"Goodbye, Christina."
"Goodbye, Troy."
Then he turns, slides into the back seat of the car, shuts the door, and he's gone. My tears don't hold back as they rush from my eyes, and my heart hurts. I bring my hands to my chest and dig my fingers into my hoodie. My whole body feels weak. We agreed to this, but I hate it already. I sit on the sidewalk, pull my knees to my chest, drop my forehead to them and sob. I don't even have the will or the want to go back into my apartment. There's nothing in there for me.
"Excuse me, Miss," I hear a small voice say.
I look up through blurry tears at a small boy standing in front of me. He can't be any older than seven or eight.
"Why are you crying?" he asks with his head cocked to one side.
I wipe my tears away on the sleeve of my hoodie then clear my throat.
"I just had to say goodbye to someone really important."
"Why?"
"Well, because he lives somewhere else."
"Why?"
"I don't know, because that's where he's from."
"Do you love him?"
"I do."
I sniffle as I swipe away the new tears that have fallen.
"Does he love you?"
My answer gets caught in the ball of emotion that is lodged in my throat. So, I nod my head instead.
"Why didn't he stay here then?"
"Adult stuff."
"Stupid. Then why didn't you go with him?"
Is this kid going to ask me a hundred questions? Where did he even come from? Apartments…duh.
"Again, adult decisions had to be made."
"That's stupid. Everyone tells me I can do whatever I want once I am an adult." He crosses his arms. "Seems like you missed that talk."
"Huh, yeah. Maybe I did."
"Well, I hope you figure it out, and I'm sorry he made you cry."
"He didn't make...never mind." I shake my head.
"Ok." He shrugs his shoulders then turns and walks away.
If it were only that easy. Being an adult sucks, that's for sure. I stand up on shaky legs and go back into my apartment. I plop on to the couch, pull my phone out and call the only other person that understands.
"Hello?" Sarah says on the other end of the call.
"Hey." My voice is low and shaky.