Jack & Destiny

Chapter 14: Grandma Lucy

When Liam and I broke up, there was a part of me that was hoping he would change his mind.

I imagined he would come knocking on my bedroom door and tell me he made a mistake.

That we could make things work.

That he would give a long distance relationship a try.

That didn't happen.

The days and nights passed.

There was no knock on my bedroom door.

No messages on my phone.

I did not see him standing in the front yard leaning against the rusty pick-up truck he drives.

Liam was just gone.

I was devastated.

I've been hurt by the hopelessness I felt around my family.

My body and soul were tested and shaken.

But I didn't give up.

Everytime I got beaten by my own parents, I rise up and wipe the blood from my face.

I kept telling myself that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

It was not the same with Liam.

A part of me died when he left.

The part that loved and cared for him.

My grandma comforted me.

She told me something about birds.

She said we were no different.

We have to fly, migrate.

Go someplace else to make our lives better.

It was the same with Liam.

He knew that his dream was not going to come true in this rural area he grew up in.

Not with his family around.

"They bring him down because he cares for the young ones a lot. Don't be too hard on him. Let him spread his wings. They come back you know?"

I did not feel consoled.

When I was finally getting better, Grandma's words came back to me.

I became a bird.

By then, I would have been staying at her place for three years.

I came home from my job at a local coffee shop.

She was at the kitchen table playing solitaire with real cards.

I sat down and told her it was time to spread my wings.

She stopped shuffling and placed the cards face down on the table.

"Are you sure?"

That's all she asked before she gave me the key to the Ford Fiesta.

I cried the day I left.

When I came to her needing protection, my grandma opened the doors wide and took me in.

She gave me the family I couldn't find in my own home.

The years I spent with her healed my soul.

She gave me the courage to get back on my feet and try again.

The day I decided to spread my wings, Grandma and my cousins saw me off.

"Don't be a stranger." Chuck said then gave me a hug.