Page 87 of Black
Daniel had tears rolling down his face and was fighting to stop laughing enough so that he could speak. “I’m sorry, Black, but that’s hysterical. Why didn’t you just kick her ass or something?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I didn’t want anything to do with her, or her ass.”
“Tell me about the crazy therapist again – did he seriously make you wear a diaper?”
“I shouldn’t have told you that…”
“Oh, come on, Black, it’s me, your best friend. We tell each other everything.” He was still laughing.
“Yeah, but if you tell anyone about my humiliation, I’ll knock out your front teeth.”
“Hey, that’s just mean.”
“I saw my mom,” I said and that finally made him stop laughing.
He grabbed my arm and made me come to an abrupt stop. “You saw her at the camp?”
“Uh-huh. She came for a session.”
“And?”
“She apologized for being a bad mom and I got to tell her how I feel about her.”
“Shit… that had to be unpleasant. Did it help?”
I walked on and turned left to cut through Denny Park. “Yes, it helped. At least I’m no longer scared of her. I used to be afraid she would find me. Scared that she would suddenly confront me on the street. But now that I’ve seen her, I know she can’t hurt me anymore and more importantly, I know she doesn’t want to hurt me.”
“That’s awesome, right?”
“Yeah… I used to obsess about her, but now that threat is gone.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll find new things to obsess about; that’s how our minds work.”
“I hope not.”
He laughed. “Take it from an expert.”
“How have you been?”
“Not good, but my social worker got me a new place.”
“You have an apartment?”
“I’m moving in next week… it’s going to be sweet being off the streets again.”
“Where have you been sleeping?”
“Damian’s floor mostly.”
“He still got that place by the Irish pub?”
“Yep, it’s a shithole, but it’s better than a park bench.”
“I’m happy you’re getting your own place, and this time you’ll keep out of trouble with the neighbors.”
“Of course.”
“No, I mean it. No loud music in the middle of the night, and no arguments with them.”
