FAITH AND NORA'S FIGHT

      "No, I'm not in love with Ethan," she said to them. Charlotte and Nora stared at her. "If I am in love, I would be the first to know, right?" 

        "Are you sure…?" Nora started to say, but Faith cut her off. 

      "Nora! Please." Nora stopped and stared at her. "It's high time you stopped deciding what should happen in my life." 

      "I was never deciding what would happen in your life." 

       "Girls," Charlotte tried to stop them from starting a fight. 

       "You always want me to have a perfect life like yours. Everyone's life is not as great as yours, so you can take a chill pill with all the cautions." 

        "What are you even talking about right now?" 

        "I'm asking you to stop telling me who to love and who not to love. Who to be with and who not to be with..."

        "I wasn't..."

      "I'm sorry, but I had a fiancé before coming here. We had a misunderstanding quite alright, but I still love him and he is trying to work things out between us." 

       "He is trying to work things out between you? Are you listening to yourself?" 

        "Of course, I'm listening to myself and will keep doing that from now henceforth, I'm done listening to what you have to say or what any other person has to say, but I'm going to do what I want." She pointed to her chest.

        "Faith, that's enough, please. I'm sorry, I brought it up." 

      "No, Charlotte, let her talk, it's good that she is letting out her heart." Nora turned to Faith. "You want to go back to Noah? If that's the decision you have made I can't tell you to do otherwise. But don't blame me for how miserable your life turned out." 

       "What? You call my life miserable?" 

       "Yes, You keep running from yourself and pushing people away because you are so miserable. You need help, but you would never seek help! You want to make everyone as miserable as you and you think you can just hurt anyone because you are hurt. That's the only thing you are good at, pushing people away. You pushed your mom away, you pushed your brother away, even the freaking Noah and you are pushing me too. 

        "You know what? You can push me all you want and I will keep enduring, but when I leave, I'll never come back!" 

     Faith's eyes stung with tears and she had to swallow a couple of times to keep from bursting into tears. 

       "What are you saying to me right now?" 

       "I am telling you who you are right now! You will never learn, all you do is keep turning your back on those that got it and then you always live with the regrets later..." 

    Faith stood up and started towards Nora. "How dare you say those to me? What makes you feel you know me?!" 

      Nora stood up too. "Get help! You need it. You need to live life!" 

   Charlotte managed to get up and stood between them. "Girls, you don't have to do this. This is not why we are here remember?" 

      But they ignored Charlotte and came at each other. Faith was so mad that she felt she wanted to tear Nora apart. 

      "You think your life doesn't need a fix?!" Faith yelled. 

      "My life?" 

      "Does Danny know that you got pregnant for that guy from Tennessee?!" 

       Nora blinked and stared at her surprised. "How did you find out about that?" 

         "Oh, our miss goody two shoes is not too good after all?" 

        "Faith, stop now, this is getting out of hand," Charlotte cautioned. 

        "At least I am honest about what I do, but you. How could you even hide that from me?" 

       "That was a long time ago, why are you bringing it up?" Nora asked, her voice cracked with tears and tears streaming down her cheeks. 

        "My mother left when I was fucking five!" Faith retorted. "I could barely wear my shoes correctly to know what I did to make her leave! Joshua left ten years later, I was only fifteen. Those were long times ago, why did you talk to me with it and why did you blame me for their departure?!" 

     Nora stared at her, the tears still running down her cheeks. Charlotte looked from one person to the other. 

      "Girls, this is enough. You both are hurting me with this. You want me to go back to the grave with this bad memory?"

      Faith stared at Nora meticulously. "I'm sorry, Charlotte but the truth needs to be told and people need to be put in their place. Why do you think I am the only one that needs help? What do I need help for? You are the one that needs help, you are the one who is hypersexual. Does Danny know about that?"

       "Faith! Enough!" Charlotte yelled. 

       "No, it's not enough, let me tell her the truth. How many men have you slept with since you came to LA that Danny doesn't know about? Do you think you can hide everything? You go about preaching and condemning others when your life is full of shit!" 

       Nora lunged at her. "How dare you bring up my past? How dare you!"

        She grabbed Faith's hair and pulled it. Faith yelped and tried to loosen her grip on her hair. Charlotte tried to stop them from fighting but they were both angry and they kept shoving her away. 

      "Since you were spying on my life, why didn't you spy to the end?!" Nora yelled. 

        "Let go of my hair, bitch!" 

         Nora left her hair and gave her a dirty slap which made her stagger back and held her cheek.

She glared at Nora. "How dare you raise your hand at me?"

           "How dare you call me names?" Nora retorted. 

       Charlotte ran in between them. "Listen, girls, I'm getting weak, let's go back to the hospital now." 

      But both of them were not listening to her, they just wanted to tear each other. Faith lunged at Nora this time and Charlotte put herself between she pushed Charlotte and she fell and started convulsing. Faith's eyes grew wide as she watched Charlotte convulsing and coughing out blood. 

       Nora rushed to Charlotte whose pupils were rolling up now. Faith fell to her knees looking at Charlotte, trying to hold her. 

        "You've killed her!" Nora yelled or that was what she thought Nora yell. 

       Nora jerked Charlotte and gave her Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation. Faith knelt there looking at Charlotte, helpless, oblivious of what to do, tears running down her eyes. Everything started moving in slow motion for her and her head seem to spin. 

       "Call 911!" Nora yelled.  

      She quickly crawled to her handbag and grabbed her cellphone, her hands shaking badly and she dialled 911. 

                                       * * *

       An hour and some minutes later, the monitor beeped in Charlotte's room and she lay there calm and peaceful, her chest rising and falling slowly. Her mother sat beside her bed, looking at her, her hands on her jaw. Ethan looked away from her and faced Faith and Nora, they were both looking down on the floor, none daring to look up nor look at him. He stared at them for a while. 

      "What happened?" he asked. None of them said anything. He leaned back on the seat and folded his arms across his chest. "Are you both exercising your rights to remain quiet or what? Can someone tell me what you did to her?" He looked at Faith. "Faith?" 

      Faith closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't bear to say she was the one that pushed her down. Maybe Nora should say the story. 

       "Nothing?" Ethan asked and turned to Nora. "Nora?" Nora didn't say anything either. He looked from one to the other. "Should I scold you two instead? Should I scold you for taking her out of this place?" 

      "You don't need to do that. We...I have received punishment enough. I'm glad she is okay, now it's a relief," Nora said, standing and turning to Faith who still kept her gaze on the floor. "Please, come and get your handbag from my car. Ethan please send my greetings to Charlotte when she is awake and tell her that I'm sorry. I hope she understands." 

       Ethan looked at her as she left the room. His gaze returned to Faith when Nora left the door. Their eyes met but Faith quickly removed her eyes and stood. 

       "I think I'll go and get my handbag from her now."

     "Y'all are gonna spill what happened back at that Hollywood sign in no time!" Ethan called after her, but she didn't look back. 

       When she got to the car park, she hurried over to Nora's car. Nora was leaning beside her car when she got there, she quickly went over and tried the door but it was still locked. She looked at Nora. 

       "Did you ask me to come down here for another fight?" 

       "No." Nora turned to face her fully. "I called you here to tell you the truth since you deserve to know. I'm sorry for not telling you about my disorder and then you had to find out yourself. It was so embarrassing to even admit to myself that I had that disorder talk much of someone else. But I sought help, I did and that was where I met God. He healed me completely and after that guy from Tennessee, I have not witnessed it anymore. I just chose to keep it in my past because, first, I wanted it to remain in the past and second, I never wanted to be reminded of that ugly experience ever again. I knew that God was never going to remind me of it anymore, once He forgives me and that was why I told Him everything, I spilt my heart to Him and He heard me, He took pity on me and saved me. 

       "I didn't tell you because I was trying to avoid this particular incident that took place this afternoon. I didn't want anybody reminding me of it and I didn't tell Danny because I didn't have the courage to, I love him so much that at times I just want to blurt it out to him, but I have always lacked that courage, but you gave it to me today and to answer your question, I have not slept with any other man in LA apart from Danny, God is my witness. I am going to spill the truth to him tonight, even though I lose him after telling him, I'll hurt but I'll know that that's what God wants. Thank you once more for giving me the courage and I'm sorry again for hiding it from you. Bye then."

        Nora turned around and entered into her convertible, wiping her tears and closing her roof. Faith watched her as she drove away from the parking lot. Faith felt like she had a second break-up, she fell on her knees and started wiping. Another person has left her life.