One For The Road

Chapter Nineteen

There were few occasions of which my mother really got angry.

Sure, when I was a kid, my mom and dad would argue constantly, and my mom certainly got angry then— we all did— but nowadays, it was rare to see her angry, no matter how annoying her coworkers or children were. I got all of my anger issues from my father.

But she was angry now— seething, even— and I honestly didn't know how to react.

She'd led me out onto the porch, and we had sat down on the edge of the step together. She let me talk for a long time about why I went, who I went with, what happened along the way, what had happened when we found my father. I left out certain details, like my little breakdown in the field and the mass amount of money I'd spent, but I got the point across.

After I finished, Mom went quiet for a long time. She was staring out in the direction of the road, and her hair framed her face so I couldn't see her expression, but she was slowly cracking the knuckles of each of her individual fingers. A habit she had when she was nervous or upset.

And then she stood and kicked the wall, which shocked and concerned me all at once, and I quickly stood to help her.

"What was that?" I asked gently. She shook her head and kicked the wall again, harder this time. I knew from experience that there were far more painful surfaces to kick, but that didn't stop me from worrying. I gently set my hand on her arm, trying to calm her down like she did with me when I was overwhelmed.

"Sit back down," I suggested.

She shook her head reluctantly but sat down anyway, and I did the same next to her. She was looking down at her hands now.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that from him," she muttered through gritted teeth. "He has no right to hurt you in any way."

"It was really my fault for the most part," I mumbled. "I was the one who was more aggressive."

She whipped her head around to look at me, her eyes stern. "Don't you ever try to tell yourself any of that is your fault," she said firmly. "Eugene doesn't deserve that sympathy. He's an awful man. It took him two children to realize that he was better off without me, and sadly, it took a lot longer for me to realize I was better off without him. I don't want you to feel bad about any of it, either. I'm proud of you for being so brave as to comfort him." She put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, and I rested my head on her shoulder.

"It's not like it was all bad," I said. "Like I mentioned, I got to know Just and Heidi a lot better. They're pretty cool."

"I'm glad for that. I'd like to meet them sometime. They sound like good people."

I smiled in spite of myself, thinking back to all of the fun we'd had and how many more memories we could make. "I have a feeling you'll get the chance to meet them someday. You'll love them both."

"I'm glad you think that." She turned to me and kissed my forehead before standing and stretching. "I need to get some things done. I'm going to have to get into work early tomorrow since I took off most of today."

I averted my eyes guiltily. "Sorry."

"Now, what did I say about too many apologies?" She stuck her hand out, and I took it so she could help me rise to my feet. "I forgive you as long as you don't do that to me again. Now, go unload your bags and eat something. Then, try to get some sleep. You're going to school tomorrow, whether you like it or not." I opened my mouth to object, but she gave me a stern look that shut me up before I could even make a sound. "You've missed a week of school. Not to mention the fact that you've only been going to this school for just over a week in all. You've got some catching up to do. You brought this upon yourself."

I sighed. She was right. As much as I wanted to stay at home and sleep for the rest of eternity, I did have a lot of missed time to make up for.

"Okay, I'll go." She smiled, clearly satisfied, and kissed my forehead softly.

"I love you," she said quietly, looking me in the eyes. "I want you to know that, okay?"

I nodded and smiled, and she mirrored it before turning and heading inside, leaving the door open for my convenience.

I sighed before heading to the car and opening the door to grab my bag from the backseat. I inhaled the scent that I'd been smelling all week, the smell of my car and traces of Heidi and Just's distinctive smells. It almost made me want to stay there in the car and reminisce with the memories that I'd made with them. In fact, I almost did climb into the car, but I restrained myself, grabbing the bag I'd brought on the trip and locking my car after I had closed the door. I ran a hand through my greasy hair before carrying my stuff up to the house. I was in desperate need of some good food and a shower.

•••

Mom had left some food out for me, so I ate quickly and took a long shower before climbing into bed. Of course, I pulled my phone out instead of actually trying to sleep. Heidi and Just had been spamming me with texts, so I scrolled up to catch myself up.

🦋Heidi🦋: so about the dog

🦋Heidi🦋: we cant keep him

🐝Just🐝: Oh no!! Why not? :(

🦋Heidi🦋: My parents think it'll be too much work for me to take care of him, and my brother sure doesn't want him. Plus they're kinda mad that I brought a dog home without any warning, a stray at that, which is pretty understandable

🐝Just🐝: allqidbcnsa im so sorry ;=; what're you gonna do with him?

🦋Heidi🦋: Well first my parents are gonna see if they can find any friends who would be interested in adopting him

🦋Heidi🦋: speaking of which let me know if either of you can take him because hhhh

🦋Heidi🦋: But yeah if we can't find anyone who wants to take him we're gonna have to bring him to the shelter.

Chase: That sucks. I'm sorry about that.

🐝Just🐝: There he issss

🐝Just🐝: But yeah that really does suck. I hope you can find him a good home.

Chase: Same here. I have to go to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow.

With that, I switched my phone onto do not disturb and turned it off, setting it on my nightstand and flopping over onto my side.

Tomorrow would be a normal day, and the world would go back to the way it was meant to be.