Growing up I didn't have it easy. My mom wasn't close to her family and she was an alcoholic. My neighborhood was a bad, violent, with a lot of gang and drug activity. Because my home life was filled with drunk rages by my mother, I fit right in with my surroundings.
On occasion, I would go visit my uncle Fred and spend time with him and his family in the suburbs. Fred was married to Jackie and they had a daughter, my cousin Betty. Betty and I were both only children and were like brother and sister growing up. Even though we lived in different cities we dealt with the same stuff at home. Betty would tell me that Fred could just explode out of no-where and when he did he would take it out on her and her mother. I remember always wanting to protect Betty but I couldn't because I was just a kid.
In my teenage years, I ended up becoming a violent street kid who had a reputation of being a tough kid. My reputation even reached Betty's town and while she was in high school I would drive out to pick her up from school just to send a message to anyone who thought about bothering her. My uncle and his wife didn't want Betty to have anything to do with me because, as they would tell her "Jack is not a good person and under no circumstances are you allowed to associate with him, EVER!"
As I grew older I got out of the street life and ended up becoming a mechanic. I straightened my life out for the most part. Because of my childhood, I didn't trust anyone so it was hard to maintain a relationship. So, as you can guess I lived alone with no kids and just went to work and paid my bills.
When I turned 40 I got a friend request on Facebook from my cousin Betty. I thought "WOW! I wonder how she has been? I haven't seen or heard from her since we were teenagers." I accepted the request and looked to see if she was online and luckily, she was.
"Hey Betty, how are you? Long time no talk."
"Hey Jack! I'm good. How are you? Yes, long time! Are you still living in Providence? I live in Maine now with my mother. We don't talk to my father and haven't in years. We finally got away from him and his abuse 20 years ago. My mom has been sick over the past 7 years and I'm stuck taking care of her."
"Yes, I'm still in Providence. Sorry about your mom. Just so you know I don't speak to anyone in our family. I straightened my life out and I'm doing well. Glad you are too and I'm sorry I didn't protect you more when we were younger."
"Don't be sorry it wasn't your fault and you had it worse than me."
Betty and I exchanged cell numbers and ended up talking for hours. Most of the conversation was sad, she had gone through years of abuse from her father and hadn't been able to shake the damage it caused. Betty told me she suffers from anxiety and depression and doesn't drive and hasn't left Maine since she and her mother moved there. Her mother still doesn't allow her to have a life using her illness to keep Betty close.
We would talk a few times a week about how we needed to see each other and reconnect. This went on for about two years, we would call when we got angry, depressed, and most importantly to make fun of our personal lives or lack of them.
I called Betty when I decided I was going to take a few days off next month. I told her if she wanted I would "drive to Maine and we could get dinner and go to a movie or at least see each other after all these years?"
"That would be awesome! I feel bad you'll be driving all the way up here and then have to drive all the way back though. I'd invite you to stay here for the night but you wouldn't want to deal with my mother."
"I think I'm going to rent a hotel room, I don't want to drive back it's a four-hour drive."
As the weekend approached for my trip to Maine Betty's anxiety started kicking into overdrive. She was worried about how heavy she was and was her mother going to leave her alone so she could go out for once? That she was 42 years old and all she wanted to do was see her cousin after all of these years and not make me drive all the way up there just to have a miserable time.
I calmed her down by telling her "you're my cousin and it doesn't matter what you look like and let's just have fun finally getting to see each other after all these years. Deal?"
"YES, DEAL!"
I drove up and we agreed I would call her when I got settled in the hotel and she would come meet me there. I was looking forward to sleeping in the motel, I could leave it a mess and not have to clean up after myself for once.
I got to the motel and texted Betty to let her know the room number. The desk would give her a card to get in and that I was going to jump in the shower and get ready.
Betty was coming in just as I was picking clothes to wear. I only had a towel wrapped around my waist as she ran to me yelling "JACK! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CAME!"
She gave me a huge hug and I hugged her back. I totally forgot that I was only in a towel and it almost fell off in front of her.
Betty said "oh shit, I'm so sorry I wasn't paying attention." She then turned beat red as I walked away to the bathroom holding my towel up.
