Chapter 35: Carter

" Talk to him. You can keep this on forever." Ahliyah said.

" Yes I can. We argue over the same damn thing over and over again and it's either about me or you. I chose to fight for you this time." I told her.

" He's your friend and whether you like it or not this has to be fixed. Fix it, Carter. And hear him out." She said walking off to grab her bag.

We were now walking through the park and Ahliyah left me to ride rides with Mercedes. Lorenzo and I held their bags as they went and rode on all the rides they wanted. The silence between us was heavy like there was some undisclosed thing we didn't talk about.

" I'm sorry. I shouldn't have ignored or calls but I have to figure this out on my own. I'm also sorry for the things I said to you." I said.

Lorenzo smiled and the happiness was back on his face replacing the sadness in his eyes. " It's okay. I should've let you handle things on your own. We're not little boys anymore."

We laughed and caught up on the things we missed out on in each other's lives. Our girls got off the ride laughing and smiled when they seen us talking.

" It's about time y'all made up. I was tired of hearing Lorenzo whine to me on the phone." Mercedes laughed.

" I wasn't whining." Lorenzo smiled.

Lorenzo and Mercedes went to ride on rides together and take pictures. I grabbed Ahliyah's hand and we walked around the fair watching as couples walked away with huge stuffed animals. We did stop at a funnel cake stand to order something for the both of us.

" I'm proud of you. I knew you were going to figure things out." She elbowed me in my side.

I laughed. " Yeah, we did end up figuring things out. "

We ate our funnel cake and I laughed because Ahliyah has powdered sugar all over her face. I took pictures of our silly moments. As the night came to an end, we rode on the Ferris wheel and the city was beautiful at night.

She rested her head on my shoulder and we looked at the stars and moon as they shined bright in the sky. We took a pictures of us on the Ferris wheel and when we got off the ride it was beautiful night and I was glad I got the chance to spend it Ahliyah and our friends.

We walked back to our car where Lorenzo and Mercedes were waiting for us. " Where not going home yet, the night is still young." Lorenzo smiled.

Ahliyah smiled and slipped into the car I got in behind her. We followed them and when we parked the car we were in front of the lake. Lorenzo and Mercedes jumped in the water and laughed, they splashed in the water gesturing us to come.

" Come on, what are we waiting for?" Ahliyah asked pulling me to the water.

" That water is really cold. I'm going to stay here." I said.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulder jumping into the lake. They laughed and splashed each other and grabbed on Lorenzo pulling him under the water. When we did go home, the night still didn't end for us. We stayed up watching late night reruns of shows on tv.

She fell asleep on the opposite end of the couch and I draped a blanket over her body. I kissed her forehead whispering I love you in her ear.

" Wake up! The sun is shining and the birds are out. Come on, we can't let the sunlight go to waste." Ahliyah said happily.

I groaned rolling over on the floor. " It's morning already. I wanna sleep for a little longer."

I put the blanket over my head trying to get a little bit more sleep, but I did take a peek at the sunlight. It was bright and the birds were chirping, it was a good morning.

" Come on, Carter. Breakfast is made and I made your favorite." She said.

I slowly got up and Ahliyah gave me a plate of stuffed French toast. She sat on the arm of the couch she smiled and then she sighed. " I'm going to visit my father." She said quickly.

" Why would you want to do that?" I asked her swallowing a piece of French toast.

" I've come to terms with the way he raised me, the way he thought was right. I'm going to apologize and make things right with him. For myself. I don't want to live with this guilt and sadness and.. and I think you should do the same things which your parents." She said nervously.

" I don't know. Their not going to want to listen to what I have to say." I told her.

" I'm going to settle things with my dad. And if you decide you want to go, I'll be there with you. " She said.

She kissed me on my forehead and left. I let everything my step mother did go but talking to her or comforting her about what I'd gone through seemed to be hard task. Although my father wasn't there to witness the pain I went through, forgiving him for not being there was what I needed.

I wanted to hear the words I am sorry come off his lips. Going back in the house and talking to them wasn't something I was up for or wanted to do, but she was right as always. We were in a comfortable spot in our life, as we moved through this spot we were going to have to face somethings that we didn't want.

We were going to have to revisit the past we tried so hard to runaway from.

I cried as I thought about all the pain I went through as the memories resurfaced. Memories I thought I had finally allowed myself to let go. Talking to them and letting all the heartache go wasn't easy. At least not for me.

When Ahliyah finally came back, she curled on the couch and stared at the wall. " So, how'd it go?" I asked.

She smiled sadly. " It went as I expected nothing's changed since the last time I seen him. But, I needed to seem him because I thought something would've made him change. I've realized people won't change unless they wanted to."

Change is a choice not an obligation.

" I'm sorry."

" Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault. It makes me sad though because he could have so many things. Another chance a love and life and it seems like drinking is something he can't let go. I've come to terms with it though. What about you? Did you think about talking to your parents?" She asked.

Talking to them wouldn't be the best thing, but it would bring me some relief knowing that I was in the process of healing. Knowing I was almost there if living a life I dreamed of a long time ago.

I nodded my head slowly. " I thought about it and it could go really wrong, or really right. I'll give them a chance but I'm doing this for myself. To make myself feel good and not for them. " I told her.

We sat there and we talked about healing and how it would feel. I felt the tight spot in my chest clear up as I thought about letting everything go and talk to my parents. It was one step to a new beginning.