I changed into my gym clothes and headed out to the meet to sign for my events. I waved to my neighbor as I passed the bleachers. I ran my events all...the while hearing my neighbor whoop and holler from the stands. When the track meet finally concluded I made my way to the locker room to change back into my tank top and shorts. Once I had changed I head out to meet up with my neighbor to start our trip home. “Hey, you looked good out there,” my neighbor said waving as he approached. “Why. . He just couldn’t keep up and business was picking up more as people learned they could get gas at his shop.Jake, the mechanic he hired, was a tall powerfully built Black man that had recently lost his job in Hawthorne. He said it was due to Rod’s shop opening and the lost gas sales where he had been employed. He was highly respected as a good mechanic and Rod was glad he could hire him. His previous employer gave him a very good reference with the disclaimer, “That is if you can tolerate his. Ashley joined me as we made our way through the trees. We had walked about a third of a mile when the trees thinned rapidly, leaving a wide open track before we reached the houses we had been heading towards. Ashley looked at the wooden fence border of the track in confusion. "Where do we go?" she asked.I was trying to look over the fence to identify at least one of the houses. This was my first time looking at them from the back, and I was struggling to identify any house, when a gate opened. “Don’t call me babe” “Carlos, I am so sorry I did that to you. You were the best thing that happened to me and I fucked it up! Can you please forgive me? “I don’t know,” I said thinking about all of the grief he put me though “Please,” Troy begged. “Alright fine.” I figured he was leaving anyway, so it gave me time to get over my anger with him. Very rarely do I hold grudge into perpetuity. I genuinely was concerned for him. Thinking back, I should have not simply let him drink in my presence..