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“I don’t know if I can tell you, Mama.”
“You don’t think I can handle it?”
I looked her in the eyes not wanting to tell her that I didn’t.
“Nero, you have been strong for me for so long. Let me be strong for you, now. Tell me. Why here? What made you come here?”
I thought about it and then scanned the faces in front of me. There was no one there who knew who I had been or why. All they knew was that I was a kid who got into fights and had a temper. But, they didn’t know about my life as my landlord’s enforcer. My greatest accomplishment had been keeping my two lives separate. Maybe it was time to link the two.
“Mama, I had to do a lot of things to keep you safe,” I began before telling all of them the gritty details of my life.
When my last story was told, I felt empty. I had never felt more raw. Everyone was looking at me with new eyes. I didn’t know what to make of it.
The longer they stared, the less sure I became about sharing my monster. I opened my mouth to apologize for saying too much when Cage cut me off.
“I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you told me that. I always knew there was a part of you that you never let me touch. I understand it now. You were trying to protect us.”
“Yeah, thank you for sharing,” Titus said. “So many things make sense now. I finally know who you are,” he said with a smile.
“Yes, thank you for telling us,” Quin said followed by a chorus of voices saying the same thing.
The only person who remained silent was the woman standing in front of me. She was staring at me blankly. I didn’t know what to say to her or if I should say anything at all.
Maybe I shouldn’t have told her any of what I had. It was too late now. The only question was whether or not finding out what I had done would cause her to retreat into her dream world.
As I thought about it, Mama lunged forward and threw her arms around me.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. My baby. What did I do?”
“I don’t blame you, Mama. You were sick. You needed help. I was willing to do anything I had to to keep you safe. I love you, Mama!”
“Baby, I love you so much! You are my entire world,” she said silently crying.
I held my mother for as long as she needed me to. Once she let me go, I decided to bring whatever this was to an end.
“I can’t tell you what it means that y’all did this for me. It blows my mind. Thank you.”
Faces smiled back.
“I’m better now. I think I’ll be heading home. You should too. Unless you can’t get enough of the view,” I said gesturing towards the haunting lake.
A few people laughed.
“I didn’t think so. But, thank you for being here for me. Seriously,” I said putting my hand on my heart.
“Of course,” Dan said turning to head back to his truck. “Are you gonna be at practice?”
“As long as I get back in time.”
“Get your ass there. Coach will throw a fit if he doesn’t have his star running back for another day,” Dan said with a smile.
“Whatever,” I told him smiling back.
Saying goodbye to each of them took a while. I swore that I was going to catch up with Claude. Unlike most of the people in our Snow Tip Falls high school class, he went to university immediately after graduation. He told me he had moved back and that we had a lot to catch up on. I told him I was looking forward to it and thanked him again for coming.
When it was finally just me, my brothers, my mother, and Titus, I stated the obvious.
“It was like everyone I ever knew was here… except Kendall.”
