The guys finished up the tour about a month later. They tried to reconcile with AJ but he wanted no part of it.  He didn’t want to hear anything else about Alissa, the baby or his responsibilities. He was tired of all the crap and decided he was going to go away for a while. Instead of flying back home with the rest of the guys, he took off for Florida to see some old friends and settle on what he would do next.

He made a point of calling his mother and letting her know where he was. However, he told her that she should only call in case of emergencies and not for every little thing, or else he would stop answering the calls. Denise knew he was too stubborn to listen so she agreed. She did ask him though if he wanted to be called when Alissa had the baby.

“Why would you call me?”

Denise sighed. “Because it’s your child AJ. Don’t you want to know?”

“No, actually I don’t. That’s the whole point of me not coming back.”

“What do you mean not coming back?”

“I’m moving Ma. I haven’t decided where and I don’t know when. I called a realtor already. When I feel like coming back, I’ll pick up my stuff and be off.”

“AJ! That’s ridiculous! I know you and Alissa aren’t together but you’re saying you can’t even stay in the same state?”

“Look, we’re done. I need to get going. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” he said and hung up before his mother could answer. He didn’t believe a word he just told his mother. He did care but it was over. There was a canyon between him and Alissa now and there was no way through it.