Everything with you

Part 16

Justin

Emma was ghosting me. She didn't respond to any of my texts or calls. Hell, she didn't even see my messages. I had no idea what happened. We were fine after we went for coffee, but I knew something was wrong. I tried hanging around her block, where I saw her for the first time at UCLA, but I had no luck. I wanted to check with Joel about her, but I didn't. Maybe she didn't want anything to do with me. After about 3 weeks of trying to reach her, I had given up hope.

Things back home weren't looking up either; my mom was becoming more and more sick. She had to take some time off work to continue her treatments. I was helping her in any way I could with things at home and things with Joanna. With Ma not working, her bills kept piling up. I had to pickup extra shifts at Gold's Autoshop, and even with that, we were not able to meet ends. After an exhausting day of practice and my shift, I reach home. I open the door and stand in shock.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I shout. This startles my mom and makes the pathetic excuse of my father laugh.

"Is this the way you greet your old man? I was expecting so much from you," he smirked. I am too furious to move. I look over to find Ma, who is now standing between us.

"I was the one who called Don, Justin. Please calm down," she pleads.

"Why?" I sneer. She lets out an exhale, reaches for the chair, and sits down.

"I spoke with Doctor Jones today, and I'm stopping my treatments. I called your dad to let him know the situation so that we can speak more about our options.".

"What? No. You absolutely shouldn't do that! And why the hell does he get a say in this?" I shout out.

"Wow, you should be thanking me that I'm even here , you little shit," he quips.

That was it. I lunge for him, and my fist meets his face. He falls off balance and backs into the coffee table. My mom screams my name and attempts to pull me back. I try to connect another punch, but the fucker manages to squirm away and stand behind my mom. She tries to calm me down, but I can't hear anything she says.

"Get out, Don. We'll speak about other things later," she pushes him towards the door. He doesn't say anything to her.

He looks over to me and says, "This isn't over" and leaves out the front door.As soon as the door shuts, Ma starts crying, looking over at me.

"Can't you at least listen to me?" she asks. I ignored her question.

"What the hell is he doing back here? Why did you call him?"

"I can't do this anymore, Justin. I'm too tired. I can't do it."

"No, don't you dare give up on us!" I shout.

"I'm not giving up. I'm accepting what's happened to me. I can't handle it anymore, Justin. I feel like I have no control over my life anymore. I'm sick of the hospital walls and never-ending Chemo's. I want to spend the time I have with Jo and you when I am still me. With more of these treatments, I'm beginning to lose myself more and more."

"I.. uh.. Okay.. I get that, ma.. but why did you call him? What could he possibly do for us?"

"I called Don to discuss our future."

"Trust me, our future doesn't have him in it!"

"You have your entire life ahead of you. If something happens to me, I wouldn't want Joanna to be a burden on you."

I grunted in frustration, "No, she will never be a burden to me. She is my sister. I refuse to let him into our lives again. Hasn't he done enough already?"