Claustrophobic (Teddy Duchamp)

21

"Um, well.. My mom kinda wants to meet you," Teddy said into the phone. Cecelia had called him after dinner.
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Cecelia replied, nervously, "She does?" Her parents didn't even know about Teddy, and his mom wanted to meet her?
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"Yeah, but I mean, it doesn't have to be anything big. She already knows your parents and stuff, so that's good and all," he stated.
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"She hasn't talked to them about our date has she?" Cecelia asked, her nerves even worse. "I mean, I'm going to tell them eventually, but I don't know when..."
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Teddy smiled a little to himself. "It's fine. Why not just tell them now?"

"And get in trouble for lying to them? No sir, no thank you," she exclaimed in whisper. "They think I'm talking to Cynthia right now."

Teddy sighed. "Well, you've got to talk to them."

Cecelia took a deep breath. "I know. I'll do it now, okay?"

"Okay. Call me after you do. You know, as long as you aren't banned from the phone."

"Wish me luck," she said before saying goodbye and hanging up.
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Cecelia ran through all the ways she could tell her parents in her head. How'd Franky do it?, she thought. Oh wait, he didn't have to because he's a boy. She mentally groaned. Not to mention, her older brother was, in fact, on a date that particular night.

Her parents and a couple of the kids were in the living room, her father listening to the evening radio programs while her mother patched up a pair of one of the boys' pants, most likely Anthony.

Cecelia sat in a chair where she was facing her parents. She didn't need to be stuck between them again.

She coughed a little to get their attention. Her mother looked up at her, but her dad was still focused on the radio. "Hey, Ellie, Bonnie? Can you go upstairs? I wanna talk to Mama and Daddy."

This caught both of her parent's attention. They both looked over at her, expressions both slightly concerned. The two younger girls grumbled complaints as they dragged their feet out of the room.

"What's wrong, Celia?" her mother inquired, immediately putting her sewing down.

"Nothing's wrong, Mama, I just need to tell you both something important," she assured her mom.

"Well, then, what is it?" her dad urged.

Cecelia took a deep breath, her stomach knotting up. "Well, you remember that date you said I couldn't go on and then I said I was going to Aggie's house, but I really went in the date and then went to Aggie's house for the night, and now Teddy's mom wants to meet me, and Teddy said I needed to tell you that we're going together. We're not going steady yet or anything, but he wanted me to tell you anyway, and I said I would so here we are." She spoke a mile a minute and had been speaking to some obscure fixed place on the wall between her parents.

Her parents looked at each other and then back at her. A look of mutual agreement had passed between them. That was either pretty good or really bad.

"Cecelia, you do realize you directly disobeyed us?" Mr. Jamison asked.

Cecelia nodded, as she had resorted to looking down at her fidgety hands in her lap. "Yessir," she mumbled.

"An you do understand that you will be punished for your actions?" he checked again.

She nodded once more.

This time, her mother spoke up. "Who is this boy's mother?" She spoke softly and kindly, as if she understood how Cecelia felt right then.

Cecelia looked up at her mother. "Mrs. Duchamp."

A look of recognition swept her mother face. "Ah, Ida! She's a lovely woman, and what happened to her husband..." Her mother absently shook her head and "tisked," as the kids called it. "But we will talk with her about the arrangements, alright?"

"You mean, you're going with that lu- I mean, you're going with Norman Duchamp's boy?" He corrected himself at a scolding look from both his wife and daughter. "He's a dangerous man, he is. I'm sure you've seen what he did to the kid."

"Daddy, I don't seem to understand how his dad's issues fits into the conversation," Cecelia pointed out, in a rather upset tone.

"I'm not saying it had anything to do with this, but you have to know the apple doesn't fall far from the tree," her father said before getting up and walking out of the room.

Cecelia was shaking with anger, and mad tears threatened to pour from her eyes. "Mom, I'm going to meet Teddy's mom. I don't know when, but I am." She stood up and began to walk away but turned around. "Why are you still with him? You two fight all the time, and he never lets you have a say."

Her mother looked at her daughter with deep sadness in her eyes. "I know it sounds silly, but I still love him."

"But, Ma, he- okay. Goodnight, Mama," Cecelia hugged her mother, who she had never felt so bad for.

She had considered telling her about Ms. Jackson, but she knew she didn't have enough evidence. Most of all, she didn't think her mom needed anything else to worry about.

Issues, what else is new?

I wanna thank you all so so so much for all the reads and encouraging comments I get on this book. I love this book so much, and a big reason for me getting this far with it is you guys. Every vote on a chapter, every comment to update or how you love this story just makes it so much easier to continue writing. I just want to let you all know how much you mean to me, as a person and as a writer. Thank you so much. M'kay.

~Mariah