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“We were just kids.” Betty sighed. “He broke my heart in a million ways And I just kept going back to him.”
“What happened? What made you finally leave him?”
She smiled and put a hand on my cheek. “You.”
“Me?”
“I was so young when they told me about you. I had just gotten out of cosmetology school and was living in that crappy trailer house…”
“I loved that trailer house,” I whispered.
“I know you did, honey. And I loved having you with me, but they almost didn’t give you to me. I had to fight tooth and nail to prove that I was fit to have you. I knew I had to straighten my life out pretty quick, and getting rid of Deke Harding was a good start.”
“Did you love him?
“Yeah, I sure did.” She picked up a lock of my hair and twisted it around her fingers feeling its softness. “But not as much as I loved you.”
“As much as you love Henry?”
“I love Henry, I do.” She looked at me with a sudden and fierce kind of desperation.
“I know. I know you do.” I reassured her. “I know you love Henry, Aunt Betty.”
“No. Listen to me.” She stopped walking and faced me. “This is important, Liddy. Henry is a good man. He has been good to me, and I love him.”
“Okay. It’s okay.” I pulled her in close when I saw the tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Auntie?”
“Nothing. Nothing is really wrong, honey bear.” She let out a long shuddered sigh. “It’s just that sometimes I feel guilty I guess is all. I sometimes think about Deke even now and still wonder if things would have turned out differently if we had fought harder for each other. If Deke had put us first even once, maybe that would have made a difference.”
“Did you ever ask him to?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not the kind of question I wanted to have to ask. I didn’t think it would work if I had to ask him. I figured that either he wanted me, or he didn’t. He knew what I needed from him, and I thought it was up to him to make that happen. Maybe I was wrong.” She said wistfully
“Do you think he really did love you?”
“Without a doubt. In his own way, I think that boy loved me like crazy.” Another wistful look came into her eyes before she continued. “Anyway, it ended. And the next time I saw Deke he had Kid, and I had you. What was done was done. He was a Silver Sinner through and through, and I was not going to relegate you or me to playing second fiddle in anyone’s life. I figured we both had had enough of that.”
“What do you think of me and Kid? Do you think I should stop seeing him? Do you think I should put an end to me and Kid once and for all, Auntie?” I held my breath waiting for her answer. But when it came, her words surprised me.
“Kid is not his father, Liddy.” Aunt Betty said slowly. “And honey, you aren’t me. You two have your own story, and it began a long time ago with pulled ponytails and torn pictures. Now, it’s up to the two of you to decide where the journey goes from here.”
Kid
“Damn woman.” I twisted off the cap of my beer with vengeance and made a perfect shot across the room into the trash.
“You called her?” My father asked.
“Yeah, I called her.” I grunted because the call had not gone the way I had expected it to go.
“She give you a hard time about not coming home yet?” Deke asked.
“Shocked the shit out of me, but no. And honestly, that bothers me more than if she had. Not like her.” I scowled. “Makes me think she’s up to something.”
“So, she’s gonna stay up there with Betty?”
