Destiny

by Mitchel Grace

  I could hear the disappointment in his voice. My uncle truly thought highly of me. How disappointing must I have been over those few months? He had seen me reject the potential mother of my child and become a common crook in a span of four months. I had to question who I even was now.

  “I can’t come home. You didn’t teach me to run. I’ll do better. I’ll find a way to clean up the mess here,” I said.

  “Sometimes we can’t fix everything, Eric. You have a woman here who could still love you and a family who always will. Are you sure you don’t want to walk away?”

  “I’m positive. You taught me better than that. Nothing like last night will ever happen again, and I’m going to make the best out of the situation I’m in now. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll turn this into a positive. If things go south, I’ll take responsibility for my actions, too.”

  “No. If it comes to that, you’ll come home. I believe in standing up for a lot of things, but I’m not going to lose another family member to that place.”

  We talked for a minute longer and got off the phone. I didn’t know it back then, but I learned later that Uncle Gary made a call on my behalf that night. He called Ms. Winters and asked for Olivia’s number. When it was all said and done, he had called Olivia and told her about the trouble I was in. He told her everything except about the girl I spent time with the night before. I think Uncle Gary knew that there was only one person who could still remind me of who I used to be. That was Olivia. She was the first person I had ever loved, and that love was still pure. It might have been the last thing left that was pure about me. Within a few minutes, I received a call from Olivia.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Hey, I’m just calling to check in on you and give you some news. How are you doing?”

  “I’m doing all right. What’s the news?”

  “First, tell me what’s going on with you. I can always tell when you’re lying. Things aren’t really fine, are they?”

  “How can you tell that?”

  “You have a certain sound in your voice when you’re sad or feeling overwhelmed. I know you better than anyone, Eric. What’s wrong?”

  “Let’s just say that I got a very difficult roommate.”

  “So that’s all you can say about it?”

  “It’s not that I can’t say more. I just don’t want to think about it right now. The best thing we can talk about is you. I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too. You’ll tell me everything eventually, so I’ll give you some good news instead of questioning you about this more. I’ve got a couple of weeks between summer classes that are completely free. I was thinking I might drop in during that time. What do you think?”

  “You would come to Miami?”

  “Of course. I’ve always wanted to see where you grew up.”

  “I’ve got to warn you. I don’t exactly live on the rich side of town anymore. I’m in a dorm room right now.”

  “I don’t care what you live in. I just want to reconnect again. We wasted our last months together being angry, or at least I did. I want to get back to the basics with you.”

  “And what were the basics again?”

  “You know. Things used to be simple. We didn’t have to worry about what was or wasn’t between us. I could laugh and joke with you. I think we were best friends who just happened to love each other. That’s what I want.”

  “I agree. That’s a long time from now, though. It’s going to be hard to wait.”

  “That’s another thing we should talk about. I don’t expect you to wait on me. We broke up in the summer, and given that we’re so far away, I wouldn’t say that we’re together now. I don’t like the idea of you dating anyone else, but I don’t have the right to ask you to wait until next summer. We’re both free to do what we want. I just ask that you save a special place in your heart for me, no matter who else you find there.”

  “I will always have a special place for you. I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone else.”

  “I hope not. So are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s going on with your roommate?”

  “I forgot how nosey you used to be,” I joked.

  “Nosey? As I recall, you were always the one asking me questions about every little thing.”

  “Me? What are you talking about? I let you have your secrets.”

  “Who are you kidding? I told you everything. All I’m asking is for a little hint about what’s so bad about this guy? Does he snore?” she joked.

  “No. If it was that simple, I would be all right.”

  “Oh, well, my roommate snores. I didn’t know that girls snored like her, but trust me when I say that it is a big deal. If the guy across the hall didn’t let me stay with him, I don’t know if I would ever sleep.”

  “Well, that’s . . . wait a minute! Guy?”

  “So I can still make you jealous!”

  “Forget that! What guy?”

  “There is no guy, and my roommate doesn’t snore. I made it all up to see just how much I could get under your skin. It looks like I’ve still got it,” Olivia said and laughed.

  “Thank you. I really needed this.”

  “Well, if I had known me teasing you about other guys would make you feel so relieved, I would have started doing it years ago,” she joked.

  “I wouldn’t count on it working in the future.”

  “So it’s just a one-time thing then?”

  “Definitely.”

  “All right. You seriously need to tell me what’s going on with your roommate. Is he involved in anything illegal?”

  “Kind of. Actually, I think it’s very illegal, and then there’s the drugs.”

  “Drugs? Don’t tell me you’re smoking again. We tried it that one time, and all you did was stare off. I thought we agreed drugs weren’t for us after that.”

  “I’m not doing drugs. He just has some problems, and I’m trying to manage it for him.”

  “I think you’ve got a lot to manage on your own. I say let him go his own way and keep your life separate.”

  “I wish it were that easy.”

  “It is. Just trust me. Hang in there until I can see you in the summer. I’m sure I’ll be able to straighten everything out then.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  “All right. I’ve got some things to do, so I’m going to get off here. Call me anytime, though. I don’t mean to get overly emotional, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. I know we have the choice to abort a fetus in this country, and to most people, that’s all it is - a fetus. I think I made a horrible mistake a few months ago, though. I think that was a child. No matter how bad we screwed up, that still makes you the father of my child. I’m always going to be there for someone I share that kind of history with.”

  “You didn’t do anything wrong, Olivia. I was the one who . . .”

  “That doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over. I just wanted you to know that to me we’ll always share an unbreakable bond. Take that for what it’s worth.”

  “It’s worth a lot. We’re not a couple, but take this for what it’s worth, too. I love you, and I haven’t stopped loving you from the first time I laid eyes on you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  As we hung up, I couldn’t help but smile. There was just something about hearing her voice again. We were apart, and odds were that the distance would eventually build a wall between us. Still, I knew in my heart that I could find a way back to her one day. I just had to pray it was sooner rather than later. I had already met someone in Miami. Sure, Cindy didn’t mean anything to me, but the thought of Olivia being with anyone else was disheartening. That should have been the least of my worries, though. Over the next year, I would be taking responsibility for my choices. I would keep Emmitt out of trouble as best I could and make ten percent off of every offer that we chose to accept. It was hard the first time. A man who owned a car lot offered us $5,000 to hang around for an event for a few hours. It sounded ridiculous, but it act
ually brought people to his car lot, and his sales went through the roof. The backdoor deals rolled in from there. It got easier to pretend that what I was doing was okay. In some ways, I was completely messed up. I don’t even know if I had a moral compass anymore. Maybe I should have taken my uncle’s invitation to come back home. For then, all I was doing was lying in the bed that I had made for myself. In some ways, I think I believed that was taking responsibility for what I had done. School, football games, backdoor deals, and paychecks consumed my year, and then it was over. Summer had finally come.

  Chapter 17

  The Perfect Sin

  Summer

  During the summer, Emmitt and I decided to get an apartment. We were making plenty of money, so it made sense. We could have gotten something much nicer, but it might have looked suspicious, and rumors were already swirling around the Miami football program. We figured it would be better to get something that college students could normally afford. It was two weeks before school was supposed to start back, and Olivia was coming to visit. As I started to walk out the door to pick her up at the airport, Emmitt stopped me.

  “Are you sure about this, man?” he asked.

  “Yeah, Olivia’s my oldest friend. What’s not to be sure about?”

  “We live a certain way. I don’t know how bringing in some girl from your old life is going to affect that.”

  He did have a point. While one-night stands weren’t something that became a habit for me, a lot of bad things did become a part of my life. Drunken nights, parties, and a lot of illegal activity had become routine.

  “She’s cool. You’ll see,” I said for lack of a better option.

  As I walked to my car, I wondered if this would end terribly. Olivia knew me as a totally different person. I still felt like that same boy, but my actions were clearly different. What would she think of me? For that matter, what would she think of Emmitt? He was a little rough around the edges. I quickly shook those thoughts off. There was no need to be negative. I had been looking forward to seeing her for a year. Why wouldn’t I enjoy this?

  After I got to the airport and found her at the gate, I froze. She looked different than I remembered. She was a year older and much more mature. She dressed differently and walked with a new kind of confidence. She was even more beautiful than before. I couldn’t help but stare in amazement as she walked toward me. How had I ever been lucky enough to be with her?

  “Well, are you going to stare at me all day or give me a hug?” she asked as she stepped in front of me.

  I hugged her immediately. It felt so good to have her in my arms again. I didn’t know until then what I had truly left. The money I made with Emmitt was certainly good, and the girls I met were incredible, but they weren’t this girl.

  “Okay, I didn’t mean you should hug me and never let go,” Olivia joked.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve just missed you. You look incredible. I never thought I could say this, but you look even more beautiful than before.”

  “You don’t look too bad yourself. I can’t wait to see your place,” she said as her phone rang.

  I led her to the car as she talked on the phone. I couldn’t help but overhear some of the conversation.

  “Yeah, we’re having a great time, baby. Don’t worry. I’ll be home soon. I miss you,” Olivia said just before she hung up.

  “Baby?” I questioned her with one eyebrow raised.

  “Yeah, I have a boyfriend.”

  “I don’t know why, but I didn’t see that coming. I guess I should have never left you there alone.”

  “Oh, come on! I’m sure you haven’t been unattached this whole time.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “So you’re saying that you’ve been with no one since me?”

  “No, not exactly.”

  “See. I don’t expect you to be innocent while we’re apart. We’re friends now, right?”

  I nodded, but the word friends sounded terrible. How had Olivia put me in the friend zone? We had always been far more than just friends. I was insulted by this whole thing.

  “So what kind of guy is he?” I asked.

  “You know him. I went to the same college as Richard. We got back together last semester.”

  “What? Why would you have gotten back with that guy?”

  “He’s had a hard time lately. Richard got hurt last year. He was in a car accident, and he suffered a bad back injury. It broke several bones, and he had to have surgery. He’s fine now, or at least he’s walking all right, but he can never play football again. That was his ticket to getting rich and doing what he loved. As you can imagine, Richard was pretty down when he heard that he couldn’t play anymore. What’s worse was that they pulled his scholarship. He’s just kind of floating through life right now. I figured he could use a friend with everything that was happening, and it just developed from there.”

  “Okay. I can’t say I love the idea of you being with him, but that’s your choice. What I really don’t understand is how you got him to be okay with you coming to see me.”

  “Oh, he doesn’t know about that. He thinks I’m in Cancun with some friends. I’m pretty sure he would completely flip out if he knew I was with you.”

  “Should he?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that I thought you were coming here for a different reason than just to visit with an old friend. Does he have a reason to be jealous?”

  “That’s not an easy question to answer. You’re just my friend right now, but in my heart, you’ll always be more than that. I’m here to visit an old friend, but I still love him just as much as I ever did.”

  “That didn’t completely answer my question.”

  “Don’t make things complicated, Eric. This is simple. I have a boyfriend, but I wouldn’t fly to Miami if you didn’t mean a lot to me. Take that for what it is.”

  I changed the subject. Maybe I was overcomplicating things. Olivia was there with me. No matter what else was going on, shouldn’t that be enough?

  After we got to the apartment, I showed Olivia around and introduced her to Emmitt. Everything was going well until Emmitt invited us out.

  “While you were gone, I got a call from William. He’s having a get-together on his boat tonight. Do you guys want to come?” Emmitt asked.

  “Who’s William?” Olivia asked.

  “Just this friend we have who’s got a lot of money. I think we should skip on the party tonight. Olivia just got in, and . . .” I managed to say before she cut me off.

  “I would love to go. How could I turn down a boat party with this guy and a famous football player? It sounds like fun.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “I’m positive. I want to meet all of your friends.”

  I didn’t want her to meet any of them. William seemed like a nice guy, but he was a snake in the grass who was only looking out for his own interest. I had gotten to know enough by then to understand how he made his fortune. He did things that were similar to my parents’ work before he got enough money to open the club. From there, business boomed, and a millionaire playboy was born. As for my other friends, they consisted of football players, who I hoped to represent one day, and beautiful people with almost nothing inside. What would she think of me if she knew just who I really was?

  While Olivia went to get ready for the party, Emmitt sat down beside me and said something that made things even more troubling.

  “You never told me that girl was smoking hot. Here I was thinking that I made you into some type of ladies man when you could already land a perfect ten before I even knew you,” he said.

  “Yeah, she’s the best I’ve ever done. I really miss her being around.”

  “I would miss that, too. Let me ask you something. What’s the deal with you two?”

  “She’s got a boyfriend now, so there’s nothing between us.”

  “Oh, so you won’t mind if I move in then?”
>
  “Are you joking? I just told you she has a boyfriend.”

  “When has that ever stopped me? Face it. Women love me.”

  “Women love your name and the cash we flash around. Olivia’s different.”

  “You want to bet?”

  “Are you joking?”

  “No, I’m not. All women are pretty much the same. You’ve held this girl on a pedestal for the last year. No girl I’ve introduced you to has been good enough. I can show you that they’re all the same, if you’re not going to get pissed about it when I make a move.”

  “She’s not like other girls. If you can seduce her with your lame tactics, then go ahead.”

  “You are going to be sorry for that comment, my friend,” he joked.

  “What are you two talking about?” Olivia asked as she walked out.

  “Nothing,” I said.

  She looked at me suspiciously, but I quickly suggested that we leave. It was almost time for the party, so we might as well go. As we drove to the docks, I felt a little uneasy, though. Had I always held Olivia on a pedestal? What if she was like every other woman? Had I just given Emmitt the right to sleep with the only girl I had ever loved? For that matter, should I even be worried about that when Richard might have been sleeping with her? Then there was me. I was jealous of what she was doing when I hadn’t been innocent in a single way while we were apart. It was completely illogical and messed up in the worst way, and all of it was driving me crazy.

  “You all right there, Eric?” Emmitt asked.

  “Yeah. Why?” I asked as I snapped out of my trance-like state.

  “You just ran a red light. It seems like something’s up.”

  “He’s not lying. Your face has been getting redder and redder over the last few minutes,” Olivia said.