Seeing Blind (Rough Draft)

Chapter Six

I won't be coming home at all, Avery.

XO Mom

Avery had sent multiple texts to her mother on the trip to Greenwich about when her "business trip" was going to be over and she'd get to live with her again, at Fifth Street.

She hadn't responded until now.

Now, in a room full of strangers, her mother finally responded to her, and it wasn't the news Avery had been hoping for. Waiting for. Avery didn't want to admit to herself that her father was right, and her mother wasn't going to come back.

Yet her mother's words told her exactly that.

She was leaving Avery to live with her estranged father.

Avery ran out of the gym, tears building in the back of her eyes and no destination in mind. Why would her mother do this to her? Wasn't Avery good enough for her mother? She had always thought she was but in the last two weeks her mother had been gone, she wasn't so sure.

Her destination turned out to be the pool. Why did she keep coming back to this place?

The lights were off and the gate closed, the sign hanging over it read:

Greenwich Pool open 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

No Diving, No Nudes, Always Have Supervision around children ten and under

Now Hiring

Avery didn't even notice that she jumped the gate and walked inside the outdoor pool area. She was just moving, trying to think of anything except her mother's abandonment.

It wasn't working.

First, her father abandoned her, apparently under her mother's orders, and now her mother was abandoning her. Who was next? Wasn't her mother too old to go through a midlife crisis? She was only forty-seven.

Avery sat in the grass, uncaring, facing the pool (yet far enough away where she couldn't slip in) and brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on top of them.

She left her cell on the floor of 'The Fitness Zone', probably broken.

Staring at the still water, Avery couldn't help but wonder if her mother had planned to leave for a while. What if it wasn't just a spur of the moment, life crisis type of leaving?

Would her mother intentionally leave Avery? Her only child?

Avery felt like she didn't know her mother anymore. And she didn't know who her father was, either. She didn't know who her friends were. Did she even know who she was?

"Thought I might find you here," a deep voice said in the darkness. Ambrose.

Avery didn't face him or respond.

"Bad news?" She felt his weight as he sat next to her, in the same position.

She was silent. She wouldn't tell him her problems, or anything. He didn't know her and never would. Her mother would see the error in her ways and come back for Avery. She had too.

Her mother was the only parental figure Avery has known for the past thirteen years. Her father always took extra shifts so he wouldn't be home when her parents were still married and never disciplined Avery since he was never around.

"We could just sit here in uncomfortable silence or you could tell me what's bothering you."

Silence.

A pause. "Guess uncomfortable silence it is then."

Guess so.

Minutes passed before, "sorry, I can't deal with silences. Why don't you want to go in the water?"

Damn this guy. Avery didn't answer. She wasn't going to tell some stranger, some Black guy her secrets. She'd take them all to the grave before doing that. "I don't have to explain anything to you."

"Ouch." He shook his head. "All I'm trying to be is a listening ear, Avery."

She didn't want him to be a listening ear, she didn't want him to be here with her at all. She didn't need Ambrose, she didn't need her friends, she didn't need her father, she didn't need anyone.

"Just go away, Ambrose. I want to be alone."

"I'm not leaving so you could possibly do something irrational."

Like what? Jump in a pool I was afraid to go in and drown myself? Yeah, right. "Just...go."

"No."

Avery was getting agitated at this point. "Why are you so damn annoying!" she shouted.

"Why are you so prejudiced?"

"If you won't leave then I will." Avery got up and stomped off. She didn't get far, she suddenly felt a hand on her forearm and was turned to face Ambrose. "Let go of me."

"Why are you so afraid of us? So prejudice? Who made you like this? Why are you afraid of the water?"

So many questions bombarded Avery, making her head spin. She wouldn't answer him, she wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"I'll wait all night, I don't mind."

She minded. "Go home, Ambrose."

"Not until you answer my questions. At least one."

Avery swallowed. "You're murderers."

"That's why you're afraid of us? Prejudice? People of all colors are murderers. Next."

"You're rapists."

"Again, so are people of all colors. Mostly men, yes."

"You're thieves."

"So are lots of people. I'm starting to see a pattern here, Avery."

She shook her head. "Let me go, Ambrose."

"Fine." He let go of Avery's arm, leaving a cold feeling behind. "But you haven't answered all of my questions."

She knew. She didn't plan on answering his last question, though. "Bye Ambrose."

"Bye Avery."

Tamar was at Avery's doorstep when she approached the house. What was she doing here? What time was it? How long did she spend at the pool, trying to get Ambrose to leave her alone?

She was still in her work out clothes.

Avery stood a few feet away from her, giving her a perplexed expression.

Tamar held up a small, white device in her hand. "You forgot your phone at the gym. You're lucky it didn't crack. I wanted to give it back to you."

"How did you know where I lived?"

"Everyone in town knows where the new White Family lives."

Right, of course.

Tamar placed the phone in Avery's hand, before saying, "I'm having some friends, well two, come over Friday night. You should totally come too. Meet some new people in town, get some friends before school starts up again. What grade will you be in again?"

. "Sophomore."

"Nice. I'll be a junior. Probably said that last time, huh?"

Avery couldn't remember.

"I can't come, sorry. I still have to help my dad unpack and all that."

"I could talk to him if you'd like? I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Besides, we live right down the road."

"I'm sure he's busy. Plus, I'm not good with kids, or old people."

"Colin and my grandma will be out for the night, she's dropping Colin off at a friend's house while she goes to her bridge night."

Avery couldn't think of any more excuses at the top of her head. She managed to shake her head, though.

"It'll be fun. I won't take no for an answer. My place, eight o'clock on Friday." Tamar waved goodbye as she headed to her house.

Avery stood on her doorstep, stupefied. What the hell just happened?