Short chapter, sorry, I wanted to end it where it ends.

Chapter Three

When I was eight years old we moved from Detroit, Michigan to Findlay, Ohio. Moving all of our items took up most of the summer, so when school rolled around I didn't know anyone in town. The first day of school was a blur; I attended a small private school just a couple miles away. I remember my teacher Mrs. Raynan coming up to me and handing me a note. I asked her what it was and all she said was: "I need you to give this note to your parents. Your mommy and daddy need to schedule a conference for next month." I decided not to mention the "no father" aspect and just smiled. Every year, teacher after teacher would tell me the same thing. Don't you think by now they would notice that a man never came to these planned events?

x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x

Mom and I went back home. Once we arrived I took a short nap and called up Mr. Shelk, the owner of the sugar shack. I asked about my job, hoping I still had it. With a little negotiating he agreed to let me take two weeks off while keeping my employment. Curtis stayed in Wooster and started college the following week. He called me practically every night. He wanted to know how my mother was and if everything was pretty much back to normal. I wasn't quite able to answer all of his questions. She acted semi-normal for the most part. The only thing I really saw her do was clean. The house was completely trashed from when Jason came by. He must have chased her through the house. Our kitchen table only had three legs now and the breezeway window was completely shattered. There was lots of broken glass and torn curtains along the floor but mom treated it as if she was doing normal housework. I got up off the couch and went outside. Today was a perfect day to go for a run. The temperature was just right.

Finding running wear seemed harder than usual. I only own about two pairs of shorts and all I could find were the extremely short jean ones, but those would be very uncomfortable to run in. I walked across the hall into my mom's room and grabbed some shorts. Although they were hot pink, ugh my lease favorite color, I didn't mind. I went for a short jog around the block, a little over two miles. When I got home, instead of going straight for the shower I sat down to read my e-mails.

DC had sent me an e-mail, which said:

Hey Claire,

I missed you so much! I hope you get a chance to visit me

in the next couple of weeks. School started and it's been very

hectic. I hope everything is going smoothly in Findlay. Give me an

update soon! By the way, my cell phone fell into the sink somehow

so we can only talk by e-mail until I get a new one.

Love,

Dwayne

It was nice hearing from him. I hadn't realized it but that was why I hadn't received any calls in the past few days. He was the only one who actually new my number. I decided to sit down and e-mail him back

Hey Dwayne!

How did you drop your phone in the sink? Well, things in Findlay

have been somewhat okay. Pretty boring. I'll try and stop by next

week. Well, I don't know if I can. I can't just leave my mom here alone.

Love you and miss you,

Clairence.

I signed it with my real first name, only because he liked it. He believed it to be unique. I hated it, I decided to say it every once and awhile. Just for him, you know?

x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x

I stepped off the train and walked into the Wooster station. Dwayne was already waiting for me. That reassured me that I was safe. I felt safe in his presence. "Dwayne! I've missed you so much!" Seeing him and being in his arms felt so comforting.

"Aww, I've missed you too. How long can you stay?"

"Two weeks. My mom is staying with my grandparents down in Georgia. I wanted to spend time with you!"

"C'mon lets go to the apartment."

As I stepped into the apartment I heard someone in his room. "Dwayne...Is someone here?"

"Hi there sweetie! You must be Claire, Dwayne's new little friend?" The lady said.

"Uh, yeah." I managed a smile. I looked over to Dwayne and gave him that who-the-fuck look.

"Claire, this is my mom..." He looked embarrassed. He turned to his mom. "How did you get in here? Why are you here?" He whispered.

"Are you not glad to see me?" She sounded like she had an accent. Perhaps she hadn't lived in Ohio that long.

"Naw, Mom. Don't get me wrong. I love it when you visit. You didn't tell me you were coming. I have company..."

"Oh she doesn't mind." She looks at me. "Do you mind?" She asked with a slight attitude.

I stared back for a few seconds, looked at DC and then looked back. "No. Of course not. I don't mind at all. He is your son. You should spend some quality time together." Dwayne looked at me. He was probably thinking: You're going to regret this Claire! I smiled at him softly. "I'm going to go get some coffee from down the street... Want any?"

Both of them shook their heads. I wanted to get out of there. His mother was giving me a migraine. As I shut the door I could hear Mrs. Curtis talking about me. "She doesn't like me! Why did she leave? Dwayne...Why are you so upset about me being here? Were you planning on having sex with that girl?

"Mom, just shush! I'm sure she likes you. She is getting coffee. I am not upset... I have a headache. I was not planning oh having sex with her mom. Please..."

I decided not to listen in anymore. I wanted coffee.

When I got back his mother was gone. "Oh god! What'd you do to her...?" I said jokingly.

"Oh shut up Claire!" He said with a giggle. "No, she freaked out and left because she didn't feel she made a good first impression."

"Oh. Woops."

Dwayne leaned in as to kiss me but I leaned back. He didn't like that. "What are you trying to do Dwayne?"

"Ha." Why did he just laugh? I began to get scared. I could tell he had been drinking before I got back from the coffee place. I could smell it on his breath.

"I'm tired. I think I'm going to go take a nap or something. Okay?" He didn't respond. Which made my stomach twitch. I was kind of scared. Curtis never had acted this way towards me before. It just didn't seem like him. His mom must have really ticked him off. Alcohol is a depressant if you didn't know.

I walked into the room and put on one of his shirts. It was big on me, but comfy enough to rest in. I took my contacts out, wow, I never wore those things. His bed was quite old. You could tell because if you made a lot of movement it creaked. Ha.

I turned off the lights and walked over to the bed. Dwayne Curtis and his drunk self followed…

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