The Guy Who Gave Up His Jersey (New Version)

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Alejandro's situation stayed in the back of my mind for the remainder of the weekend. It was hard to believe his parents had kicked him out of the house and refused to have any connection with him. He continued to tell me it wasn't my fault, yet it was obvious it was partially my fault his parents decided to kick him out. He didn't want me to run off alone and he volunteered to take me away from the city. 

It goes to show how much he has always cared about me. He didn't care in how much trouble he was going to be in as long as I was safe. Now, he acts with more precaution, although Mindy would never kick him out of the house, she isn't scared to discipline him. I thought he was going to secretly spend the night, but he stayed for a little while before climbing back down the side of the house and leaving.  

Alejandro's whole ordeal had me thinking about contacting my biological father, even if my mom didn't approve. I was staring at the letter he wrote to me when a sudden knock on my door, broke me out of my train of thoughts. Xavier came into my room and notice the letter in my hand. 

"Reading the letter again?" He asked curiously. 

I nodded. "I know some things are better untampered with, but I can't help but wonder why he waited this long."

He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. "Personally, I think it is better to question why then find out the man you had pictured in your head isn't the person you wanted him to be."

"You say that because you talked to your mom. I want to find that out on my own." 

What if he is wrong? What if my father is a great guy and he couldn't provide for us when I was younger? Why do I have to bash out on his name without knowing the truth? There are two sides to every story and I wanted to know his. 

"If you decide to meet him, talk to mom first. We promised to start listening to them, which means no more lying." He warned me. 

"She will never agree." 

"Damn right, I wouldn't." Her voice caused us to flinch. I looked up and she was standing by my door. Xavier quickly got up, taking it as his cue to leave my room. 

"I know, mom it's the reason why I haven't bothered making contact." 

She took a seat on the edge of the bed and asked for me to sit next to her. In reality, I wasn't ready to speak to her about the subject, if she hid me away from him, it must've been for a good reason. A part of me was aware of the truth behind it all, the man could possibly be nothing to what I expect him to be. I expected my mom to go on an angry rant about how it is better for me to stay away from him, yet she took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. 

"I tried to keep you away from him for a long time and all this time I prayed there wouldn't come a day where you asked about him. It took us a very long time to get over the rough chapter with your father and I believe for your sake it's better for you to stay away from him." She sighed heavily. "With that being said, I cannot keep you away from him if you have chosen to want to see him. Xavier was allowed to meet his mother and I think it's fair if you do the same. Just keep in mind you don't know this man at all." 

I stood up from the bed and turn to face her. " Answer me this, why did you keep me away from him? If you two stopped loving each other why did you make me stop loving him too?" 

She shrugged. "You were his world, that man would've done anything for you. When I found out he was cheating on me, I was furious. I had spent the last five years with a man who stopped loving me a year into our relationship. All the endless fights, the lonely nights, and your crying in the middle of our fights pushed out a neverending anger for him." Her eyes crystalized as she fought back the tears. "I wanted him to hurt as much as I did and the only way to do that was to take you away from him. I grabbed all our things, sent him the divorce papers, and left. I told him I wouldn't ask for anything if he agreed to stay away from you."

"And did he?" I found myself on the verge of yelling. 

She shook her head. "No, but I knew he had stolen from the company he worked for before he moved up to senior level. I blackmailed himif he didn't stay away I was going to expose his accounts and paper work. It did the job, I suppose thirteen years has been enough of his punishment."

My mom wasn't remorseful for what she did, in her eyes she had won. "You chose revenge over my own happiness? I have spent years wondering what we must've done for him to never come looking for me!" I began shouting, tears streaming down my face. 

"You didn't just destroy him by taking me away, you fucked me up too! I thought I wasn't worth loving by anyone. You did this to me...to him." 

"What's going on?" Aunt Vivian walked in my room. 

I turned to look at her. "I trusted you! I thought all you ever wanted was what was best for me and all this time you knew what she had done. Instead of being honest you covered up her fucking revenge. I was his child too. I was hurt too!" 

"Juliana, calm down." Aunt Vivian tried to approach me but I pushed her away from me. "Don't. Nothing you say will make this better," 

"I'm sorry. I was foolish to believe revenge was the right thing." My mom spoke up.

"You still are. All you care about yourself and if dad loves you. You don't care about Xavier and I,"

"That's not true. I love you with all my heart," 

I raised my hand getting ready to respond to her, yet I managed to stop myself. I grabbed my bag and keys from my desk, contemplating to tell her what I believed. 

"You don't have heart, if you cared about me, you would've never let me believe he never loved me," Aunt Vivian got out of my way and Xavier was standing by his door, aware of the whole situation. 

"She's not what I thought she was." I spat out, tears streaming down my face. 

I turned towards the stairs and left the house. 

"Hello," The man on the other line spoke out. 

"Hi, um," I sniffled. "It's Juliana, can I see you?"

****

A bit of drama there to spice up your reading life;)