“Fuck!” He shouted and some families looked at us. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down to sit by me. “Madison I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking, I just saw them from your number and thought it was true.”
I couldn’t be mad at him. Mr. Montgomery was a vile human being who had to take everything that meant the most to me away.
“It’s ok I forgive you.” How Jude treated me wasn’t right, but I refused to let Mr. Montgomery win. I knew in my heart that Jude would have not treated me the way he did if it wasn’t for Mr. Montgomery’s lies.
“Why did he do it?” That’s a question I asked myself a million times. Mr. Montgomery has everything and anything anyone would want. Why did he have to take everything away from me?
I shrugged my shoulders. Now wasn’t the time to tell Jude what Mr. Montgomery did to me. I knew soon I would, but I wanted it to be on my own time and not while sitting next to my mama’s grave. Even though my mama is dead, I still never spoke the words out loud for her about what happened to me after she died. I wanted my mama think I had this fresh amazing start, not one where it was worst than what we lived through.
“I’m sorry by the way for accusing you of starting those texts and doubting what you said to me. Stella told me what you did and thank you.”
“It’s ok I honestly deserve worst than what you said. I’ll always keep you safe Madison, I’m just sorry I haven’t since I saw you again.” I gave him a small smile and scooted closer to him.
“Can we start over?” He asked me.
“I’d like that.” He leaned over and kissed me on the top of my head. I was sick to my stomach that I was hiding a huge secret from him that may change how he feels about me, but I decided to push my feelings to the side. I wanted today to be an easy day, but when are they ever...
“So what are you doing here?” Out of all places I didn’t think he would be here.
“I was visiting Mrs. Quinn.” He solemnly said and the realization he meant here in this cemetery made my heart hurt all over again.
“She’s dead?” I wished more than anything he would say no, but I knew that was wishful thinking.
“Cancer’s a bitch.” I took a sip from the wine I brought and passed it to him.
“She left before I even got to say good bye. Did you see her anytime after you left?” She was like the grandmother I never had. I was hurt she never said good bye, but it hurt more that I never got to say good bye now.
“Remember how I told you about Ben? He saved me from the Dolan’s and owns the tattoo parlor I help out at.” I nodded my head yes and he continued to say, “Wel funny thing about that is Mrs.Quinn was his mother. You know I always thought her last name was quinn, but it was actually James.”
“Is that why you changed your name to honor her?” I always thought her last name was quinn too. I wish I spent more time getting to know her.
“Yes and no. She adopted me after Ben brought me to her house. After the Montgomery’s and Dolan’s, she didn’t want me to end up anywhere else where that could happen to me again. We all thought it was best to change my last name so no one would connect me from the stories in the news. I’ll tell you though I’m happy I did because she was more of a mother to me than anyone else.” Jude and Mrs. Quinn always had a bond between them. I’m happy she and her son were there to save him when no one else would.
“I’m happy she was there for you.” I took another sip of the wine and passed it back.
“She talked a lot about you and always wondered if you got out of that house.”
That was good to hear, but I had a question that hopefully he could answer that I always wondered about.
“Why did she leave without saying goodbye?”
“She would have said good bye to you if she was given the chance. Trust me, it drove her crazy for years that she never got to and she wondered what you must have thought. That night before I left, she went to the hospital and was told her cancer returned. The Montgomery’s refused to give her time off and she had to quit. They treated her like she didn’t give them ten years of her life.”
“I’m not surprised since all they cared about was themselves.” We both nodded our heads in agreement.
“Are you spending Thanksgiving with Ben?”
“No him and his wife had to fly to California. His daughter got in some trouble out there and they’ve been staying with her. That’s why I came back early to help with the shop.”
“Oh ok, well everyone is coming over Delilah’s later, will you come?” I didn’t want him spending the holiday alone and honestly I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him either.
“If it’s ok with Delilah then yeah I’d like too.”
We sat there for awhile drinking the rest of the wine and catching up about everything we missed and what our plans were for after we graduate. “What do you want to be?” Jude asked me. When I was asked this when I was younger I never had an answer. Most kids would say an astronaut, president, teacher, and other amazing jobs. Me, I wouldn’t say anything because part of me didn’t know if I would be alive that long.
Now I had dreams and I answered him by saying, “I actually want to be a social worker. I want to help kids in broken homes find a right home that they
