Chapter 16 - Holden

Even though Mayson only sent me a quick Thank You text I knew that telling her take the rest of the day off would make her happy. She has been so busy lately that I don’t think she has had much time to spend with her dad. Their relationship is one that I have always envied. My biological dad walked out on my mom before I was even born. My stepdad took care of us financially but he never really treated me like his son. He had fallen in love with my mother, but never really wanted children. He only gave me things and “attention” (which was all fake) to make sure my mom would marry him. He talked my mom into moving to California when I went off to college to get her away from me. Now he has her all to himself. I haven’t seen my mother since I graduated from college four years ago. I get the occasional text and a card on my birthday. He took my mom away from me physically and emotionally.

I suppose that is why I was always hanging out at Mayson’s house when we were kids, even before we