I sit in the beach side cafe and drum my fingers nervously on the table.
They are 20 minutes late and I am beginning to feel as though I have been stood up and I can't decide if I am relieved or disappointed by that.
Travis hadn't looked for his mother and sister for a reason, I had just dived in without ever thinking those reasons through.
Travis had been hurt and abused his entire life, I couldn't bare it if me and my stupid decisions brought just a second more pain to him.
I had assumed he would just want answers, it turns out he just wants very specific answers and from what I know so far those aren't the answers I'm about to get .
"Taylor?"
A delicate hand lands on my shoulder and I whip around in surprise, I guess the mark Dave Quinn left on me will take longer to get rid of than I thought.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm Aaliyah"
I stand up and awkwardly shake hands with the young girl before me. She might only be 14 but she's already inches taller than me, her eyes are the exact shade of green as Travis and her hair is the same colour but with curls
"Its okay, I'm just jumpy these days" I assure her and then look around for their mother"
"She isn't here" Aaliyah informs me as we both take a seat and I feel my heart drop hard
"Where is she?"
Aaliyah just shrugs "We left dad and Travis and then she left me. I haven't seen or heard from her since"
Her eyes look watery and I recognise the devastation on her face because I have seen the same look on Travis'. The scars left by a mothers abandonment really never do heal
"I'm sorry" I tell her and reach and touch her hand
"Sorry for wasting your time, you coming all the way out here and not finding what you were looking for"
"But I did, I found you" I give her the kindest smile that I can and watch as she wipes a stray tear
"How is he?"
"He's okay, doing better"
"How old is he now? 17?"
"18, 19 in two months actually"
"Tell me about him. Mom always said that Travis was just like our dad, is he?" I see her cringe at the thought and I'm not really sure what she knows or remembers about their father so I try and stay neutral
"He's nothing like your father. He's sweet and brave and thoughtful and protective"
"You love him"
"You would too if you knew him"
"I wish I did know him" another tear drops "He's my brother but he's a stranger"
"He doesn't want to be"
"Then why is it you sitting here and not him?"
"Because he doesn't know I found you, he doesn't know I was looking for you to be honest"
"Why didn't he look? I made sure I kept my Facebook and Instagram public so he could find me"
My heart breaks to think of both Travis and Aaliyah sitting in cities just a drive from each other both feeling the agony of their mothers abandonment and both waiting for someone to come looking for them only to find no one ever did, until now that is
"He was afraid, he is afraid. That he will come looking and once again he won't be wanted, he's been through so much I think he was just terrified the one dream he had, that he clung to, that somewhere out there you and tour mother wanted him would be destroyed like everything else he ever dared dream of"
"My mother doesn't want anybody but herself" she says it whilst keeping her eyes down but I see the splash of tears on the table top
"Who do you live with?"
"She left me with some friends of hers but they couldn't take care of me forever so I was eventually fostered"
"Are they good people?"
She nods "Did Travis get good people?"
"No, no he didn't" I admit honestly and her head snaps up to stare at me "he got your dad, but he's out of there now and he's doing so much better, he has an apartment and a job, he plays music, he has his first gig shortly and he's so excited"
"You saved him" she says with insight that surprises me
"We are saving each other" I smile
"So what do we do now? Will you tell him you saw me?"
"Do you want me to?" She nods "Then I will. Do you want to meet him?" She nods again "He's going to adore you" I smile and take her hand in mine
"I hope so. I hope he's not going to be too disappointed about mom"
"As long as he gets you he will be fine. I promise you Aaliyah he's going to be the best big brother you could ever have asked for"
It getting so close to ending 😢
