Chapter 21
Episode 21
Graduating from the Women Centre Of Jamaica Foundation makes me feel proud of myself and my son's father knowing that he was the only one, the only person who was there for me, apart from father and one of my brothers. You can or could say, my son's father was the only person who was there for me, caz my mother didn't really care about me back then. Absolutely no one showed up for my graduation ceremony and my son's father couldn't show his presence at the moment
The diploma was heavier than it should have been—a thin piece of cardstock that somehow carried the weight of a few months of struggle, of quiet mornings and tear-filled nights, of a body that had pushed through exhaustion and a heart that had refused to break. I held it in my hands, not quite believing it was real, not quite believing I had made it. Around me, the auditorium hummed with celebration. Mothers cried into handkerchiefs. Fathers clapped with broad palms. Children ran between the rows of metal chairs, their laughter bouncing off the concrete walls. The air was thick with perfume and sweat and the smell of the rain that had fallen earlier, leaving the ground wet and the sky a bruised purple.
And I stood in the middle of it all, a little apart, feeling the moment settle into my bones.
My son’s father was beside me, his hand resting at the small of my back. That touch was familiar, steady, a quiet language we had built over time. He didn’t need to say much. He just stayed. He had been staying for months, for years, for all the moments when walking away would have been easier. When I was pregnant and scared, he was there. When I studied until my eyes burned and my mind felt like fog, he was there. When I wanted to quit, to disappear into the shadows of my own regret, he held my face in his hands and told me I was stronger than I knew. And I believed him because he had never lied to me.
Keep reading "Episode 21"
Open the same story in AIBookCraft. Later chapters may require an active subscription.
Free on iOS & Android · No signup to read