The Effort of Family

Make No Mistake

His mom was crying. Percy couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his mom cry. He padded softly into the kitchen, not wanting to startle her. She was leaning against the countertop, phone still in hand.

"Mom?"

Sally looked up quickly, wiping her eyes. "Oh. Hi, sweetheart," She greeted softly before surprise colored her tone. "Wait, what are you doing at home? You shouldn't be here for another hour?"

Good. His mom didn't seem too concerned yet. Part of him wanted to lie to her. To tell her that everything was fine like he usually did. But Gabe wasn't just Percy's problem. If Gabe managed to follow Percy or his mom home to their new apartment one day... Well he didn't want to think about it.

"I need to talk to you. Can we go to the living room?" Percy asked.

"Of course, Percy. What's wro- where's your backpack?" And there's the concern.

Percy led his mom into the living room and sat down on the couch. She sat next to him and put her hand on his shoulders. "Percy, I need you to tell me what's going on."

He did. Percy told his mom everything starting from seventh period. He watched the fear and agitation grow in her eyes as he talked, but she didn't interrupt. When he finished talking she just pulled him into her arms. She sat there, holding him for a while.

"It's going to be okay," she assured him. "I'll get everything taken care of."

Percy wanted to believe her.

"Mom?" Percy asked after a while. "Who was that on the phone?"

Sally seemed surprised. Percy swore that he saw her eyes well up again. "Well I guess it's a good thing we're sitting down still," she laughed. Her voice was thick with emotion. "That was Jason."

Well, wasn't that helpful? Jason could be anyone, Percy supposed: mom's new publisher, their landlord, Gabe's lawyer, a State Farm representative (although Percy's pretty sure that all of them are named Jake). He waited for his mom to continue.

"Your older brother," she continued finally.

Well, that's not what Percy was expecting.

Percy had a lot to think about that night. He knew the pattern of his bedroom ceiling by heart. He spent a while most nights looking up at his ceiling and thinking. He loved his mom more than anything, but there were just some things he couldn't share with her. His feelings about a new older brother being one of those things. Make no mistake, Percy was happy for his mom, but he already had a brother. If all older brothers were anything like Triton, Percy wasn't interested. He'd wanted to meet Jason when he was little, but once he met his dad's family, Percy decided that estranged family should remain estranged.

His mom had told him all about their phone call. Apparently, Jason would be driving to New York in a few days. They were going to meet and have coffee together. That was all well and good, and Percy really was happy for her, but this guy was a stranger. He wasn't sure how his mom would take it if things went badly, or if he didn't want anything to do with them.

Hence the ceiling. A perfectly safe place for Percy to project his worries. He had a lot of worries. Like Gabe.

Laying in bed, it had suddenly struck Percy that he'd nearly been kidnapped. His hopefully-soon-to-be-stepdad tried to kidnap him! Who does that? Evidently, Gabe does. Percy knew that Gabe was fighting the divorce. His mom had left the disgusting pig when Percy was twelve, but they still weren't legally divorced. His mom couldn't usually afford a lawyer, so things were tough. He didn't know all of the details, Percy's mom tried to keep him out of it, but he knew it was bad.