The One...

Chapter 3.

LENORA (2020)
South Thesmark Lake, Newhaven

I took my time and then washed my flushed face before coming out of the bathroom. I walked over to the living room and found a man walking in at the same time with bags of food. 'Mom, I'm here.' He shouted but stopped as soon as he saw me.

'You!!! Why didn't you tell me about Noah?' I lunged at the man I had seen entering the house. 'What are you doing in my house?' He spoke bitterly. 'I came to meet Brenda. Now answer my God damn question. Why didn't you call me to tell me about Noah. Why did no one call me?' I jabbed my finger in his chest, angrily.

'Because you simply do not care, Lenora. You've never cared about us. All you care about is yourself. You are a self obsessed bitch who thinks only and only of herself. You left. Not us. You stopped caring. Not us. You are so messed up to think that the first thing I'd think after my father's death was to call you. Get over yourself. I was grieving. We all were. You'd know if you'd simply care. You'd know if you were there.' He whispered the last words, with anger.

I looked at him, blood boiling but the next words from his mouth seemed to melt all of it away. 'I needed-' He choked on his words.

'I needed you, Lenny and you weren't there. Nobody knew where you were or what you were doing. I needed my best friend by my side, just like I had been by her side when her mother died.' He reminded me of the worst memory, I had locked deep in the vaults of my brain. Down in the deep, deep dungeon but Dakota had just keyed it open and it gushed all forward, the fog settling in the room.

No–no-no-no- not again.

I looked up but it wasn't the room anymore. It was a quiet church. And there I was at its doorstep. A hand snaked into mine from the right. Our fingers laced together. I looked at the younger version of Dakota, standing so sadly, yet so comforting. He knew how broken I was that day. How I needed to be fixed. He was the glue, holding me together. He was my fix.

'No matter what happens. I'll forever and always be by your side.' He had promised me that afternoon before my mothers funeral in the church. I looked at him, glassy eyed. How could a boy so young promise me forever? How did he know? How was he so sure that I'd want him by my side forever?

There was a note of belief in his voice that pulled me into this world where I could trust the boy I once hated so much.

A snap broke my contact with the world I hated being in. 'Lenora –' A hand on my shoulder brought me back to reality. 'Are you ok?' He questioned snapping in front of my face. 'I need water. I should. Definitely. Have some water.' I left him behind and speedily walked to the kitchen. 'Don't walk away, Lenny. We were talking.' Dakota followed me. 'No, no por favor. I don't want to talk right now. I can't.' Tears threatened me. All the walls I had built around me threatened to close on me at the mention of my mothers death.

I leaned against the sink, my hands pressed to the cold marble around it. A staggered breath left my mouth. 'I just– I don't want to talk about mom or anybody else for that matter so please, please just go. Leave me alone. I'm sorry— that you lost your father. He was a father to me too. I'm really really sorry Dakota. That I wasn't here for you. If I knew– I would have been there but I wasn't. I don't blame you or anybody else. I blame myself.' My voice came out choked and breathless.

I heard a defeated sigh.

'I'm not blaming you, Lenny.' He pinched the gap between his eyebrows. 'Just go-' Was all I could muster up to say. 'Are you sure you are ok? I'm sorry for bringing up Roni.' He started apologising. 'Just– no, Leave. Go.' And so he did. He left me alone to my misery of a dead mother's memory.