if they think you’re alone, they’ll take you tonight.
If they think you’re mine, they’ll wait. And I’ll have 3 months to figure something out.”
“But we’re not—”
“I know,” he cut her off. “It’s a lie. To keep you safe.”
The word _lie_ hung between them. Heavy.
---
*The Pretend*
“Then we have to act like it,” Jessica said that night on the phone.
“What?”
“If people see us together, if his boys see us... the lie has to look real.”
Jimmy was quiet for a long time.
“Okay,” he said finally. “Okay.”
So they started.
Jimmy would drop her at the salon in the morning.
He’d wait 10 minutes, then leave. So the boda guys and market women could see.
Jessica would send him voice notes: _“Babe, buy tomatoes on your way.”_
Even though they both knew she hated cooking.
He’d reply: _“Okay my love.”_
Even though he cringed saying it.
It was stupid. It was fake.
But it worked.
The loan boss’s boys saw them. The salon ladies started asking:
“Eh, that boda man is serious with you eh?”
Jessica would just smile and say “He’s trying.”
The problem was... pretending started feeling real.
---
*The Crack*
Week 2.
Jimmy’s phone rang at 2am. Hospital.
His mom. Diabetes. Sugar high. Needs 400k for treatment. Tonight.
Jessica was awake. She heard him on the phone in the other room.
He was whispering. Begging
. “Please, just 2 days...”
He hung up. Sat in silence.
Jessica walked to him. “What happened?”
“My mom,” he said, voice flat. “I used her money for you.”
Jessica’s chest caved in. “Jimmy, I’m so sorry. I’ll pay you back. I swear—”
“Don’t,” he said. “Don’t say that.”
He looked at her. Tired. Angry. Hurt.
“Do you know what it’s like to watch someone die because you chose a stranger over them?”
Jessica couldn’t breathe. “Then hate me. But don’t leave me. The loan guys—”
“I’m not leaving,” he said. “I said I wouldn’t. Even if I wanted to.”
That night they didn’t sleep.
She sat on the floor. He sat on the mattress.
3 feet apart. A whole world between them.
---
*The Test*
On Saturday the loan boss called.
“Bring her. I want to see this ‘couple’.”
They went to his office. Downtown. Hot. Smelling like sweat and money.
The boss looked them up and down.
“Prove it,” he said. “Kiss.”
Jessica froze.
Jimmy didn’t.
He turned to her. Cupped her face with rough, boda-driver hands.
And kissed her.
Not deep. Not romantic.
Just... real enough to make the boss laugh and say “Fine. 3 months.”
When they got outside, Jessica was shaking.
“Why did you do that?”
Jimmy wiped his mouth like he could erase it.
“Because if we didn’t, we’d be dead.”
He walked away. Didn’t look back.
That night Jessica stared at her ceiling and thought:
_The lie was supposed to save them back.
That night Jessica stared in the empty space.
Why does it feel like it’s killing us instead?_
Because the worst part of a lie...
Is when you start wishing it was true.
- Writer
