Owen, Ed and Me

3: Security

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After catching my breath for a few minutes and making it onto the second floor, I knock on my apartment door. My mother opens the door, dressed in only her bathrobe. I resist a pout when I see my parents have switched "rights" again. It's ridiculous, really, but they aren't ready to call it quits on their marriage yet. So instead, they fight every waking second they see each other, until one day my dad suggested they take turns living here and sleeping at a friend's. It's what they'd been doing already anyway, but now it's official which means they can't bring it up in their fights anymore. It is also a lot more peaceful here, I have to admit. Except that I can no longer assess their respective mood swings, or who I will encounter at home. See, my parents are that type of couple where everything, including their own kid, fades out – it doesn't matter if they're currently fighting or in love.

"Hey," I greet my mom. I give her a kiss on the cheek and then head to our small kitchen.

"Toni, wait," she closes the door and then pins me with her I'm-a-detective-so-don't-shit-me stare. "Where have you been?"

I roll my eyes and start scavenging our fridge. I kind of really feel sorry for those delicious waffles I wasted on Owen Knight's face.

"At Sophie's, like every Friday. Dad saw me leave last night." I shrug. Please drop it, please drop it. Nope.

"And where are your things? And your key?"

"Mom," I ask dead seriously. "Did you ever think about what it was going to be like for your kids when you decided to become a cop? Like how I miss out on all the fun illegal teenager stuff because you know what I'm up to no matter what it is?"

My mom sighs and sits down opposite me at the table, grabbing the juice from me. I don't know if it's the same for her, but I really miss my dad in that third chair.

"First off, I'm a detective, not a cop." Right. "Now, Toni, talk to me," Is all she says. I hate how she knows I'm just avoiding the subject. I sigh.

"Owen Knight came back today."

My mother slowly sets down her glass and then eyes me up and down. "You're fine?" It's a question, like she honestly thought I would be dead the second the oldest Knight child returned to town. I give a shaky laugh.

"Yeah. Well, he chased me out of the house and through Mike's and then up to our building, but yeah."

My mother pinches the bridge of her nose. "This is such an inconvenience." She sighs. "I'm supposed to be taking over Martha's shifts next week, Toni. I can't be looking out for you all the time too."

"Right mom, because I wanted Owen to come back for me with a vengeance – in fact, I loved running through that store! It gives my life some meaning, having a killer after me." I respond dryly. She pins me with an impatient glare.

"Will he be returning to school?"

Crap on a cracker. School! Owen Knight is still in my grade. "I don't know. Probably, right?"

"You know what," My mom suddenly gets up. "This is a problem for your father. He doesn't get to cower away from everything."

I refrain from pointing out that my mom hasn't exactly even tried to solve my problem. Or that I'm pretty much the easiest kid in terms of maintenance. Or that she's the one who took over a week off from me last week while my dad helped me through the minimal university crisis. Instead, I walk over to the toast that's just done and smear a good heap of Nutella on it.