That Good Pain in your Stomach

Best Friends through the Years

What if Philip and Lukas were always best friends? What if Lukas' mom was alive to help Lukas when he was confused?

I know it may seem like I hate Rose and Anne I'm this but I really don't.

Age 5
Lukas

I was playing in the sandbox alone when a kid who was playing frisbee tripped over my sand castle, destroying it. I started crying. It took me forever to build that!

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard a boy say, who was standing right in front of me. I looked up at him. He had curly brown hair and gentle brown eyes.

"No, that mean kid destroyed my castle," I said, probably pouting.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He knelt down in the sand with me. "I can help you rebuild it?" he offered.

"Really? Thank you. I'm Lukas."

"I'm Philip." We shared a quick smile before we started rebuilding my sand castle. While working, we asked each other random questions like our favorite color (his is blue), where we live (he lives on the same street as me), and our favorite food (his is macaroni and cheese, same as me).

We were just finishing the castle when my mom walked up to us. "Come on, Lukas. We need to go home and get ready for dinner."

"Okay, Mommy. Look what Philip and I made!"

"Oh, that's a beautiful castle, baby. Now, tell your friend goodbye. We need to go get dinner started before Daddy gets home."

"Ok." I was sad I had to leave my new friend. "Bye, Philip."

"Bye, Lukas!"

Age 9
Philip

Mom was in trouble. The judge says I can't live with my mom anymore. They say she has a problem. "Does the child have any family he can stay with until his mother has finished rehab?"

"A local couple, Bo and Sally Waldenbeck, have offered to take Philip into their home. Their son, Lukas, is close friends with Philip."

"Very well. In the case of Philip Shea, he will be taken into the care of the Waldenbecks until his mother is clean and sober. His mother, Anne Shea, is denied visitation aside from special requests or until further notice. Case dismissed," the judge said, slamming down his gavel. I ran over to Lukas--because he wouldn't let his parents go to court without him--and wrapped my arms around him, crying into his shoulder.

"Thank you for being here, Luka."

"Of course," he said, squeezing me tighter.

That night, I moved into the Waldenbeck house. They set up the guest room for me but I didn't want to sleep alone so I went to Lukas' room and laid in his bed with him. He put his arm around me, saying everything was going to be okay.

Age 13
Lukas

Philip has been acting really weird lately. When we're studying together, I can feel his eyes on me and when I look up, I see his eyes dart back to the textbook in front of him. "Okay, Philip, what's going on?"

"Nothing. What are you talking about?"

"You keep looking at me weird. And I feel like you've been hiding something." He fidgeted in his seat.

"Well, actually there is something I need to tell you. The court is granting visitation rights. I mean, they say that it can be revoked if my mom stops her treatment or does anything reckless. But for now, I'm really happy I get to finally see her."