Meet You There

Meet You There - Chapter 29

Chapter 29

When I called my mom, it was two weeks before Christmas. Things were good. It was almost Winter Break from school. I did good on my mid-term exams and my councilor said that my grades alone could get me into NYU and if I added extra curriculars it would be even better. Bennett and I were good, keeping it slow, enjoying being together. He was apparently planning our first real date.

   Because I was feeling so good about things, I decided giving my mom a chance was the right thing to do. I didn't know what time of day would be good to call her - I didn't know anything about her life at all, except that she lived in Harriston with her new family. A year and a half had passed since we had even spoken, and before that our conversations were sparse.

   It rang three times before someone answered. A man.

   "Hello?"

   I froze, just for a moment. I almost hung up. "Hi... is Catherine home?"

   "She just left to get the babies from daycare. Can I take a message for her?" Allan sounded more grown up than I remembered.

   "No," I spat out, too fast. "Uh, actually, yes. It's Iris. Her daughter."

   "Oh! Iris, wow. It's so good to hear from you. Catherine will be so thrilled you called. I will have her call you back as soon as she's in."

   "Okay. Thanks," I finished.

   I couldn't focus on anything for the next hour. It was early evening, my stomach was growling. Caleb was working late. I was expecting Bennett to show up at any moment, like he generally did in the evenings, to watch TV or make out.

   Finally, my phone rang. The caller ID said C. O'Conner. Her maiden name.

  "Hello?" I answered quickly. My hand was shaking.

  "Iris! Oh honey, how are you?" My mom's familiar voice came through the phone, into my ear.

   How was I? Good, now. She didn't know what I'd been through in California. She didn't know anything. I bit my cheek, closing my eyes.

   "I'm good," I told her, leaving it at that.

   "Thanks for calling back. It's been a pretty crazy nine months, with the babies..."

   "Oh, wow." I didn't know what else to say.

   "Iris. I'm so sorry. For everything."

   These words sounded so strange coming from her. This all started when I was thirteen and she had never apologized to me, for ruining everything. She had never bothered to stop and tell me that she had made mistakes.

   "Uh, okay." I was holding back tears. And angry words.

   "I've thought of you every day, I swear. I talked with your dad a few times, when you were living with him," she went on.

   "You did? He didn't tell me."

   "I wanted you to be able to move on, from what I did. It sounded like San Diego was going 

great -"

   "Until it wasn't," I snapped. "I was still a kid, you know?"

   "I know, Iris. But you were so angry at me and you were headed down a really bad path, here in Harriston."

   A thought popped into my head, suddenly. A memory I had blocked out. A day in tenth grade, when I'd ditched school to get high with guys who were a year older than me. I pretended I was fine. I got so high that I walked into traffic without looking either way, on my way home. The car had to slam on it's breaks, coming within inches of hitting me. The driver got out, yelling at me to see if I was okay, but I just kept walking. I wasn't okay. I had dinner with my Mom and Allan that evening, like nothing happened. She didn't know half of how bad it was really was.