Gus

Home Sweet Home

When I was 13, my grandmother died.

I remember the night before she died; we got into a fight because she blamed me for getting dirt into the house, even though she was the one who gardened. I didn't say goodnight to her and went straight to bed. The next morning, I woke up to see my grandmother supposedly resting on the couch. I tried to wake her up, but she didn't open her eyes. I called 9-1-1 and the police came and told me she was dead.

The court decided that if my mother had learned to control herself, then we could move back into our home. The case was a success, and my mother gave me a big hug and kisses and quickly began arranging for us to get home. I didn't know if she even knew both her parents were dead.

**********

The first I did when we got home was go up to my room. Oh, how I missed having a bed. I jumped into it, getting a dizzying feeling of relief after sleeping on the floor for nearly 7 years. My mother came in and saw me sinking into the bed.

"Did you have a nice time at Grandma's while I was gone?" she asked me.

I sat up and stared at her for a moment. Should I be honest with her?

"No," I said, "she didn't treat me right."

My mother's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"You know, she never wanted to talk to me or be with me. She didn't even talk to Grandfather. She would sit around and watch TV all day or plant."

"Well, sweetie, that's what grandparents do."

"Yeah, but I would think they would at least talk to you."

My mother rubbed her forehead. "Alright, let me call her..."

I opened my mouth to say something, but she already left before I could say anything. I overheard her dial my grandparents' home phone number and wait before leaving the message. I then heard her come back up the stairs and watched as she turned to her room. I went into her room and asked if I could come in.

"Sure, sweetie. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. You can't call Grandmother or Grandfather anymore, Mother. They both died years ago."

My mother's jaw dropped open. "What? You're lying to me, Gus. Please tell you're lying."

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

My mother then burst into tears and leaned herself against me. I patted her back and lied her down on her bed. She kissed me and turned on the small TV in her room. I lied down next to her and put my head against her chest. I whispered to her "I'm sorry." She mouthed "It's ok" before slowly falling asleep, as did I.

The next day, I went outside to get the mail when I saw Tessa the Treacherous sitting on her doorstep. I haven't seen her in years, and I wondered when she got out of jail. She looked like she was crying. I walked over to her front yard and up to her. She looked up at me with teary eyes and wiped them with her arm.
"Gus?" she said, her voice breaking a little, "when's the last time I've seen you?"
"A while," I replied, "what's wrong?"
Tessa sniffed. "My parents don't want anything to do with me anymore. They're trying to keep Kelly away from me, too." She blew her nose into a tissue and continued. "I'm falling behind on my rent and my boyfriend's not supporting me... I lost my job yesterday. God, that was, like, the one thing that I thought would keep my life together... I'm falling apart, Gus. I don't know what to do."
Even though I felt incredibly bad for Tessa, I thought she deserved all that happened to her. She was a party animal who didn't have a care in the world, and now she had to pay for the consequences of that. Not knowing how to respond, I told her I hoped everything would work out and left. But secretly, I wished she would just move somewhere else.