MORGAN
I didn’t know what to say after the race.
I mean, they said things were cool, but something in me felt like it wasn’t especially after what Beans did to Papi.
Paige pulled up to the address I had given her.
When I got out of the car, I figured Kareem would get out with me, but he stayed behind. “You’re not coming with me?” I asked.
“I want to, but I need to go see Bishop. I will get up with you, I promise,” he said to me.
I nodded as he closed the door. Paige gave me a tight-lipped smile as she drove off.
I was standing in my parents’ driveway, and it only made me feel like, although I had escaped Stone Castle for a little bit, I had somehow ended up back here.
The princess who had it all, but felt like she was missing out on everything.
As soon as I turned around, my mother was standing there.
I had no words to say as I brushed past her and ran toward the guest house.
I was beginning to feel trapped. I went on an adventure of a lifetime with a man that I had fallen for, only to be back where I started.
It wasn’t until I lived on the edge that I realized that I needed to get the hell away from here.
The only caveat to that was that I wanted Kareem to escape with me.
When I got inside the house, I stood there and glanced around. “What would it take?” I mumbled.
“You really like that boy, don’t you?” I heard my mother’s voice creep up behind me.
I turned to see her standing there. She weakly smiled.
“When you ran off and married that boy, what’s his name, Papi?
I knew you had lost your mind, but your father and I said nothing.
We wanted you to experience what you thought you knew on your own.
Morgan, we allow you to move freely because our fear was that you would do exactly what you did, run. ”
A tear trickled down my face. “I-I ran because you guys were trying to control something I had control of,” I explained.
Her lips tightened as she nodded and came closer to me.
“But did you have control? You didn’t control that boy being snatched up out of here like some animal?
You didn’t control those feelings that you didn’t think would appear, but did.
We know you’re grown, and I see it in your eyes; it was the same way I looked at your father when I knew he was the one. So, what now?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She embraced me in a hug, “I sense a woman who’s ready to venture out on her own.
I tell you what, spend the holidays with your father and me.
After that, you pick the place, and we’ll get you set up there to do whatever your heart desires, but you have to promise to always come back to visit Stone Castle. ”
I quickly pulled away, “What do you know about Stone Castle?”
“Morgan, I’m your mother. I see when you’re playing those video games.
Or when you ramble on about how you’re like that princess Shira.
I love you, and the last thing I want is for my child to feel like I’m stopping them from being free,” she said as she kissed me on my cheek.
“I saw it in his eyes. He feels the same. If he’s the one, he will rescue you just as you want him to. ” She winked and left out.
This was a moment I knew I needed to be grateful for, because I had parents who cared, especially when others didn’t have anyone to call their own.