Page 78 of Losing a Piece of Me

We take a long hot shower together and thoroughly enjoy each other.

Something has been different since we came home. We are closer than we’ve ever been. Nothing is holding us back anymore.

The lights are off and the only sound is his deep, even breathing. I think he’s asleep until he says, “You’re right.”

The sudden nose makes me jump. “Right about what?”

“I need to see her, hear it from her.”

I roll to my side to face him. “Are you sure? I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for.”

He reaches out into the darkness and gently brushes his knuckles over my cheek. “I’m sure. You’re not forcing anything on me. But I do have one question to ask you.”

“Anything.”

“Will you come with me? I don’t know if I have the strength to do it alone.”

“I will go with you anywhere,” I whisper.

* * *

Two days later, we’re on our way to see his mom. She lives just across the state line, but it still requires a day of driving and a hotel stay. The night before the meeting, Striker is stressed and overwhelmed in anticipation of seeing her, worried about how the meeting will go. I try and comfort him but all I can think to do is to remind him that I’m here for him. Every time I say it, he just squeezes my hand.

She chose the meeting place: a small diner near the highway, not unlike Pop’s back home. We get a table in the back of the empty restaurant’s patio, far from where anyone will sit, and wait for her to show up. Striker sits facing the door. His back is straight, shoulders raised, and chin held high. His eyes don’t move from the entrance.

After twenty minutes of nervously waiting, the door swings open. A middle-aged woman walks through, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a loose white shirt. Her blonde hair is pulled back neatly in a braid while a few curls hang around her face. She’s beautiful. As she raises up her sunglasses, her eyes land on Striker.

Her lips part and turn up before she covers her mouth with her hand. She stops moving, frozen in place as she takes him in.

He stands and slowly walks toward her. When he’s only a foot away, he stops and says, “Hi, Mom.”

A rush of air leaves her as she pulls him in for a hug. He stands at least a foot taller than her, and she appears tiny in comparison. When she pulls away, she looks up at him and wipes a tear before pulling him back in for another extended embrace.

“It’s so good to see you,” she whispers.

“You too, Mom.” He pulls away and turns toward me. “I have someone I’d like you to meet.” He gestures to me and pulls her closer. “This is my girlfriend, Lex.”

He holds out her hand. “You’re Gary’s daughter, aren’t you?”

I smile and nod before shaking her hand.

“I’ve heard a lot about you two and the trouble you caused together.” She lets out a delicate laugh and sits down across from her son. “Your father has helped me so much. I’ll never be able to repay him. And, Striker, I’m so sorry for what your father put you though. I never would have been able to leave if I thought that he would turn the abuse on you.” Her eyes well up with tears again.

“It’s okay, Mom. That’s actually what I wanted to talk about. I had no idea that dad was that way with you. I never saw or heard any of it.”

She nods and wipes away tears. “You were usually in bed or at school. It was never as bad as the last time, when he found out that I filed for divorce and planned on taking you with me.”

“When did you find out about him beating me?”

“Not until later, much later. Gary told me that you two had been arrested. He said that Alexis saw something he didn’t, but he said he almost had to carry her out of there.” She looks at me. “Thank you for trying to protect my boy.”

Thinking about that memory again brings a tear to my eye. Those are hard memories for me to think back on because I was the reason why he wouldn’t leave to get away from it. Because of me, he was waiting until I was eighteen and could go with him.

He suffered years with his father, all just so he could be with me.

Tears fall from my eyes. Striker looks at me confused. “What’s the matter?”

I wipe my tears away and shake my head. “Just remembering all that. It’s a lot to take in. I’m sorry.”

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