Page 72 of Fresh Start
“What are you looking at? You’re not coming with me. You were purchased by a traitor.”
Great. Now I was talking to clothes. I was such a catch.
The suit was great. It fit me just right so that I could breathe, but also look dashing and show off my muscles. And I needed all the help I could get.
Fuck. I guess it was coming with me.
“What are you doing? Is the house on fire?” Yaya said behind me and made me jump.
“Yaya, you didn’t knock,” I said. This took me back years.
“I did. You just didn’t hear me,” she said. “Are you leaving?”
I grabbed my grandma’s shoulders and gave her a kiss on the left cheek.
“Only for a couple of days. My meeting in LA has been pulled to today, and I need to get there as soon as possible. But I’ll come back. I swear. I’m not even taking all of my stuff. See?” I said.
“But the end of the festival is tomorrow. It’d be so nice to have you here for it,” she said.
I sighed. It would be. I hadn’t seen the release of the butterflies since I left, and it had always been a family tradition.
“I’ll try and make it. I promise,” I said and zipped the bag up, slinging it over my shoulder.
“What about the young man you’ve been hanging out with?” she said.
“What about him?”
“Well, is he going with you to LA?” she asked.
I had no idea how she knew about Dawson. We had made sure not to be seen in public and had kept mainly indoors. But then again, she was close friends with his mom, Christine. So, of course she knew about him.
“He’s not coming anywhere with me. I’ve trusted him too many times, Yaya. And he always betrays me,” I said and lifted the suit he bought me out of the closet.
Yaya stepped between me and the door with a sad smile on her face.
“What do you think relationships are, my little lion? Do you think you can be in a relationship without trusting and betraying each other for the rest of your lives?”
“Well, I would hope so. Otherwise, what’s the point? Where does the betrayal end?”
“What did you trust him with?” she asked.
“A secret. About my career. And he lied to me,” I said. Speaking it out loud to her made it sounded silly. But I knew it wasn’t. My career was as important as anything else.
“A secret? My boy, jobs come and go. Work isn’t supposed to be our end all be all. Did you trust him with your heart?” she insisted.
I nodded.
“And did he betray it?”
It was the same thing, wasn’t it? Lying to me about his next role was the same thing as betraying my love. Why did Yaya make it sound like it wasn’t?
“He’s already had his second chance, and he blew it,” I said.
Yaya laughed.
“Second chance?” She was in hysterics. “Do you know how many mistakes your papou made in his lifetime? I couldn’t even count them if I tried. Did he learn from his mistakes? God, no. Not always. But I forgave him. Because I loved him. And so did he when I made mistakes. That’s what marriage is, my little lion. That’s what relationships are. Trusting in someone that will forgive you when you make mistakes. Because we’re all human. We’re bound to make them. But only those willing to accept them and forgive us are our family.”
“I can’t imagine you making any mistakes, Yaya,” I said.
