Game Recognize Game

38. Getting it Right

         "Why did you change your mind," she inquired.

   I sighed and stretched my arms out over the top of the bench. Ebony had felt comfortable enough to tell me her story, but she would be the first person outside my family i ever revealed my secrets to. I figured who else could i trust if not the mother of my child, and the girl whose captured my heart. 

            "Growing up with the last name Rivorie is bad enough, but being Nickolas Rivorie is a lonely life to lead. My grandfather enforced a power behind the name and when people hear it, especially in hispanic and crime families, they blindly judge. I've always been viewed as a threat and any friends i've made were cut off because of the family business. Not a lot of people were genuine or trustworthy.  Then there were those people who got hurt because of my lifestyle. Eventually i learned to keep people at a distance and put myself into the name. I'd act cruel and mean and indifferent...," I said in thought about my childhood. 

      "I had to start acting that way. It was either that or have my father keep... disciplining me. If you want to call the abuse discipline," I chuckled sarcastically. "My dad used to beat me and my mom because we were too weak, or so he said. We made friends, and he'd make us drop them because a real friend only improves business, at least those were his thoughts.  My father fusses so much, but his words are nothing compared to his fists," I laugh at my own painful, inside, joke. 

  "My mother lost many friends due to them finding out about her bruises or becoming suspicious of her and my father's abusive relationship. I on the other hand lost friends because my father would beat me each time i brought a new friend home. Eventually i stopped bringing them home, but he caught on. He started picking me up and dropping me off, and every time i'd get out and wave to a friend or be greeted, he'd hit me good for it when i got home. Eventually i kept my head up and moved past everyone like no one mattered. Then from 6th to 12th i was in the same grade with my cousins so we all just stuck together. It was convenient that way. I became more business minded and kept my head in the books. He made my family believe all that mattered was the family business. I'm just now realizing my dad never really loved his family and that he put the business before his love for us and our happiness. I don't want my son taking over the business, the name, or the pain." 

      "I'm sorry for ever treating you cruelly and making assumptions about you. Most of all though I'm sorry for being something i'm not. I plan on never letting my son grow up unhappy or unloved. He's going to be able to come to me for any and everything! He'll know that I'm going to take care of him and never abuse his mother," I said finally looking over at Ebony who had tears in her eyes. She was looking at me with so much compassion i started to regret telling her, then with the blink of an eye her sadness turned to anger. 

         "Who does your dad think he is!? Putting his hands on his wife and child, I should give him a piece of mind and mace the fuck out of him," Ebony swore as steam came from her ears. I shook my head and burst into laughter. This was the hot-headed, tolerate no bullshit, Ebony that I knew. 

        "You are something else," I spoke in between my hearty laughter. 

     Yet I knew how Ebony felt. As she was telling me her own story i wondered if i'd be able to track down the drug dealer who raped her and the pimp who killed her mother. However, I knew to leave the past alone unless it happened to resurface. As for Kollins that nigga had no excuse and would be begging for me to end his life by the time i was through. Just as much as she wanted me safe and happy, I wanted the same for her.

       Meanwhile my heart is speeding up and pounding against my chest. How do i tell her? I looked back over at Ebony as she stared off quietly at the water. This damn woman was beautiful. She had grown on me and i didn't want to be apart from her. I started to finally get my feelings off my chest when she spoke again.