Ballad of a Broken Boy

Not knowing what she was missing

As soon as I got back to the car, Ricky was opening the door and looking at me expectantly. I just looked at him, tears of joy in my eyes, and nodded, before grinning hugely and throwing my arms around him. He hugged me back, laughing.

"See, I told you she would never hate you!" he said, making me giggle.

"I know. Thanks, Ricky. You're the best, but can we please go back to your place to get my stuff?" I asked him. He nodded, smiling as he got back into the driver's seat and started the car, driving off before I had even completely shut the door. I smiled, rolling my eyes at his obvious enthusiasm.

"So, what happened?" he asked, and I grinned explaining to him everything that my mom and I had talked about. He smiled along with me, and listened to every word. And considering how much I babble on, that is no easy feat.

"Well, sounds like you're going to be okay. I knew she would get over it after some time. She was probably just stressed after losing your dad. I'm sure she didn't want to lose you, too." He said gently. I smiled, nodding in agreement. Mentioning my dad didn't tear me apart inside like I thought it might, but it still hurt pretty badly. He seemed to realize his blunder since he shot me an apologetic glance and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I just smiled softly at him, letting him know I was okay.

LINE BREAK

"Ricky, my boy! Where have you been?" his dad shouted, enthusiastically as we walked in. I was surprised to see he was dressed quite presentably, in a white shirt and clean jeans. He didn't look drunk, which was the most shocking thing, and apparently Ricky thought so, too.

"Dad? Are you... are you drunk?" he asked. His dad smiled proudly and shook his head.

"Nope. Go on upstairs, your mother isn't either. And she has a guest." He said, with a sparkle in his eye that I hadn't seen before. Ricky nodded hesitantly and walked across the room. I followed him, smiling shyly at his dad who smiled back kindly. I felt like pinching myself to make sure this wasn't a dream.

When we got upstairs, Ricky went down the hall a little and into a room I hadn't been in before. His mother was sat on the bed, hair brushed, makeup applied perfectly and wearing a long flowery shirt with a belt and black skinny jeans. She looked less like a mom and more like a model. When we walked in she turned and beamed at us, along with the other woman in the room. I was taken aback by this woman's appearance.

She was beautiful, too, like Ricky's mom, and I could see a resemblance that could only be between sisters. She was wearing a plain burgundy blouse with skinny jeans and tanned wedges. She had loose, curly brunette hair that went down to about the middle of her back, and beautiful blue eyes. She smiled knowingly at us both.

"Ricky! It's so good to see you! What's my favorite nephew been up to lately?" she asked, voice low and calm although I could hear an excited undertone. His mom smiled as Ricky stood, frozen in shock, and his aunt wrapped him in a bear hug. After a couple seconds he hugged her back, still looking shocked.

"Aunt Jenna? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I finally found out where you lived. You know, your mother didn't tell anyone where you were moving to? I've been trying to track you down since you left. I had a terrible feeling that things would go wrong, especially with all the stress from Addison's unfortunate accident. And I was right; when I got here your father was passed out on the couch and for a second I worried your mother was dead. When your father woke up he was sober, if a little hungover, and at first he wasn't too happy to see me. Then I made him get washed up and dress himself, which he did. I poured every last trace of alcohol I could find in this hellhole down the kitchen sink, and then I woke your mom up. She had a couple mugs of coffee to fully wake her up, and then she was positively radiant."