Hidden (Matt Espinosa)

seven

"Hello welcome to Friendly's! How many will be at your table?"

"Three."

She grabs menus and leads us to a booth towards the back of the room.

We take a seat and she smiles, "I will be right back to take your order for drinks."

I nod and begin to look at the menu. "Okay kids, what would you guys like to drink."

Jonah looks to me, "Can I have a chocolate milkshake."

"I want a strawberry milkshake."

I smile to the both of them, "Sure!"

When the waitress comes back she asks us what we would like to drink, "We will take two chocolate milkshakes and one strawberry milkshake."

She finishes scribbling our order onto a pad then walks into the kitchen. "So, how was your visit with Sue today?"

"It was fun, I had a lot of tests taken and between that I spent time with Ana."

(a/n: guys Ana is pronounced like Ana from Frozen, just wanted to clarify!)

"That's good! Did mom stop in at all?"

Jonah shakes his head no, "No, she didn't call either."

I let out a sigh and roll my eyes, "I'm sorry Jonah, you know mom."

"Yeah."

I look to Ana and smile a cheesy smile, "And did you enjoy spending the day with your big brother?"

She nods and smiles back, "Yes!"

"That is good!"

When our waitress comes back she takes our orders for our meals and returns to the kitchen.

"I saw Sue talking to you out in the hallway when you came to pick us up, what was she saying?"

I look up from the table to Jonah. I feel a lump rise in my throat and I struggle hard to swallow it. I stare at him for a while, looking at his frail body, and his head that is covered in little messy hairs. I hate seeing the dark bags under his eyes, they keep reminding me of how serious everything is getting. If you get a good look at him while he's standing, you can see his bones almost too easily... like a skeleton.

I snap out of my thoughts and smile at him, "Oh it was nothing, she was just telling me about how you did today and what you and Ana did."

He smiles back and then our waitress appears with our food.

☆☆☆

We walk through the door and make our way into the living room. George and mom are seated on the couch smoking pot.

I wave and usher the kids into our room.

"Get ready for bed, I'll let you two out to use the bathroom in a bit okay?"

They both nod and I close the door. I turn around and walk over to the couch, "Mom I need to talk to you."

She keeps her eyes locked on the TV and takes another puff. "Mom I am serious."

George looks to me and smiles his cocky smile, "Why not we go into the other room and you can tell me yourself."

I roll my eyes and shake my moms shoulder, "Mom, I need to talk to you."

She looks to me with an annoyed expression, "What Drew? Can't you see I'm busy right now."

"So pot, TV, and your shitty ass boyfriend are more important than your dying son?"