Watch Your Back

Chapter 24

"Achoo!" Aaron rubbed at his nose. The dust from the old door had filled his nose. "What's this?" He asked himself. There were multiple pictures of a girl with several different guys. Aaron flipped through the pictures and saw only three pictures of the girl with a man with long green hair and a nose piercing. That didn't last long. The rest were her with a man who had a varying mustache in different photos. Who was she? One of his mom's friends? A sister? Aaron landed on a picture of the girl, looking VERY familiar, standing next to a man. But his  hair wasn't purple. It was smooth and clean-cut. And he wasn't wearing glasses. But his face was unmistakable.  Aaron gasped as he realized that the man in the picture was Dr. Harrison. And the girl standing next to him... was his mom. He dropped the picture.

"Aaron! What are you DOING?!" His mom yelled and dropped her purse on the ground. She had, at some point, entered the house. Aaron snatched up the picture of her and Harrison and glared at his mom.

"What is this?" He asked angrily. His mom's face went pale and lifeless. 
"Aaron! Where were you?!" His mom dropped to her knees and embraced Aaron. He pushed her away.

"I don't care! What is this?! Why are you in this picture?!" He yelled.

"Where were you?! Your father and I already called the police!" His mom shouted. 

"Tell me what this is! Why are you with--"
"Where the HELL were you, Aaron! I thought you DIED!" His mom's eyes overflowed with big, heavy tears. Her mascara had begun to run down her pale face. Aaron stopped shouting and sniffed. His mom looked at him.

"Aaron? What's wrong?" She wiped at her running makeup, smearing a trace of pink lipstick on her cheek.

"W-why are you with Dr. Harrison?" He asked. His mom gasped. She grabbed his shoulders and gave him a cold, scared stare into his eyes.

"Aaron, how do you know that name?" She whispered. Her eyes shone of fear.

"Because--" He began "--that's where I was all this time." His mom gasped. She hugged him and cried.

"Oh, my god, Aaron, what did he do to you?" She was sobbing now. "What did he do to you?! Did he hurt you?!" She was choking on her sobs and crumpled to the floor. She cradled her face in her hands, smearing her makeup. "did he hurt you, Aaron?" She whispered. Aaron choked back hot tears and hugged his mom.

"No, he didn't. He was actually really nice." Aaron smiled. "He gave me my clothes and food and he made sure I wasn't alone." Aaron frowned and remembered the photo. "So what is this?" He held up the picture of his mom and Harrison. His hair was short and brown. His mom paused and sighed. She took a few deep breaths to collect herself.

"Aaron, I think we need to talk." She said. She stood up and motioned for him to walk to the kitchen with her.

When Aaron sat at the kitchen table, he stared at her, dying for answers.

His mom inhaled. "Before you were born, I...dated a few people. First was a man named...David, David Jones. And...I thought I was in love. But I was..." She trailed off.

"What?" Aaron asked.

"I was...having an affair. With him. And Doctor Harrison." His mom paused. "And Jones and I...well, we had a child." She blushed and rubbed her bulging stomach which held yet another baby. Aaron gasped. A child?! That meant Aaron had a brother or sister?!

"A child?!" Aaron gasped. "Who?!"

"I'm getting to that. When I had the child, Harrison found out about the affair. He didn't take it lightly."