Rules of Escape

Chapter 19 - Peter

"Shit! I'm late!"

Peter jumps out of bed, reaching for his clothes from yesterday, still strewn on the floor. He has ten minutes to get to work.

"Peter... here," Chantelle says, passing him what she had written late the night before. "If you have time to proof read it, that would be great."

"Sure. No problem," Peter says shoving her notes in the pocket of his jeans. "Love you. See you tonight."

Chantelle pulls the blankets back around her and turns away from Peter. It had been like this for weeks, her giving him the cold shoulder. Now she wants him to be her editor. Well he has to go to work, so editing her work will have to wait.

Evan is standing outside when Peter drives up.

"Mom's coming today," Evan says as the outgoing staff person hands Peter the house and car keys.

Right, Peter thinks. How could I forget? "So, are you all set to see your mom?'

"All set. See I got clean clothes on. Nice ones."

"Very good. Moms like that."

Peter puts his coat and shoes away. The house stinks of artificial lemons and bleach. Apparently, the night staff went all out with the cleaning duties.

"So, should we make some muffins for your mom?"

They choose a recipe off the internet and spend the next two hours making blueberry muffins. Evan pays close attention to the recipe and insists on doing everything, including measuring and mixing the ingredients. He checks with Peter frequently, at first.

Eventually, Peter sits down at the kitchen table, his confidence in Evan rising. It is evident that Evan can manage muffin making just fine and the small house slowly fills with the scent of fresh baked muffins. Peter and Evan are just about to sample the muffins when rapid knocking at the front door startles them.

Evan looks at Peter, his eyes wide. The muffin in his hand falls to the floor.

"Well, go answer it," Peter says with a smile.

As soon as Evan unbolts the front door, a woman pushes open the door and wraps her arms around Evan, hugging him tightly. All Peter can see of her, are long loosely knit sleeves, hanging off very thin arms and her fingers, covered in silver rings. He retreats to the kitchen, to give them some privacy.

"Oh my baby. Look how you've grown. Just like a man now. You're looking more and more like your daddy."

Peter hears them walk over to the couch and sit down. The house is so small, he can hear every word Evan's mom says. He starts cleaning dishes and puts the muffins on racks to cool.

"I've missed you so much," she says. "I've been so busy I just had no time to visit. I married Gord and lived with him in Arizona for a couple of years. That was a disaster. I won't get into it. I thought we would move back here but he insisted I sell everything and live with him in Arizona. I thought the asshole loved me. He had such a nice car and house. He said there was no need for us to have two homes. He said once my house was sold, he'd sell his and we'd move back here. We did move, but not back here."

Evan's mom pauses. There is some movement on the couch. Peter decides to finish the dishes quickly and go introduce himself.

"We moved all the time. Turned out he was renting everything and was trying to avoid collectors who were coming after him for child care payments. He said he didn't have children, but I found out about at least four by talking to the collectors. Anyways, marrying him was a mistake. A big mistake. He's gone now and I'm back. And I'm here to help you in any way I can. Look at me, Evan. Tell me about you," she pauses, but not long enough for Evan to get a word in.