Chapter 24

                                    

                                          
Most of the golden orange leaves had fallen off the trees, leaving them partially barren while the leaves rested in browning blankets on the ground. Kids rode their bicycles straight through the piles of leaves, watching them flurry around them in big bursts of orange.
Charlie poured the chocolate filling into the pie crust, using a knife to smoothen it out. "Be sure to get it real smooth, honey," her mom said as she opened the oven and looked at the turkey, as she had done every other minute. It was still the same as the last time she looked at it, but she just had to be sure. She was nervous. They were having guests this Thanksgiving.
Charlie tried to smoothen the chocolate filling with the knife, but she kept breaking the crust and getting the chocolate all over it. Molly stood behind her with her hands clasped, just watching with a small smile. Normally, she would have grabbed the knife and done it herself, muttering about how she has to do everything around the house. This time, she only watched in silence. She watched Charlie use her elbow to move her brown hair out of her eyes—she had given herself bangs last week. They were a little choppy, but they suited her. It reminded Molly of when Charlie was a kid and had those same choppy brown bangs. 
Charlie was growing frustrated as she made the pie into a mess. Turning to her mom, the chocolate now coating the crust, the entire knife, and her hand, she looked at her pleadingly. "Help me."
Molly smiled and nodded, rushing in like a mother does and gently taking the knife from Charlie. Charlie watched as Molly easily smoothed the chocolate filling, clearing away all the remnants Charlie had gotten on the crust. 
"There you go, sweetie," Molly said, setting the knife down. They both just looked at the chocolate pie that was now mostly perfect. It was just a simple pie, probably the easiest one to make. Charlie looked at her mom with a grateful smile—it meant so much more than just chocolate pie.
In an instant, Molly grabbed her daughter and hugged her. She hugged her how she should have hugged her the day she dropped out of college. She hugged her with all the love she had for her only daughter, her only child. It meant so much more than chocolate pie.
When they finally pulled away, they were both crying. "Oh," Molly gasped when she saw the tears in Charlie's eyes. She swept away some of Charlie's bangs and clasped her warm hand against her cheek. "It's okay, honey. It's okay. You're okay." She kissed Charlie's cheek and patted it some more, her lips quivering as she held back her tears. Even now, she never wanted to cry in front of her child. The day that the police brought Charlie home, there was no stopping those tears.
Soon, the turkey was done. Right in time, they heard a knock on the door. James walked to the door and greeted their guests. Matt came in first, followed by his grandma who hugged James and showed him her homemade green bean casserole, and he took it from her graciously and set it on the dining room table where all the other food was. Dani came in after, followed by her older sister. James greeted them with hugs and guided them to the dining room table, although Matt and Dani of course knew where it was.
"Hey," Charlie greeted Dani and Matt, giving them both a lingering hug. Molly was rushing around trying to make sure all the food and plates were set out as people took their seats at the table. Charlie sat at one end while everyone else sat on the sides, having to squeeze in because their table was small, but it was cozy. They small talked for a while, hesitating to eat because they were still waiting. They were still waiting for the one last invitee who they weren't even sure was going to make it. They waited anyway, and finally, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," James said, standing up from his seat and patting Charlie on the shoulder as he walked to the door. Through the doorway in the dining room that led to the living room, Charlie watched her father greet Farren as she walked through the door, giving him a hug. She watched her come into the dining room and look at everyone a little shyly. She was the only one that had come alone. Her father had passed away last week. Although, he wouldn't have come anyway.
Farren took the seat at the other end of the table, her eyes meeting Charlie's as Molly uncovered the tin foil that was keeping the turkey in the center of the table warm. Matt's grandma immediately complimented how good it looked, and Dani was the first to quickly cut into it.
Farren and Charlie only stared at each other with small smiles. Charlie remembered how she felt the last time Farren sat at this table. She didn't feel like a crying little girl anymore, and Farren was not the monster pushing her face into her birthday cake. Farren saw her for who she was now—a strong, kind, fiercely individual woman. And Charlie saw Farren for all she was now—a kind, gracious, fiercely independent woman. The years between them swelled and closed shut like a dusty old book whose last pages had been completed.
 
The setting sun cast a pink strip across the bottom of the sky as the night's first stars kindled in the purple strip above. Charlie and Farren were sitting on the roof of Farren's house. The house was empty now—empty of people and empty of things. Farren was moving. In the time after her father passed away, she had sold the house in an instant. It wasn't a surprise. It was the most desired house in the city.
She was going to leave the next morning. All her things were packed. She was taking the money she got from the house—a lot—and going to live with her mother and brother in New York. She was never going to come back to Mulberry.
As they sat in silence and watched the sun set and the stars rise, a tenderness filled the air between them. They were thinking of so many things. Their minds were so filled those days. Thinking of the past, thinking of the future. Right then, they were thinking of the present. Charlie had learned suddenly that that was all she could do. She couldn't think about the past anymore, and she couldn't worry over her future. She was still stuck in between—she always would be.
"Do you think she will ever forgive me?" Farren suddenly asked. Dani hadn't spoken a word to her, not even at Thanksgiving dinner. It would have been better if she got into screaming matches with Farren every time she saw her, but it was past that. It was past words.
"Probably not," Charlie answered honestly, and although Farren expected it, her heart sank. "But you told her. You apologized. That doesn't have to weigh you down anymore. Mulberry and everything with it—you'll be completely gone from it tomorrow morning."
Farren nodded. Charlie was right. Her father was dead. She was completely withdrawn from law school. She was going to New York to start a new life and become a new person. She was going to miss Charlie. She had considered staying in Mulberry or taking Charlie with her to New York, but she couldn't avoid the truth anymore. She couldn't be free until she was free of everything that had to do with Mulberry. Unfortunately, that included Charlie.
"What will you do?" Farren asked, glancing over at Charlie. She wanted to kiss her so badly, but it would only make things harder. She would have to always remember the night that they shared together and how freeing it had felt to kiss her and touch her—even if she tried, she could never forget. She would never forget Charlie's painfully forgiving nature. Farren had come to realize that apologies meant a lot more than some might think. Forgiveness saved her. Even if Dani hadn't completely forgiven her, there was forgiveness in the admission. Farren had forgiven herself, for the first time in her life. She forgave herself of the pain she had caused others, and of the pain her own father had caused. She wore his cross for so long, and now she was free of it. He was dead, and so were his sins, his trials, his tribulations. That concrete inside her dusted away with his body. She was light. She was free.
Sighing, Charlie looked out at the neighborhood that was in complete view from the very top of Farren's house. What was she going to do with her life? Would she stay in Mulberry with Dani and Matt? Would she go to the community college there in town? Get a little job to work for the rest of her life, settle down someday, and buy a house right across the street and die there? Would she somehow get out like Farren was doing? Make a new life in a brand new city? Become a new person? The answer was simple.
"I don't know."