Journey's Child

23

I hung out at the beach for a while, then I saw Tom leave and go to his door. A moment later my mother waved for me to come in. I hurried up the path, wondering what she wanted.

"Gilly, come inside now," she said sounding anxious.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered. "I thought we should go grocery shopping."

"But you just went shopping," I said feeling confused.

"Well, then maybe we can go see a movie."

"Really?" That'd be great!"

My mother grabbed the three-page newspaper from Florence and looked for listings. "Well, there's 'Holes' or 'Blue Crush' showing tonight."

I laughed. "Are you kidding? Those are really old movies."

'Beggars can't be choosers, Gilly."

"What time does 'Blue Crush' start?"

My mom looked unsure. "It starts at 7:00, but I'm not sure that's a movie for you to see."

"What's it rated?" I asked.

My mother looked closer at the paper. "PG-13," she replied.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers. Besides, I've already seen 'Holes' last year when it came out," I said rolling my eyes.

"Okay," she agreed, smiling. "Let's go, we should have time to get some dinner before."

I knew something was up with my mom, but I didn't want to say anything that would ruin the moment.

*

We had a really good time. My mom and I ate hamburgers and fries for dinner and washed them down with milkshakes. The movie was good - even my mother enjoyed it. On our way back to the cottage I decided to find out what was going on.

"Mom, why didn't you want to be at the cottage tonight?"

She glanced over at me, "No reason. I thought it would be nice to do something together, that's all."

We were quiet for a while, then I asked, "Is it because of Tom?"

She gave me a quick glance but didn't say anything. A little time passed, then she reached over and patted my leg. "Gilly, I think we should go home early."

I looked over at her questioningly, "Why?"

"I thought you'd be happy to go home."

"I am, it's just I'm getting to know Thad and now I kind of like it here."

"Well, I'm thinking about leaving at the end of next week. That's only a week early. How would that be?"

"Okay," I agreed.

"Gilly, I know things have gotten out of hand. I want to go home and put our lives back together."

"Okay," I said.

"You need to get ready for school. We'll go shopping for clothes and school supplies. We're going to be alright."

"Okay," I repeated.

"And Gilly," she said in a serious tone, "I want you to stay away from Tom. He should be gone in a day or two."

I looked over at her. A frightened feeling had begun to invade the good time we just had. "Mom..." I started.

"It's okay. Just stay away from him." She looked over and gave me a little smile.

We drove in silence the rest of the way back to Drakes Harbor.

My mother started acting nervous when she drove up and parked in front of our cottage.

"Maybe I should park around the corner," she mumbled.

"Mom...," I began.

"Let's just hurry and get inside," she insisted.

I noticed that there weren't any lights on in Tom's cottage.

Once we'd gotten in, my mom shut and locked the door. She had closed the blinds before we left.

"Don't turn on the lights," she said as she fumbled to get a cigarette out of her purse.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I demanded.

"Come on, Gilly. We need to get to bed. Thad is picking you up at 9:00 am."

I made my way down the dark hall and tried to feel for my pajamas without turning on my light. My mother had gotten the lamp from the front room and set it on her bedroom floor near her bed. She was sitting up reading when I came in to say goodnight. The lamp spread a secretive yellow blanket across the walls and made me feel like we were in a scary movie.

"I had fun tonight," I told her.

She gave me a weak smile.

"Mom?" I asked.

"Yes honey," she answered without looking up from her book.

"Why didn't you tell me about Linda?"

She looked up then and I could see that she was about to cry. "I don't really know, Gilly. I didn't want you to feel bad. That's the best answer I can give you."

"That's what I thought," I told her with a sigh. "Are you afraid of Tom?"

She didn't answer right away. After thinking about it, she told me, "I don't like him. I will be happy when he's gone." She began to cry. "I've made a mess of everything. I should never have brought us here. I'm so sorry, Gilly."

"It's okay, mom," I soothed as I climbed up next to her. "It hasn't been all bad."

She laughed and wiped her face with her hand. 'No, just most of it."

"We met Thad --- he's nice." I offered.

"Yes, yes he is," she said as she put her arm around me.

*

I woke up on my mom's empty bed where I must have fallen asleep. I jumped up and called out to her. To my surprise, she was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

"Good morning," she greeted.

The clock said 8:07. Is Thad picking me up here?" I asked.

"He should be here in about an hour, so hurry and eat so you can get dressed."

A knock at the door caught us both by surprise.

92NF;_