Forever RiverCreek

Chapter 12 - Issues

Being home for fifteen minutes, Tara gets CJ cleaned up for bed and lets him watch a movie in his room. With her son distracted, Tara retreats to the steps of the garage to cry over what she saw in Cory's eyes. The thousand-yard stare Tara stared at continues to take her back to when she was controlled by her ex-boyfriend, Bobby from Little Rock. Tara sits there with her face in her hands until she hears her phone go off.

I'm back at Rick's, and I am sorry that I scared you – Hard Core

Tara reads the message but doesn't text back. She continues to sit there until her mother's name appears on the screen, "Hey. How was your weekend to yourself?"

Surprised to hear Tara sniffle, Olivia immediately digs to uncover what's wrong, "Tara. What's happened? Is everything with CJ okay?"

"Yes."

"Did Cory do something wrong?"

After Tara hears his name, she stutters as she tries to control her breathing, "I was at a bar with some of my coworkers. That creep I told you about, Donald Kinzer, who liked to hit on me took a couple of cop-a-feels. So, then I shoved him outside, and I didn't know Cory and CJ was there, and Cory beat the living shit out of him."

"Yes, I remember you were telling me about that asshat, but Cory went after him. Good for him to protect you," Olivia says with a rise in her voice level.

"When I looked into Cory's eyes, I could see Bobby from back home. All of those fights and his control swept back over me. It scared the hell out of me, and I told Cory to go back home for a while. How can I handle seeing that look from the man I love?" Tara says, still seeing Bobby in her imagination.

It takes Olivia a moment to think of a response, but it's her way of reminding Tara of Cory and Bobby's differences when she does.

"Tara, he's not Bobby, and Cory will never be him. But, I can understand being upset, and memories have this funny way of creeping back into our minds to take us back to a bad place. There's a vast difference between them that you need to remember. Cory loves you for you. He's supported your dream, and he's been there for CJ; plus, Cory always listens to you."

Olivia pauses, then finishes her comparison, "On the other hand, Bobby only wanted to control you and have babies to collect a check every month. I'm sorry your dad and I didn't protect you better from that low-life piece of shit. You couldn't have done better than Cory, and I love my grandson and you more than anything else on this Earth, but if you're going to be afraid of Cory, you two need to come to a custody agreement and child support for CJ. Don't punish each other for the past, and don't force a future if it's not possible."

Silence fills the air, and Tara closes her eyes. She can see Cory hitting Donald and his confrontation the day they found Rick after Kayla was killed. Then the flashback from the night her life was cut from her best friend from Little Rock returns.

"Hello?"

"You bitch. How could you get Bobby arrested? He's your damn soulmate, and you have him set up by the cops as a favor for your old man. That's messed up; now he's going to jail for driving with an open container and charged with intent to deliver!"

Tara remembers laughing with a hint of uncaringness.

"Good, he deserves it the way he talked to me. I told you I was done with his dumb broke ass."

"You've changed, and I don't like it! Up there being all Yankee uppity and shit, now thinking you're better than us. Well, newsflash, Tara—you ain't a damn thing and ain't gonna amount to a damn thing either. Next thing you know, you'll be sleeping with colored guys."