“It was going pretty well until a few minutes ago. After what you and Cindy went through, I never thought you would do it to me. I thought we were better friends than that. Now I know better. I don’t want to have this conversation twice. Please let Cindy know we’re through as friends.”
I could hear Suzanne drop the phone and start crying. Cindy came on the line.
“David, it’s not what you think.”
I cut her off.
“Cindy, how would you know what I think? I’m told you’re on a weekend with your exes, and that I’m not supposed to know. Sounds like you don’t think much of me. At least I’m calling you to let you know we’re through. In the past two weeks, I’ve taken too much crap from women I thought cared about me. I’m done. I hope this weekend was worth it for you.”
“Oh, shit, David! I’m so sorry.”
“A little late for that now,” I said, and then punched the disconnect button and powered off my phone.
Ten minutes later, Jim found me sitting against the side of the arcade. He sat down next to me.
“Suzanne called me. They kicked both their exes out and are driving back. They want to see you.”
“Are you kidding me?” He must have thought I was going to hit him for a moment because he flinched. “Sorry, this isn’t your fault.”
“Well, it is, in a way. I was the one who told you, but looking back, I know it was the right thing to do. They both feel bad. Will you agree to sit down and hear them out?”
I didn’t need to think about it.
“Jim, I’m sorry, but they’ve broken our trust. That’s the same issue I had with Tracy. Once doubt sets in, your relationship’s doomed. To be honest, I’m not even sure I can remain friends with them. I guess the short answer is ‘no.’ Tell them not to bother.”
“I was afraid of that. Let me call them, and then I’ll give you a ride home. I don’t think either one of us would enjoy the rest of the night.”
Jim stepped away to call his sister. After a few minutes, things got heated.
“Sis, what did you expect? If he did this to you, would you give him a second chance?”
“Bullshit. You’d feed him his balls.”
She must have made an impassioned plea. I could see he was about to explode, so I got up and took the phone from him.
“You little shit. You told him I was with Darryl to spite me. You’ve done some mean things, but this takes the cake.”
“Suzanne, Jim told me because we’re friends. It had nothing to do with spite. You put Jim in a no-win situation. Once you think about it, you won’t be mad at him. At least I hope you won’t,” I said to defend my new friend.
She seemed to calm down.
“You’re probably right. I’m just mad at myself. If Cindy and I promise not to act crazy, will you let us come see you and talk?”
I was resigned. I needed to get this over with.
“Okay, how long until you get here?”
I heard her ask and I heard a man’s voice. I guess it was too much to ask that they drive up separately. Hearing his voice felt like a nail had been driven through my heart. Before she could get back to me, I ended the connection. I looked at Jim with a look of anguish. I handed him the phone and walked home.
Chapter 26 – So We’re Good?
Sunday October 20
From the arcade to my house is nearly eight miles. I made it a point to take a roundabout way to get home, which added nearly three miles to the trip. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. It took me five and a half hours and it was close to 3:30 am when I walked up my driveway. I saw the light on in the kitchen. I knew Mom wouldn’t go to bed until I got home, so I came in the back door.
Mom was seated at the kitchen table drinking coffee. When she saw me, she jumped up and came to me. She took one look at me and wrapped me in her arms. That was when the tears finally came. I felt her unconditional love for me, and it was as if the dam broke. I couldn’t stop. At that time, in my mother’s arms, I was able to grieve for the loss of my relationships with Tracy, Cindy, and Suzanne. She just stroked the back of my head.
“It’ll be all right,” she whispered over and over again.
I don’t know how long I cried, but I eventually stopped. Once I stopped, I sat down at the kitchen table and Mom and I talked. I guess more accurately, I talked and she listened. I shared my time with Uncle John with her. How he’d helped me turn my life around. I explained how he helped me set my goals for my life and how I planned to work towards each of them. She was a little shaken when she realized how much I’d changed. She never judged or made a smart comment. She asked questions if she wasn’t clear on something.
I then talked to her about my love of football. I think she was overwhelmed to see how far I’d progressed. I talked to her about my future goals for the game and explained how it would help me achieve my life goals. I could tell she finally accepted me playing. Her fear was always for my safety. I think it helped her to come to the game and see me play.
Then I floored her. I told her that I loved Tracy Dole. I’m not sure where it came from, but when I said it, I knew it to be true. If possible, I would marry her, even if we were too young. I explained how we were perfectly matched and how we were better together than apart. I told her that it wouldn’t be anytime soon. We had to rebuild the trust in our relationship. She seemed skeptical, but at least she kept her thoughts to herself.
I told her about Cindy and Suzanne. I told Mom about my plans to put a hold on my love life. She actually laughed at me and wished me luck. By then it was eight in the morning and we had to go to church. I just washed my face and Mom changed. We went to early service.
For a moment, we considered not going. We were both dead tired. Mom got my dad up and made him drive us. We both felt like we needed church today. I couldn’t tell you what the sermon was, but I felt better afterwards.
My relationship with my mother was forever changed that night. We both loved each other unconditionally, but now there was a much deeper understanding. My mom was firmly in my corner now. I found I could share my deepest thoughts with her with no reservations. Who would have thought that she kicked me out of the house just a few months ago? She became my anchor and sounding board. Right now, those were two things that I needed desperately.
When I got home, I turned on my cell and found thirty-eight messages. I sent Cindy and Suzanne a text telling them that I would meet them tonight and that they were not to call me because I was going to sleep. I turned my phone off and crawled into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.
I FINALLY CRAWLED OUT of bed at 3:00 and hit the shower. I was starved, so I went to the kitchen and made myself a couple of sandwiches. Dad and Greg came in when they heard me getting something to eat.
“I’m making sandwiches. Do you guys want anything?” I asked.
Neither one of them did, but they sat down at the kitchen table and didn’t say anything. It took me a few minutes, but I figured out Mom told them to give me some space. I started to chuckle.
“Let me guess: you both want to know what’s going on, and Mom told you not to ask. Is that about the size of it?”
They both nodded. I gave them the shortened version of everything I talked to Mom about. When I got to the part about how Uncle John helped me and out of that, I set goals for my life, Greg wanted to know if Uncle John could help him. We made tentative plans to visit him at Christmas time.
I saved what happened with Suzanne and Cindy for last. I thought Greg might track them down and lynch them.
“I’ve known both of those girls since kindergarten. I thought we were friends. If they think for one minute they can treat my brother that way, they have another thing coming.”
Dad was the voice of reason.
“Greg, let David deal with it. They’re both young and are only thinking about themselves. I can tell you from personal experience, having an ex dump you, come back, and say they want to try again is hard to turn down, no matter how badly it ended. I know in my case it didn’t take long for me to figure out there was a good reason they were an ex. David, I know you said you were meeting this afternoon. What are you planning on doing?”