THE RAVENS

twenty six

- aliyah-

The sun began to rise, as I looked far off into the distance I could hear the birds chirping not far from me.
When I was 10 I use to have a baby bird named Lucy. In the mornings it would chirp as the sun began to rise. My mom found it annoying at first but as the months passed she grew fond of Lucy.

"Aliyah?" Jackson said. I turned my head towards him and rubbed my eyes lightly, I was beginning to feel tired and I was really hungry for some food.

"Wanna go eat breakfast?" He asked as he stood up, walking towards his car with his keys jangling in his hand.
As I entered the car, I sat in the passenger seat and buckled my seatbelt, Jackson looked over at me and sighed as he started the car.

"Aliyah, are you okay?" He asked as he began to drive out of the park.
I didn't respond for a while since I didn't know how to answer his question.
I mean, am I okay?

I just figured out that my Father's death was not an accident but actually a murder, one of my best friends is becoming a Father and I have in-denial feelings for Xavier and to top it all off my Mother is the mistress of a married man, aka Jackson's Father, Randall.

"Jackson, I don't know if I'll ever be okay," I state bluntly. Hoping that he'll understand what I meant. He turned his head over to me and held my hand tightly, I glanced over at him and smiled. The rest of the drive to the restaurant was silent. Just the music playing in the background that I wasn't familiar with.

We pulled up at a breakfast restaurant called, Crepes and Style. The restaurant screamed vintage, they had big windows and inside there were curtains that were pulled to the sides so the sunlight beamed through the restaurant, there were a few bookshelves lined against the walls and there were many wooden tables that had white styled table clothes. There were mini booths that were near the sides of the restaurant and there was a round bar in the middle where a few elderly people drank milkshakes and coffee as they read the newspaper.

I and Jackson walked towards the bar and ordered.

"I'll have a burger and fries, and a chocolate milkshake." I told the waitress, she turned over to Jackson, "I'll just have a strawberry milkshake, thanks."

"Anyways... I talked to my Dad already. He said he'll stop seeing her as long as I don't tell my Mom." Jackson said as the waitress handed him his strawberry milkshake, which he didn't look very infatuated with.

"Well, I met him, your Father, Randall, that's his name right? for the first time yesterday. He was nice to say the least, kinda shy though." I informed Jackson. But right as I said that Jackson's deep brown eyes were filled with nothing but betrayal and hurt.

"Yesterday?" He repeated. I nodded my head and sighed.
It hurt me to see Jackson like this; having to carry the weight of his own Father's mistakes.

"Jackson, I'll talk to my Mom and make sure this thing gets sorted out. I don't want this situation to end up badly—"

"But it already did Aliyah! Either way, I can't hold this secret against my Mom for the rest of my life. I'm not going to carry the weight of my Father mistakes. All the guilt that I'm feeling right now is what he should feel! Not me!" Jackson yelled.

A few individuals who sat near us looked at us suspiciously before minding their own business again.

"Jackson...that's up to you. But you have to know the consequences you're going to face if you decided to tell your mom." I state, trying to let him know if his decision is worth it or not.

"Aliyah, either way, my Mom will get hurt at the end and my Dad will still be an asshole. It's my choice to do something about it because I can't sit here any longer and pretend that everything is okay when it's really not." He says, fury filled in his eyes. He was mad and he had every right to be. I mean, he had an a-hole of a Father and it was up to him to solve this issue.

"Jackson, you should drink your shake," I say as I move his drink more towards him.

"I lost my appetite. Anyways, I gotta go, I could give you a ride home if you want?" Jackson offered as he stood up, placing a $100 bill on the table. I stood up as well and wrapped my arms around him,

"Jackson we're in this together. You're not alone. And I would
love it if you drove me back home." I said chuckling.

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"Where were you? I kept on calling you, why weren't you answering?" My Mom said right as I entered the house. I tossed my bad downstairs and headed towards the kitchen where my Mom was making dinner.

"Sorry, my phone was silent," I reply, my tone laced with annoyance. I glanced over at my Mother and I could tell she was pissed. Moments like these I don't really care if she's pissed or not because at the end of the day shes' always pissed off or aggravated.

"Aliyah, you could've at least texted me where you were going or what time you'd be home!" She states as she turns off the stove, hinting that dinner will not be served tonight but an argument instead.

"Look, I'm sorry! Don't you have other priorities to deal with like being the mistress of a married man?!" I yell, and before I could take my words back, a look of shock and guilt smothered her face.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

She paced in the kitchen, her fingers rubbing her temples in frustration.

"Look, Aliyah, I don't know where you heard this from but--"

"--Please Mom, don't act like a fool! How could you do this?! Are you that desperate after Dad's death? I mean, if you wanted a new lover so bad then maybe you were the one that caused Dad's death too huh?" I spit out.

The room stood silent and my Mother had tears in her eyes, I shouldn't have said what I said, but it meant something and from the look that she was giving me, it was clear that she knew Dad's death wasn't just an accident.

But to blame my own Mother for my Dad's death stood pretty low for me that it shocked me as the words spilled out of my mouth.

I watched as my Mother walked upstairs and slammed her door shut. I sighed heavily knowing that I messed up badly. Perhaps I shouldn't have said what I said. I stood in my kitchen alone and decided that perhaps I should just stop trying to re-live the past and start new again. After all, that's why we are here in the first place.

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a/n:
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