Sleeping With The Homie 2

12

Richard helps me pack in silence. At this point, my high is gone. After I've let the tears out, I feel a mixture of anger and sadness. The reality of what I just did is settling in. A part of me wishes that I didn't say anything. At least, that way I would still have a relationship with my mom and dad.

But what good would keeping a relationship with them do, if I can't even be myself around them?

Bottling up shit has grown tiring. Walking on eggshells around my family has not only damaged me, but damaged my relationship with Gian as well. It was either lose them or lose Gian, and ultimately I had to just cut them off because losing Gian wasn't/isn't a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

If Gian is still willing to have me anyways. Yes, he might've said some things earlier while he was under the influence. However, that doesn't mean he won't come back to his senses tomorrow.

I let out a sigh. I need to hurry up and make things right with him.

Soon, I'm done packing up. I rise to my feet. Richard joins me. I turn to him and give him another hug. Richard hugs me back tightly and pats my back in a comforting manner. We depart. Afterwards, I grab the handle to my suitcase and I get ready to leave.

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Richard asks.

"Fabienne." She replies.

Richard looks at me. After thinking it over for a couple of seconds, I nod. "You can come in." He tells her.

Shortly after, the door opens. Here comes Aunt Fabienne, along with Nadia and Fabiola. Fabiola has her suitcase with her. Fabienne closes the door behind her. At the same time, she is looking at me. "Zachariah, sweetie, I just wanted to talk to you and Fabiola, before you guys left." She tells me.

"So you can finish the job that your family started?" I question with crossed arms.

"God no." Aunt Fabienne frowns, "You're not alone."

"How's that?" Fabiola asks with a straight face.

"Because I-I," She stutters before dropping her head.

Aunt Fabienne closes her eyes. I raise a brow as she sighs. A few long, dreadful seconds pass and Aunt Fabienne opens her eyes again. "...I was in love with a woman once." She confesses.

My eyes widen. Richard's mouth parts in shock. Nadia quickly clasps a hand over her mouth. Fabiola's jaw drops.

"You." I point at her, "With a woman?"

"Yes. Back in Jean-Rabel, Haiti, there was this girl named Madeline. I secretly dated her all throughout secondary school. She said she fell for me first, God knows I fell for her even harder." Fabienne recalls with a reminiscent smile.

I let out a small smile at that. However, I stop smiling because this is not where the story ends.

"She would be outside my house to walk me to and from school every day. On our walks back from school, we would stop at local restaurants to eat and play soccer with random balls we found scattered throughout the village. A soccer player is what she wanted to be and she was real good too. Always had my ankles looking different directions when we played." She continues.

We all let out a little laugh at that. The visual of some girl hitting my auntie with the meanest footwork during soccer is killing me. I tighten up though, so she can finish her story.

"After we finished secondary school, everything fell apart. Earlier that year, Madeline tore her ACL. At the time, the health care in Haiti wasn't the best - well still isn't - so it took her forever to recover. When this initially happened, I was the one outside Madeline's door. She was using a wheelchair and I used to push her to and back from school, and our favorite spots if she was hungry."