Chapter 7
Walking through that patio doors and into my room, I saw a sight that
should have been taped and aired on America Funniest Home Videos. There, in front of me, stood Caleb hopping around with his head stuck in the shirt sleeve, he was having a fiasco. He looked like a headless chicken. This made me smile, some of the simplest things can change a persons mood. But, not worry I'm not bipolar but I do have some catharsis problems.
After making Caleb put on right clothes, circles and strips do not match, we piled into Xander black Jeep Commander. The Jeep was a deathbed on wheels, so I made sure to put Caleb into a car seat, even though Xander insisted that he was a good driver and that I shouldn’t worry. Ha don’t worry? I don’t need my ex to tell me what to do.
While driving to the diner we first came across when Caleb and I first came into the town, not a word was said. The only noise was the slow and soft radio music and Caleb kicking his feet into the back of Xanders chair. You could tell that Xander was about to pull over and yell at Caleb but he resisted. Hmm, maybe he would make a good father.
Just before we entered the parking lot to the diner, “You promised” by Brantley Gilbert came on the radio. This song had a lot of meaning behind it, this was the first song Xander and I danced to and it was the song I listened to after he left. This was my, our breakup song. I tried to stop myself from crying and told myself to calm down, while Xander’s hands gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. He was dilapidated.
******
“You really are beautiful.” Xander said as he pushed my hair behind my ear.
Looking down, a blush spread across my face.
“Hmm, thank you.” I mumbled.
“Hey, you don’t need to be shy. You know that I love you just they way you are. Every party of you is beautiful.” Xander said as he looked into my eye. The blue/green eyes looked into my soul.
“Come on.” I said grinning. I opened the car door and walked outside, the darkness wrapping around me like a clandestine blanket.
“What do you plan on doing out here in the dark? Come on it’s getting late, I should be getting you home. I don’t need Nancy to kill me.” Xander said as he slowly got out of the car and started walking over to me. Warping his strong, warm arm around me, he whispered the lyrics of my favorite song.
“I can hear her screaming’ now
No baby don’t, you're making my hurt
Don’t say those words
Take it back
You know you don’t mean that
And you swore when I wore your ring
It meant forever
I’ve got it on baby
How can you say I lost it
Oh, you promised”
Grabbing my hand, he pulled me closer to him. Warping his arm around my waist, we started to slow dance.
“I love you.” Xander whispered into my ear.
My heart was reaching a mile a minute. Smiling from ear to ear, I whispered back, “I love you too.”
******
That was the first time and last time, I have ever said “I love you” to a boy other than my father. Looking over to Xander, I noticed that he was having a harder time than I was.
“Mommy, Mommy?! What are we waiting for? I want to go get my food. I am hungry!”
“Yes, sweetie. Let’s go inside.” I said looking over to Xander, studying him. Watching to see how he reacts once he comes back into this world.
After getting out of the car and unbuckling Caleb from his car seat we made our way inside. Once inside we were seated in the back corner of the room, beside us was a family. This family had two girls and three boys, they looked to be a bit other then I was.
“Mommy, when is X going to get in here?” Caleb asked from from his booster seat.
“X? Oh, Xander. Hmm, whenever he feels like it.” I answered back. X. X. Why didn’t I think of that nickname? Alexander. Xander. Xan. X. Hmm.
“Miss, miss.” snapping out of my little world and coming back to relative, I came face to face with a women.
“Can you please keep your child quite? We are trying to eat.” The women said with a snobby attitude.
“Oh yes, sorry.” I said looking at Caleb who was coloring. He didn’t look like he was making a lot of noise.
“Thank you.” Geez, this women was really short and was very bravado.
****
After, what seemed like forever, Xander finally made his way inside. He looked distorted, almost as if he was taking a catharsis, this puzzled me.Was he really changing or was it just my imagination.
“Hey, sorry that it look forever. Wait, were you waiting long? I didn’t think I was gone long enough for him to fall asleep.” Xander said pointing at Caleb who was fast asleep with a marker in his hand.
“Don’t worry you weren't long that gone.”
“Good.”
After a few minutes of silence, Xander said, “What's wrong? You seem to have something bothering you.”
“Oh, its nothing. It’s just something someone said to me.”
“Who said what.” He demanded as his eyes turned into a fury cloud.
“Alexander. It’s nothing. It was just a women, that one other there, that said something about Caleb making too much noise when he was coloring.” I whispered back to him, hoping that she wouldn’t hear me.
“That women.” He said pointing to her.
Nodding my head yes, Xander turned around and stated. “Excuse me miss, but was my son making too much noise for you before?”
At first thought, you might be thinking that I was chagrinred from embarrassment but no i was happy, Xander said that Caleb was his child. Maybe he was changing...
“Miss, please answer my question.” Xander said, getting a bit impatient.
“Well..well..” The women stuttered as the the frame if Xander must have made her frightened.
“Well?”
“Yes, yes he was.” The women said strongly. “He is foolish and should have more discipline. If he was my child, I would never let him make a peep, unless asked.”
“Foolish..? My son is not foolish. He is a child and I know for sure that he was well disciplined.” Xander said, his voice getting louder and his face reader.
The woman's face as this point, was the same color as Xander, from anger.
“Why you little...”
“MOM!” One of the sons, at the table, yelled.
“What?!”
“You can't do that. The boy was doing nothing wrong. You’re just upset.” He looking into her eyes. “I’m really sorry. She doesn’t know what she doing. She crazy.” He said in a joking manner.
Hmm, I thought to myself.
“You don’t say.” Xander said.
