Met by Coincidence...Separated by Destiny...

The day we move...

Hero's Point of View...

"Mom,"

No one replies.

"Mom, I am home, where are you?"

"In the backyard, Honey."

I enter our home from the front door, open my shoes and put them on the shoe cabinet, and cross the hallway to reach the backyard. As I open the door, connecting our kitchen to the backyard, a puff of smoke, smelling cigarettes fills my nostril. Instantly, I knew that Mom has been smoking, again. But, why?

I join my mother in the backyard where she sits on her lounge chair, smoking cigarettes, her ashtray kept on the table adjacent to her chair.

"Mom, you are smoking?"

She laughs as she turns to face me.

"Hun, you know I smoke sometimes."

"Mom, the last time I saw you smoking was about a year ago, I thought you stopped."

I take a seat on the ground, facing my mother. She takes a puff of air inside and blows it out like a pro. Once satisfied she looks down, again facing me. Her eyes looked red like she has been crying, but, again I just saw her smoking so maybe her eyes are red because of that. Her face misses her beautiful, radiant smile, which means for some reason, she is sad. She kept on looking at me with a hollow and blank expression until she gives up. She throws her half-litten cigarette into the ashtray and lovingly starts to stroke her hands on my head, massaging my hair in the process.

"Enough of me. You tell me, did you have fun last night with your friends."

It's strange, she doesn't remember. I told her yesterday that I am spending the night at Amanda's. This has never happened. My mother has never forgotten anything related to my whereabouts.

"Mom, I told you I was at Amanda's last night, remember."

"Amanda..who?"

Unbelievable.

"Mom, Amanda, and I are dating. She is my girlfriend. Mom, what's wrong, are you feeling ok?"

"Oh..hun, I am feeling fine. It's just that, at the hospital, yesterday it was a long shift. Anyways, I like Amanda."

"Thanks, mom. Listen, you remember I told you, summers are coming and I was thinking that maybe I should get myself a job, you know it will help us save more for my college."

"Oh..no..no..Hero. You will be training all summer, focus on basketball. I want to see my son going to NBA. I want your dreams to come true, the financial part, I will manage. Plus, your father has money. He was clear that you should be focusing on your basketball career."

"Mom, it's just one job. Plus, it will help me save some money for my use, once I go to college."

"Hero, honey we will talk about this later. First of all, you see your coach and decide what he has planned for you during the summer. If you have some spare time when you can breathe and walk properly, you can take a summer job."

I smile and lay my head down on my mother's lap. She keeps massaging my head, something I love.

"Thank you, mum. You are the best."

"I know..," Mum jokes about being cool, which we both know she is.

After a couple of minutes of silence, mom restarts our conversation.

"Hero, you and Amanda, you guys have been spending a lot of time alone together and I am not that old to not figure out what you two do when you are together. Please, tell me that you both are safe while you have sex."