Ancil“Well, now you’ve found him. The same douchebag who left you without saying goodbye. The same douchebag who left you heartbroken. You found him,” I said.
“Well this douchebag doesn’t beat homeless men,” Tom Hiddens quipped. “The man can’t even walk for God’s sake. What could a man who can’t walk possibly do to you?”
I didn’t answer.
“You were trying to find me and you asked Mr. Peters if he had seen me. He told you that he saw me but asked for more money than you could have paid. You kept begging him but he insisted that you pay him first. You got angry and took it all out on him.” Kate started. “How am I doing so far?”
The homeless man stopped wailing and said, “She’s good.”
“I was having a bad day,” I said.
“A bad day, really?” Kate scoffed and looked up into the sky. “Do you know who you sound like right now?” Kate asked.
“Who?”
“My father. That was always his excuse. That he was having a bad day. Every time he was having a day he would take it all out on us. Based on tonight, I’m assuming that if you’re having a bad day, you’ll do the same,” Kate said.
“I’m not like that. I’m different,” I said.
“No, you’re not. And this is why I refrain from loving new people because of people like you, Ron.” Kate’s eyes began to water. “I really thought you were different. I really did Ron.” Kate then walked past me and towards Mr. Peters on the ground. She said a couple of soft words to him. I didn’t hear what she said but I heard Mr. Peters thanking her.
I clenched my jaw, closed my eyes, and sighed. Kate walked over to Tom and said, without turning back to me, “Let’s go Tom.”
Tom Hiddens wrapped his arms around her and walked over to his white limousine which was parked on the other side of the road. I tried following them but the two guards held me back and grabbed Kate’s purse from me.
“Kate!” I shouted. “You can’t do this to me.”
Before she got into the vehicle she turned around and said, “Goodbye Ron.”
“You can’t just leave,” I started. “You don’t get to. You can’t just come into someone’s life and just — and just leave.” My eyes began to water. “After all the hell I’ve been through just to be with you, you can’t just leave.”
“After all the hell YOU’VE been through!!” Kate spat, abruptly turning around to face me. “You don’t know the first thing about going through hell. I’ve lived in hell all my life. I see the devil every day and I call him dad so you don’t have any right to stand there and act as if your life is so awful and meaningless without me. At least you have a family who loves you and treats you with respect.”
“Ohh you think my life is all sunshine and rainbows, huh? You think I don’t have hardships too. You complain about your father and how awful he is but at least you HAVE A FATHER! Right now I’d do anything to get my father back and here you are, complaining about yours.”
“I’m -“
“I never meant to hurt you, Kate,” I quickly interjected. “It was never in my intention. Everything I did within the past couple of days was for you. I attacked Mr. Peters because — because I thought that your father or one of his buddies had found you and — and I wanted to be there to protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection Ron and I never asked for it. The knight in shining armor swooping in and saving the damsel in distress works great in fairy tales and romance novels but in the real world, with enough determination, the damsel could save her own damn life.”
I was at a loss for words for a split second but before I was able to respond Tom scoffed, “Are we done here? My car seats are getting cold.”
“Yeah, we’re done here,” Kate avowed, before turning around and heading to the Limousine with Tom and the two bodyguards.
“I get it now!” I shouted out to her as she walked away. “You never loved me. You were just using me to fulfill the fantasy role that you wrote about in your book. I was just your Tom. Admit it.” Without responding Kate got into the limousine with Tom and his bodyguards.
“Admit it!” I shouted, almost hysterically but my pleas grew useless as they just drove off. I stood in the middle of the street watching the rear lights of the limousine dim as it got further away. My legs felt weaker than they had ever been. I fell to my knees in the middle of the empty street in a puddle of tears as the realization of what just happened hit me.
Kate was gone.
