Moved In

Chapter 8 : Mom

Chapter 8

A few days later...   

Riker POV

Dad let me buy a plane ticket to Florida. I was kind of nervous to fly alone, but the flight went smoothly and I got to the airport just fine. Mom was supposed to meet me here to pick me up. But I didn't see her.

I got my suitcase and started walking around, looking for her. I probably spent 20 minutes looking.

I sat down in a chair off to the side and called her. It rang and rang but she didn't pick up. Where could she be and why isn't she answering?

I got up and started walking towards the front of the airport. I walked outside and it was pretty dark out. It was probably close to 10:00pm.

I looked around, wondering what I should do. I can't call dad. He'll just say that he told me so.

So I put mom's address into my phone and just started walking. She only lived a few blocks away, so it shouldn't be that bad.

It was kind of scary to walk down the sidewalks when I didn't really know where I was going though. I didn't want to get kidnapped.

I walked and walked and it took me close to half an hour but I finally got to her apartment complex.

I went inside and found my way to her door. My heart started racing as I knocked.

A minute later, the door opened.

"I was supposed to get you from the airport, wasn't I?" She asked.

"Um... Yeah," I said.

"Well come in."

She's drunk. Dad was right. This isn't good.

I followed her inside and sat down on one end of the couch in the living room.

"So tell me why you're here visiting again?"

She sat down on the other end of the couch and picked up her glass of wine.

"Um... Well it's just been a long time since I've seen you. And you're my mom. And I guess I was just wondering if you would ever get back together with dad."

"I don't think so. I have a boyfriend now who loves me for who I am. He's actually coming over tonight. You can meet him."

"Um... Ok..."

This wasn't how I expected this to go. And I'm really regretting coming here.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. Mom got up and answered it. A guy came in smoking a cigarette, which I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do inside.

"This is my son, Riker," mom said.

"I didn't know you had a son," he said.

"Well I do."

He walked over to me and looked at me as if he was studying me. It made me really nervous. I feel like he's going to do something bad to me.

Mom ended up calling him into the kitchen for dinner. 10:00 is kind of late for dinner, but I guess that's just how they do things.

I stayed on the couch, listening to them from the living room. I could tell her boyfriend was getting drunk now too.

"Hey, Riker!" Her boyfriend called.

I turned around in my spot on the couch. And her boyfriend threw a beer bottle at me. I ducked and it hit the wall, shattering all over the ground. I could hear both of them laughing in the kitchen.

I took out my phone to call dad, but my phone was dead. I heard footsteps and looked up. And mom's boyfriend was standing right in front of me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up from the couch, hurting my arm.

He dragged me into the kitchen and then threw me down in the corner. My heart was racing and I didn't know what to do.

"You're going to be my target for target practice," he said, grabbing another beer bottle.

He started throwing empty bottles at me. I tried to get up, but I got hit and glass shattered all around me. He kept throwing them and hit the wall a few times. I tried to get up again, but lost my balance and put my hand down to catch myself. But I put my hand down on the broken glass and cut myself.

Mom's boyfriend started walking closer and closer. I quickly crawled through the glass back into the living room. I felt cuts on my hands, arms, and knees, but I can't think about that right now. I grabbed my suitcase and ran out of her apartment.

I ran for a few blocks so I was far away if either of them came outside looking for me. I went back to the airport and found the bathroom. I had cuts up my arms, on my hands, on my knees through my jeans, and a gash on my forehead from when I got hit.

I got some paper towels and got them wet. I started cleaning up my forehead. I washed my hands next. There was glass in my arms, so I started trying to pick the pieces of glass out. It was hurting really bad and it was late and I just wanted to go to bed.

I plugged my phone into an outlet in the bathroom so it could charge. There was still a ton of tiny bits of glass in my arms and I haven't even looked at my knees yet. I started crying.

Why did tonight have to go like this? Why couldn't mom just be a regular person? And why did she have to have a mean boyfriend? Why did I have to be so stupid and think this was a good idea?

My phone started ringing. It was dad. I answered, trying my best not to sound like I was crying.

"Hello?"

"Riker, how did the plane ride go?"

"Um... It was fine," I said, my voice cracking.

"It doesn't sound fine. What's going on?"

"Nothing! It just didn't go how I wanted it to! You were right, ok!?" I said, crying harder.

"Riker, what happened?"

"I'm at the airport and I just want to come home."

"Ok. Well I was calling you to see how it went. And if it didn't go well, I wanted to let you know that Stormie is in Florida right now for some tv audition thing with Ross. There are no flights back here until tomorrow, so I can call her and tell her to come get you from the airport if you want."

"Ok..."

I didn't even care at this point. My arms, hands, and knees are still stinging. And the gash on my forehead is still bleeding. I'm exhausted and I just want to go to bed and forget this ever happened.

"Ok. I'll call her. Meet her at the front entrance of the airport, ok?"

"Ok."

I wiped my forehead again with a wet paper towel. Could this night get any worse?