Forgotten Love and Goodbyes – Ch 1

The alarm buzzed loudly in his ear as he slowly opened his eyes. He reached over to shut if off and let out a moan. He glanced at the display, 8:00 AM, it said. He set his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes, only to be reawakened by the sound of loud music blasting outside. He slowly got out of bed and walked over to the window. He was about to shout out when he stopped and looked at the figure down in the backyard of the house behind him. It was her; the girl he thought would've been long gone from this place. Even amongst all the dirt and grime of the city she shone bright. Her short slim caramel-skinned figure shone in the sun as she began stretching, her back to him. She wore a red and black short and bra outfit. Her short black hair streaked a bright red. He wanted to watch her some more but knew he had stuff to do. He went over to the bed, quickly made it and began to put on his rumpled blue jeans. As he was pulling them up, his wallet fell out of his back pocket. He picked it up and set it on the nightstand and finished putting on his jeans. He grabbed the wallet, his ID in full view Leon Robert Turner, it read. He then glanced at the small picture beside it. It was of him and with a group of other people, standing around some cars. He knew them well they were his friends, ones he had quickly left behind without a word of where he was going. "I'm sorry guys," he mumbled, "there was no other choice." He folded the wallet, stuffed in back in his pocket and left the room. After a brief visit to the bathroom, he headed downstairs for breakfast.

Once Leon got to the bottom of the stars, he headed for the kitchen to the fridge. He took out a carton of eggs, a loaf of bread, and the pitcher of OJ. He set them down on the counter, then went to the stove, turned it on, and set a frying pan down on the burner. He went back and grabbed the bag of bread, took out two slices, put them in the toaster and pressed down the button. He was on his way to grab a plate from the cupboard when a figure outside his window stopped him. It was the same woman from before, except this time she was swimming lengths in her pool. He wanted to stop and say hello, but the smell of the pan burning brought him back to reality. He went to the stove and turned down the burner. He cracked two eggs into the pan, then went back to the cupboard and got a plate and set it by the toaster. He went to stove and flipped the eggs just as the bread popped up. He put the eggs on the plate, turned off the burner and went to butter the toast. Grabbing the pitcher of OJ and his plate, he went to sit down at the table. He was about to sit down when the cordless phone on the wall rung. He was reluctant to answer it, knowing it had only been a week since he got back and hardly anyone knew. He then thought that it could be someone from the team checking up on him, but no one had the number. He let it keep ringing hoping the caller would hang up, but it didn't stop. He got up, grabbed the phone, and answered it. "Hello."

"Hey you, don't think I don't know that you're back, I just saw you look at me." It was her, damn she saw him and now he was talking to her. "You know it's been a year since I heard from you, where've ya been? You know what; don't tell me I'll ask ya in person."

"Ask me in person, where are you?"

"Open your back door." Leon went to the back door and opened it; there she was in her red bathing suit, a blue towel wrapped around her waist. She smiled and hung up her cellphone, "hey bub."

Leon still speechless, hung up his phone. "Hey," he said.

"Well aren't ya going to invite me in?" she said impatiently.

"Um yeah, come in," he replied as she walked in. He closed the door behind her and followed her into the kitchen, setting the phone down on the counter.

"So I see ya got back a week ago, when were ya gonna come and tell me?"

"I wasn't sure I was hoping no one would notice."

"That's bullshit Leon! You suddenly leave one year ago without a single explanation and suddenly reappear. You didn't think no one would notice, gosh even Benny knows your back, he saw you that night you came home," she sat in a chair and turned her back to him.

"He knows, why…"

"Why didn't he come and say anything, he figured you would have the balls and go say something yourself, after all you're the one that left him hanging out to dry." Leon winced after she said that, knowing what she was talking about.

"Look Akisha, I'm sorry…" he said as he approached her.

"Don't," she said as she stood up and backed away, "don't think that sorry is going to make this better," tears began to well up in her eyes. "I waited I waited two months thinking I would hear something from you. I heard nothing, nothing except that you went to LA and joined some other racing team."

"Where'd ya hear that?"

"I heard it through the grapevine. Someone said they saw you race one night on a team lead by a Dominic Toretto. Many thought you had bailed out on us and left us for them. We thought you had abandoned us."

"I would never do that, not to them and especially not to you," he said as he tried to approach her again. She allowed him and he held her close, not caring that his tank top was getting soaked. "I really am sorry Akisha, I never wanted to hurt anyone, you know that," he kissed her on the head, then gently on the lips. "I…am…so…sorry," he kissed her lips after saying each word."

"I'm not sure if I can forgive you, so much has happened in my life. I wanted to know that I could come to you, that wasn't possible because you were gone, so I had to deal with it myself."

"What happen?" he said with concern.

"Well remember my mom walked out on my dad and me a month before you left, we found out a month later that it was because she was cheating on him and wanted to be with this guy. Six months after that my dad died in a drive-by. I couldn't handle it, losing then both and having no one to turn to. I had the team, but it wasn't enough. I wanted the one person who could make it all better there with me, but he wasn't he was somewhere else."

"Well I could try to apologize again, but it wouldn't make a difference. I want to come out and say sorry to the rest of the team, when's the next…"

"Don't bother; Benny said that if he ever saw you again he'd personally kill you;" she headed for the door."

"Look I really want to, tell me when the next race is?"

"Fine it's in the warehouse district, by the old saw mill tonight."

"Great I'll be there," he said smiling.

"I'm sure ya will," she said as she walked out the door letting it shut behind her. He followed opening the door and watching her walk across his yard to the wire fence that separated their yards. She opened the gate and entered her backyard without looking back. When she entered her house, he went back inside and closed the door. He went back to the table and got his plate, the food already cold. He went over to the garbage can and dumped it in, setting the plate in the sink. He grabbed the pitcher of OJ and chugged down half of it and put it back in the fridge. He wiped his mouth on his soaked tank and headed upstairs to take a shower.

As he showered, he went back to the events of the morning. He couldn't help but remember the way Akisha looked at him while he was trying to apologize. He saw the feelings of hurt and anger, knowing the words were never going to make up for the actions. He quickly finished and headed to his room to get changed. As he got dressed, he noticed the phone by his clock. He was tempted to call Benny and apologize, but refused knowing that he would tear out his throat like Akisha did. He decided to just finish getting dressed and head out.

To be continued