The Tree That Stood Alone

Chapter 15

"What do you mean you're Ethan's parents?" I ask, extremely confused about this entire situation. "I've seen his mom, or at least, the woman he lives with." The woman sighs, almost as if the story is too painful to talk about. She sits on the ground in front of me, she looks straight at me. Her eyes look so sad, as if Ethan has done something that she'd rather not share with me.

"Ethan ran away from us a few years ago. We were trying to get him to be a part of a bigger part of our lives. But he didn't want to have any part of that. So he left us and went to live with my sister, Helania, and he's just been calling her his mom." Aedan, Ethan's father, is standing in the background shifting from foot to foot uneasily. I'm guessing the story is also hard for him to talk about. 

"Why didn't you go after him if you knew where he was going?" She slightly chuckles and puts her hands in her lap.

"Well until you told me he was living with a woman, I had no idea where he was living. All I knew that he was still in the state." I sigh, knowing the truth that he wasn't even close to the state.

"He actually was living in Iowa...." I trail off, not wanting to continue the sentence. She looks at me so confused. Even Aedan looks at me with confusion.

"What do you mean? My sister lives in New York, just like me." She looks nervous, and slightly scared.

"Well when I met Ethan, we were in Iowa. I don't know who he was living with, but he referred to her as his step-mother." As I said step-mother , I watched a wave of pain spread down her face. Even Aedan looks worried, and he seems to not show to much emotion for the moments I've been around him.

"Oh god." She whispers. She then stands and turns to Aedan. "He wouldn't go and live with her would he?"

He shrugs."I don't know Aria. He may not remember her from when he was young. He was only 3 when she did what she did." His strong voice seemed softer and more caring, but his accent was still really strong and rough. I sit there on the ground confused, not really sure what they're talking about. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ethan moving around. I look over and I see him getting himself untied. He looks over at me once he gets free. he puts his inex finger to his lips, to signal for me to be quiet. My eyes grow huge when I see him grab a large rock. Aedan and Aria, the woman, are still deeply involved in their conversation so they don't see Ethan sneaking up behind them.

"Hey! Watch out!" I yell to them and Ethan turns and runs in the opposite direction. But before he could get far, Aedan reaches out and grabs the back of his shirt with his giant hands and drags him  back. Aedan then takes the rock out of Ethan's hand and throws it a distance away from him. 

"Let go of me you behemoth!" Ethan yells as he squirms in Aedan's grip. 

"Well if ya would just calm down-" Aedan starts to say but Ethan immediately cuts in.

"F*** OFF OLD MAN!" I've never seen Ethan so angry. Then again, I've never even seen Ethan not happy. Aedan smacks the back off Ethan's head with a lot of force. Aria glared at Aedan and then walked over to them.

"Ethan! Calm down!" She yells over top of Ethan's complaining and yelling. I'm shocked as I'm watcing this. He's like a toddler right now, he's throwing a tantrum. I watch as Ethan flails around and as Aedan and Aria try to calm him down. It is honestly sad to witness, Ethan is acting as if he doesn't even recognize his own parents. I stand and I walk over to them, but not too close so I won't get hit. Ethan sees me and he calms down, almost as if he's now embarrassed. 

"Ethan?" He looks at me with his pale blue eyes, his eyes look just like his mom's. I can see how much he wants to get away from them but there's nothing I can do for him. "Do you remember these people? They're your parents." Ethan looks at me so confused, while Aedan and Aria just stand there. They look as if they already knew that he wouldn't recognize them.

****I was gonna discontinue this story but it seems like some of you still really like this. If you do really like this, please let me know because if not I'm just gonna discontinue it.****