Carry On

Chapter One

"I'll come visit you again soon, Mom, I promise." A man named Blake said as he waved goodbye to his mother.

"I've heard that before. Have a safe drive, I love you!" She shouted back as she watched her son walk down the sidewalk.

    As Blake was leaving, he heard a young woman explaining her recent situation across the street. There was no one else around to listen to her, so he figured that the woman must be on the phone. He didn't want to seem as if he was eavesdropping, so he carried on with putting his bags in the trunk of his car. He felt saddened by the words that came out of the woman's mouth.

"No, dad, I just left him. The baby and I just need a place to stay until I can get things figured out - No - no I won't have a job once I get down there? Okay... sorry... thank you, though."

    The woman hung up the phone and looked at her sleeping toddler in his stroller. She looked devastated when her eyes wandered over her surroundings, tears filling her eyes. After putting his luggage in the trunk Blake made his way across the road. As he got closer she looked up, quickly wiping away her tears.

"Hey, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, I apologize. Are you doing okay?"

"Um, if you're truly interested... I recently left my son's father and none of my family lives around here. I just got off the phone with my own father and because of his wife I'm not allowed to live with him. Therefore, leaving me potentially homeless... with a toddler." I explained.

Blake thought about what I said for a minute longer, "Well, I believe your father should be a little bit more considerate when caring for his children. I have a solution for ya, if you're interested in hearing it. You can think on it, too. What if I were to allow you to stay at my place until you can get on your feet. I own a four bedroom townhome on the south side. No one else lives with me... and I promise I'm not just some creep. I'm truly wanting the best for you and the kiddo."

After taking a moment of silence I agreed to Blake's offer. "I would really appreciate that. The only problem is that I would still need to go get my things from my son's father's house, which won't be an easy task."

Blake smirked, "Well, I can solve that problem. Lead me in the right direction."

    As we walked towards my ex's home I officially introduced myself and we both shared some interesting facts about each other. Pretty glad to hear this guy turned out to be decent rather than the creep he promised me he wasn't. When we got closer he told me to wait across the street while he retrieved his car. I was worried this wouldn't go too well, my son's dad was beyond angry and this stranger didn't know what to expect. During my thought process, Blake pulled around the corner and parked in front of my ex's home. Living with three friends, my ex, me and our kid made the house fall apart. The house was dirty, the roof holding on to the last of its shingles, and trash building up on the sides and back.

"Ya ready?" The look on my face must have said it all, "Hey, don't worry, I'll handle this." Blake said before he marched up the steps to knock on the door.

    There he was, the face I feared would cause a scene none of us would recover from. Blake shared a few words with my ex and from the look written on his face I knew things were going to blow up. Then something unexpected happened, he gestured for us to come inside. A conversation I'd be having with Blake whenever we finished up here. As I walk passed Michael I could hear him insult me, but so did Blake which caused him to spin around.

"I just want to make one thing clear, I'm here to make sure this thing goes smoothly. Let's just say you want to continue to make this difficult, well, I can get you landed in holding quicker than you can shut your mouth. I can be nice, can you?" Blake pushed while flashing his wallet with a gold badge.

    All Michael could do is nod his head and agree after seeing the one thing that would make anyone straighten up. While Blake and I were getting my things packed and out to the car, Michael sat quietly with his son. His face was drawn with concern and emotional pain for the situation at hand, same here though, but I couldn't express that. The best answer was to remain strong for the kid I've been fighting for all this time.

    Once we finished clearing out my things, I grabbed my son and said goodbye. Walking out was hard; harder than seeing tears on my own face. My storm would pass and life would turn out how it needed to be once I danced around the hurricane and its damage. I didn't dare turn around to take one last look, because I knew I would crack. I'd try my best to make the relationship work again, but that wasn't the option here. I needed to move on and here Blake was to help me through it all. I was finally having the chance to make my life better and I would focus on doing just that.