Everest Green was determined to go through her four years of college unnoticed by steering clear of any kind of trouble. Law school was her ultimate goal and no one was going to stand in her way, not even the Greek god lookalikes at Bowling Green Un...
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I remember hearing a quote from Iyanla Vanzant one of the nights where Ev and I just lay in her bed whilst she reads me parts of her favorite books. At first, I didn't understand the full extent of what it meant for me until this very moment.
Until you release the wounds of your past, you're going to bleed. Vanzant wrote. You can bandage the bleeding with food, with alcohol, with drugs, with work, with cigarettes, with sex. But eventually, it will all ooze through and stain your life. You must find the strength to open your wounds, stick your hands inside, pull out the core of the pain that is holding you in your past, the memories, and make peace with them. Standing on the front porch in the house of the man I once called dad, I understood why I needed to make peace with the demons of my past.
I've been staring at the white wooden door for the past ten minutes, debating on whether I should ring the doorbell or not. Ev was standing next to me, patiently waiting for me to build up the courage to do so. She squeezed my hand to give me a little reassurance that she was here, that I had her to lean on and that I wasn't alone. "I'm right here, you don't have to face this alone anymore."
I smile at her and I turn my gaze back to the door. Taking a deep breath, I built up the courage to ring the small golden doorbell. It took a few minutes and the voice of a woman who shouted "coming!" before the front door opened. She was surprised to see Ev and me on the other side of the door and I believe it was because she probably had no idea who we were. "Hi, how can I help you?"
"Hey," I offer her a smile. "I'm Connery and this is my girlfriend Everest. I'm here to see Scott. "
"I didn't know he was expecting any visitors today, but you can come in." She smiles as she leads us inside to the living room. "He's outside with our daughter Malia. I'll let him know you're here."
Before she walked away I stopped her. "You can tell him that his son is here to see him."
She turned around to meet my gaze and she looked like she had seen a ghost. Out of all the people that could've rung that doorbell, I bet I was the last person she was expecting to do so. And I don't blame her. If Scott had the decency, to be honest with her, he would've told her how I slammed the door shut in his face and wanted nothing to do with him.
"Pardon my ignorance Connery, I didn't recognize you. You would think I would remember you from all of the pictures Scott has of you around the house."Pictures? Of me? "He'll be so happy to hear that you're here to see him. I'll be right back."
I nod and as I waited for her to come back I looked around the living room I spotted a very familiar picture. Walking over to the small table that sat below the TV, I picked up the picture frame that had a picture of Emma and me with Scott. I remember that day, how could I forget? We were happy. It was the last fishing trip we took to the lake before the bottle became Scott's best friend.
flashback
"Honey!" My mom shouts from the front porch of our house. "Are you sure you have everything? For some reason, you always seem to forget something."
