Going Solo (New Song) Read Online Free Page B

ticket and boarding a plane to Jamaica. When she left ten years before, she had thought that she would never come back, not even for Carson.
    She had really wanted to leave and she had feared if she did not she would have gone crazy. What she had not banked on was that leaving this place and these people behind would not solve her problem. It had been a long slow healing for her and even now she was not altogether sure that she was okay.
    Yesterday she had cried herself to sleep. She had not done that in years. She had deliberately tried to avoid thinking about this place but coming back had practically flailed her emotions, stripping her of all her defenses and leaving her raw and bleeding in the aftermath.
    Just her first step on Jamaican soil was enough to make a tear spring to her eye. When she rented a car and drove into Montego Bay, her emotions were all over the place. Scattered shards of memory, so long in cold storage, were trying to fit themselves back together and solidify into Technicolor glimpses of her past. She contemplated the wisdom of coming back, but she had to. She had to at least set Carson free from their marriage.
    Today was day two and already she had found out where Carson had his place. She found out that he had done well for himself. He was not even living in the old neighborhood anymore. That was something she was happy about because she had no intentions of going there to find him. She was never going back to that place. Never.
    She was proud of Carson for moving out and moving on. She inhaled deeply. She always knew he had it in him to excel. He had the ambition of ten men in that compact body of his. Over the years, she had allowed herself just small thoughts of Carson. If she had given him any more space in her mind, she would have wanted to come back. Coming back would have been devastating for her.
    Her cell phone buzzed beside her and she glanced at it wearily. Her voice was stuffy and sounded husky from her crying bout last night. She answered it anyhow. It was Marsha; her friend who she had left in charge of the hairdressing parlor that she owned in New York.
    "Hey, girl," Marsha said, "just checking in."
    "I am here," Alice said, "taking in some Caribbean breeze."
    "Lucky you." Marsha said enviously. "I would exchange places with you right now."
    "No, you wouldn't." Alice sighed. "I am psyching up myself to see my estranged husband."
    "And your little girl?" Marsha added.
    Alice was silent.
    "Come on Alice," Marsha said encouragingly, "Remember you said you would make an effort."
    Alice felt a stinging behind her eyes. Her voice had a shaky quality when she answered Marsha. "I am taking it a day at a time, Marsh."
    Marsha sighed. "I am sorry for forcing the issue. On a brighter note, I am happy you reached safely. Don't forget to check in with me occasionally, okay?"
    "Okay." Alice cleared her throat. "Thanks Marsh, for all your help."
    "You are paying me to do your stuff here," Marsha said, laughing. She then sobered up. "Don't mention it girl. I got your back. Wish I could be there to offer you some moral support, hand you a tissue while you cry and sip a pina colada at the same time."
    Alice chuckled. "Only you, Marsh. Only you. Talk to you later."
    She hung up the phone and closed her eyes. Maybe she would try to contact Carson another day. She felt too vulnerable right now. Besides, she had no idea what she would say to him.
    Somebody came and sat beside her lounge chair. She cracked her eyes open and saw that it was a white guy with sandy, blond hair, extremely tanned skin, and gray-blue eyes. He seemed to be in his mid-thirties and was not bad looking. Their eyes collided.
    "Hey!" he said. He was a talker.
    Alice almost scowled but she gave him a half smile. "Hey."
    "Where are you from?" He asked.
    Alice sighed.
    "Where is that?" he insisted, while he adjusted his chair, bringing it closer to hers.
    "Would you believe it," Alice said lazily, "I am from around these parts. I've been