“So that’s what happened Rok.  She didn’t even say goodbye!”  Howie was on his patio on his cordless phone. “Looks like she’s pretty pissed off.” “I understand she’s upset and all… but… shit, I don’t know what the hell is going on.” “Alright, you screwed up.  But you have to understand D, she’s had a lot to deal with; first her mother, then you come walking into her life.  It’s probably a lot for her to handle right now.” “I want to be there for her, even if I haven’t been for the past 7 years.” “Can I give you some advice?” “Sure Oh Great One.” “Lay off Ally for a few days, maybe even a few weeks.  She’s probably busy dealing with papers and stuff.  Then, try to visit her again.  But don’t try to be pushy.” Howie thought about his words.  “You’re right.  Hey thanks man.” “Me aim to please,” Brian said in an English accent.  “Later bro.” “Later.”  Howie hung up the phone and stared out at the sky.  ~*~ “I understand.  So the paperwork is ready?  OK… Why don’t you drop it off this afternoon and I’ll sign everything off… Bye.”  She hung up the phone and sighed.  Trying to run her gourmet food shop, Essence, and deal with all these “estate” papers was taking its toll on her.  Plus she had to deal with what happened the other day.  She wanted to scream out all of the emotion that she had pent up inside of her over 7 years.  But she held it in.  He got the message that he was to leave.  She felt in a way that it was good, but she didn’t feel good. Ally was not a person to flip someone off, and to let her emotions take over like that and ignore him, well, she felt horrible.  After her mother’s lawyer had dropped off about 10 different contracts, wills and other documents, Ally sat in her mother’s bedroom, going through letters and papers in her armoire.  The house was officially hers, along with everything in it.  The lawyer told her that she could sell it, or keep it, it was her choice. As she was looking through one of the drawers, she came across a scrapbook tucked away in the bottom of her drawer.  She took it out, sat on the bed and opened the first page.  The first page simply read “Howard and Ally.”  I never saw this before.  Looking wide-eyed, she began to flip through it.  It started with when she and Howard were playing in her sandbox, where the picture show Howard dumping a bucket of sand on 3-year-old Ally’s head, with Howard showing a triumphant grin.  There were dozens of pictures of the two of them together, from sleepovers, Halloweens, to their first day of school.  Then it went to them as teenagers, studying together, graduation from their junior high school, wearing their cheesy gowns.  Ally flipped through the playbooks that Howard and Ally were in, pictures of them playing video games, and the dried corsage with a picture of them together at the junior prom.  Ally remembered that.  Neither of them had someone, so they decided to go together.  They were even named Most Likely to Be Joined At the Hip in their high school yearbook.  And then she saw the picture of them cheering at their high school graduation, when Ally jumped into Howard’s arms, Howard carrying her like a baby.  That was the last page of the book.  Ally let the tears flow from her eyes like a waterfall.   The memories became too much for her.  Their friendship had withstood the test of time; it was one of those things that her mother told her not to let go of.  “Then he broke our promise,” she said aloud to conclude her thoughts.  She flopped on the bed and cried herself to sleep. Chapter 6 Contents Chapter 4