Bare Trees

Chapter 16

Harley Johnson

I walked up the steps, hand in hand with Aria. I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but it opened.

"Riley." I heard before I was engulfed in a bone crushing hug. All of the nerves I had washed away and I wrapped my arms around him just as tight.

"Mr. Jim." I mumbled, sighing. And just that quickly, I felt like fifteen year old me again, wanting more than to make this man and his daughter happy. "I missed you." I whispered, feeling my eyes well up with tears.

"I missed you too, kid. But damn, you're taller than me now!" We laughed and I pulled back to look at him. His eyes were watering, a huge smile on his face.

"You know, things happen." I told him, shrugging nonchalantly. Aria laughed at the two of us.

I walked in the house and we went to the living room as we used to. Everything looked just like it did when I was last year, minus a couple things.

"How've you been Riley?" He asked, then he furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, Harley."

"You can still call me Riley. Ari does. But... I've been as well as I could be." He nodded.

"I know you've had it hard. I'm sorry I made you leave us, but I'm sure your father loves you." I know Ari didn't tell him anything about the gang and so forth, since he's a policeman.

"He does." I cleared my throat. "So, how about you?" He shrugged.

"Had a heart attack bout a year ago, which is one reason Ari came home to help me a bit. But I'm stubborn, I don't need any help. That's those old cigarettes, I let 'em go now." Aria rolled her eyes at him. "I'm fine now though don't you worry bout me. I just missed ya kid." I laughed at him, yet I was worried. He wasn't young, but he wasn't old either. Should've been about 45. "One thing I haven't even told Ari yet is I'm up for chief." My eyebrows raised and hers did too.

"Dad, are you sure you can handle that?" He waved her off and I laughed.

"Why wouldn't I be able to? I'm not old. One heart attack ain't gone slow me down. Let me get two or three first." He joked and she scowled.

"That's not funny Dad." I laughed at the two of them and he looked at me seriously.

"When Aria told me your whole name, I went looked you up. I know you've been arrested a couple of times, but we ain't have nothing to hold you on. And your father... he told me his name was Marcus Ewing. A name that popped up as a dead man after I looked him up once you left." Aria looked at him surprised. He'd never told her. "A man that I found, now that I know your name, is Damon Johnson, who's been imprisoned once and arrested multiple times in connections with murders and drugs with nothing to hold him on as well." His eyes sparkled, he knew a lot more than he let on.

"Dad..." Aria said, shaking her head at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because... well at first, I wanted to keep you safe and once you told me he was back...I wanted to see if you knew. And judging by the look on both of your faces, you do." I looked away, clinching my jaw. He hated me.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

"Kid, my whole point in saying any of that is I'm sorry." I looked up at him, surprised. "I let you go off with this man. I didn't think to look him up until after you left." He leaned up in his chair. "As long as you're still rooting for the Nets and the Yankees, you'll always be a part of this family." I grinned widely.

"Thanks Mr. Jim. I never got to thank you for never giving up on me and even now..." I took a deep breath, damn they were making me so emotional. "...after all this time you still never gave up on me."