“That’s one of the reasons I hate my dad, for what he did to her. Even if things went bad for him and mom, we’re still his kids. But he didn’t care, he just threw us away and never looked back.” He looked down at his plate and I felt for him. He was still hurting too, as much as his sister.
“Sis puts on a brave front, but I know it hurt her. She’s always been a daddy’s girl while mom and I were closer. And we always did everything together.”
“On Saturdays Annie and dad had coffee together at the local coffee shop to catch up, while mom and I went to practice and for ice cream after.”
He swallowed hard at the mention of his mother and I felt a tear in my heart. Looks like he’s guilty of putting on a front as well. Neither of them, have healed.
My responsibility became very clear. I had to get
both of them back to where they once were. Maybe if I work on her brother she’d see that she could trust me. She’d learn that I never make promises I don’t intend to keep.
“To tell the truth, I didn’t know she was so strong until all this happened. I used to think her only interest was dance, she lived for it. But then she gave it up without a thought so she could take care of me.”
“I owe her big time, but I still wish there was a way for her to go back to the way things used to be. You saw her yesterday while she was teaching those kids. It was the first time in a long time that I’ve seen that spark in her.”
“It used to be she was always like that. She didn’t have a care in the world. Every free moment was spent dancing or doing something pertaining to dance.”
He stopped and stared down at his half empty plate, lost in the thoughts in his head. It was obvious that he loved his sister. That he was a good kid caught in a terrible situation, they both were. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen when her world completely changed.
I’d been the same age when my life changed as well, only mine had changed for the better. My dreams were finally coming true while hers had ended.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll make sure she looks like that all the time from now on. I’m going to need your help though. She doesn’t trust me, which is understandable given what you both went through.”
“I can only show her through my actions what she means to me…”
“And what’s that?” I wasn’t expecting the question out of the blue like that, wasn’t completely sure how to answer him.
“Everything!” It was the only thing that came to mind, the only thing that said it all. I’m baring my soul to a teenage boy at my breakfast table. How had I come to this?
“Then I’ll trust you with her, but if you fuck up I’m going to break both your legs.” I’m pretty sure he meant that shit. The little shit didn’t even crack a smile when he said it. Just went back to eating like he hadn’t just threatened me in my own damn house.
We went back to eating in relative silence as I let my mind work. If I was going to do this then I had to do it all the way. If I make one wrong move, one misstep, she’d be gone, I’m sure of it.
The first and most pressing thing on the agenda was getting the kid set up in school. I’ll let mom take care of that as I’m sure she’d put her two cents in anyway.
Then I have to work on putting a smile back on my girl’s face. I can’t give her back her mother, or the life she once knew, but I can do the best I can now. To give her a future, a good one, with me.
It’s not going to be easy getting her onboard I’m sure. Colombia is nothing to sneeze at. But she’d once chosen Juilliard hadn’t she? I just have to make it so that she can make that choice again.
I understand that asking her to put her trust in me isn’t as easy as it sounds. That it was going to take a lot of effort on my part to get her to that point. I just need that one small opening. The first sign that I was breaking through those walls of hers and I’d take it from there.
She slept until noon. I checked on her I don’t know how many times before she finally joined the land of the living, and each time she was sleeping so soundly she didn’t even know that I was there, standing beside her.