Going The Distance: A Teenager's Triumph over a Disability

By Kathy Reaves

On the surface Mae is a typical teenager interested in the latest trends and gossip. But Mae has faced tragedy. The loss of her parents at a young age meant she grew up at her aunt and uncles house. She had to ask herself, do I want to survive? Or do I want to live? Soon, she'll need to answer that question again when she receives a tragic diagnosis that throws a wrench into her future plans.

"Going the Distance" is a captivating, tear-jerking story of a young girl's journey and the courage she summons to face one of life's greatest challenges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098330873

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©2020 Kathy Reaves. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. ISBN 978-1-09833-087-3

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: I Just Run

Chapter 2: The Beginning

Chapter 3: Sorry, Not Sorry

Chapter 4: Broken Rhythm

Chapter 5 – Tim: The Secret

Chapter 6: The Big Step

Chapter 7: Like a Lion

Chapter 8: Running Girl

Chapter 9: The Double-Edged Sword

Chapter 10: Do I Survive or Choose to Live?

Chapter 11: I am Iron

Chapter 1

I Just Run

The predawn cry of starlings and other birds would have annoyed most people in the older neighborhood in Portsmouth, Virginia where Mae lived. The strident chorus always began before the sky transitioned from inky black to gray. But for Mae it was a wild alarm that jangled down her nerve endings, letting her know it was time for the only moment of freedom she’d get all day. Every morning, rain or shine, she ran. Running made her feel relaxed and as free and wild as the birds outside in the trees. The sound of her feet slapping against the ground gave Mae a sense that she was in control, that she could conquer the world. Mae didn’t want to consider what life would be like if she couldn’t run.

The morning the pains first started wasn’t any different than any other as she laced up her shoes. She stretched and took pleasure in the feel of the muscles in her long slender legs, as the tension and the slight soreness of the day before eased away with each reach and stretch. Mae loved that she had the natural physique of a distance runner, tall, lean, and toned. Though the toning had more to do with her daily routine than anything her genes gave her. She pulled back her shoulder length hair that she’d dyed mahogany red. Last month it had been silver, to fit with her ghostly Halloween costume. Aunt Ellen kept warning her not to change it so often.

Dye it too much and it will all fall out, she said, each time Mae got restless and wanted to try something different.

Mae loved Auntie and if she could have explained to her the reasons behind changing her hair color so often, she would. But the words escaped her.

People were always telling Mae how exotic she looked and trying to figure out her ethnicity by her appearance. Her mom had been African American and her dad Latino. She wasn’t as dark skinned as her mom had been, more of a golden brown with the sharp cheekbones of her father with his straight, narrow nose. But her eyes were the deep, grayish brown like those of her Uncle Wali who lived in Alaska. Mae wasn’t sure where those genes came from.

Because she was such a mixture, people were always trying to guess her ethnic origins, as if knowing that stuff would help them pigeonhole her into some class or category. But coloring her hair a different hue every few months made Mae feel like she was simply herself, whoever that girl was that month, or felt she was anyway. It was another measure of control; another way of saying to the world, I’m not anybody but me.

Looking at her watch again she hurried to the bathroom. She closed her bedroom door as lightly as she could to avoid waking Auntie. As quiet as she crept, it was no use.

Mae, Auntie asked in a slow as syrup voice still laden with sleep.

Yes, she replied, the word coming out thorny with frustration.

Going for your run? Auntie asked.

Yes, ma’am, Mae said, rolling her eyes. Auntie asked her this every single morning. She was more like a mom to Mae than an aunt. Auntie and Uncle Thomas had taken her in after the car accident that killed Mae’s parents on their way home from her soccer game. She’d only be ten years old at the time, but she still blamed herself. If she hadn’t been yelling at her mom, distracting dad, it might never have happened. Dad might have seen the car careening toward them, passing another slower vehicle illegally. He could have hit the brakes or swerved off the road, or something to avoid the head-on collision. One that killed both her parents instantly but left her with only bruises on the outside. It was a miracle she’d escaped the accident with so few injuries.

Mae closed her eyes as she washed her hands. She watched the soap bubbles swirl around the drain, wishing the memories and the guilt that came with them could follow the water, swishing away never to return. She checked her reflection in the mirror after drying her hands and headed outside to freedom.

The newer loss of Uncle Thomas, to a sudden heart attack, had just added to the familiar ache Mae could never quite outpace no matter how fast or far she ran. It would be a year soon since he died; the anniversary of his passing coinciding with the holiday season. Mae wondered if Auntie would ever get married again. She’d been married to Uncle Thomas for over twenty-five years. Auntie wasn’t