Flashback to Now
Chapter 16
Sully had hoped that giving Liz the night to herself, she would be able to clear her head. As he slowly left his apartment, her words the night before rang
throughout his head, clanging against the walls of his skull and piercing his brain. He wasn't the same man anymore, she had said. He knew exactly what that
meant. It was his drinking that was the problem. It was hurting her, it was hurting Ty. The realization dawned, he was hurting himself. He didn't have
Tatianna anymore, but now he was going to get Liz back. And he was keeping her back.
Liz was wandering aimlessly around her apartment, and looked at a picture on the wall. She didn't know why it was there, she had hung it in a burst of
happiness one day. It was of her and Sully, when she was five. He had given her a birthday party when her father had given her a slap in the face. What was
wrong with her? She wondered. Had she really jumped all over him when she needed him? She snapped out of her thoughts when the buzzer sounded in her apartment.
The words were pouring out of her. Sully was sitting on her couch, drinking some coke while she sat across from him. He had finally asked her about Pennsylvania, and she was finally sharing. "I never left to leave you, Sully," she stated. "And I know I left with no explanation as to why I was going there. Truth be told, I didn't want you to know because you would have shot me down." "Now why would I have done that? When have I ever done that?" Sully asked. Liz sighed and stood up, wiping the sweat off her palms on her sweatpants. "Because maybe, just maybe, I knew my mistake myself and I didn't want anyone else to echo my doubts. Then I would've stayed. Sul, I found my mother there." "Your mother?" Sully repeated, surprised. "Yes, I was just, just looking at the area that they were offering me to place me. I was looking at the phone book, for God's sake. I was bored that day. And I saw her name, on the same street the job was going to place me on." "Wow," Sully breathed. "Unbelieveable." "Yeah," Liz sighed, and stopped to breathe for a moment. "Well, what happened with her?" Sully carefully pushed. "Well, at first it was wonderful. She," Liz laughed a little before continuing. "She actually welcomed me with open arms, telling me how sorry she was for leaving, but Al had been hitting her and she needed to leave. She was sorry she couldn't take me with her, but she knew she couldn't support a baby with the amount of money she had, and she didn't think Al would hurt me. She brought me around, introduced me to all of her friends. That was around when I realized what she was doing. She was using me. She was putting herself out there as this fragile, damaged woman with no happiness, constantly acting for attention. Me? I was perfect for her. I would get her the attention she craved. Until people got tired of hearing the same story all the time. Then suddenly, she stopped calling and visiting. I'd go to see her and she'd give me some excuse of why I couldn't be there. I gave up. We were living on the same street, but we weren't friends, we weren't mother and daughter. By then, Pete had been settled and you had told me not to come back, so I didn't." Liz finished. "Liz, Liz," Sully trailed off. "Liz, I am so sorry. I never, ever really meant that you needed to stay." "Yeah, well. You sounded pretty damn serious," Liz said blandly. Sully sighed. "Sully?" Liz asked. "Yeah?" He answered. "Why didn't you tell me about Tatianna?" "I don't know Liz, I just don't know. By then, you had never called, never written, and it had been years. So many years. You had never tried to make contact after 9/11, so I thought, so I figured you wouldn't care. That I had been cut out of your life. I wouldn't be surprised if I was," Sully said, before finally saying, "I wouldn't be surprised if you did now." Liz was quiet for a moment, and reached out for his hand. "I'm sorry Papa Bear," she said tearfully. "I'm sorry too, Sweet Pea," Sully whispered. They were both silent for a long moment, before Liz finally broke the silence by saying, "Papa Bear? Please don't think I'm crazy, but I want to see my father. Will you take me?"
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Again, sorry about Chapter 3! I have it fixed, but it is out of order!
