Finger Paintings • gallavich

Dead Lines

Yev and Mickey ended up staying up all night. It wasn't that Mickey wanted to, but Yev was worrying. Mickey had tried several times to get Svetlana on the phone or contact her, but she never answered.
Now it was a school day, but Mickey told Yev he didn't have to go. His boss had agreed to let him bring Yev to work and that was where they were now. Yevgeny was sitting on a chair in the back corner and Mickey was washing dishes.

Yevgeny sits quietly and plays on Mickey's phone. He didn't know where Svetlana was and he was worried she'd never come back. "When's mommy coming home?" He asks Mickey

Mickey glances over at him. "Soon, Yev. I'm gonna call her again when I'm break and figure this whole thing."

Mickey knew he had a small chance of actually contacting Svetlana. Her phone had been going straight to voicemail and he didn't know where to find her at, so Mickey was left with nothing to tell Yev.

"Did she get departed?" He asks, meaning deported. He had heard some kids calling Svetlana a commie and illegal. "Daddy, can we go get her please?"

"Yev I don't know, Okay? I don't know what happened but if she got deported they would have contacted me by now. So I doubt that's even a possibility," he says.

He nods reluctantly, "can I make posters? We can hang them up, maybe someone saw her and can call you."

Mickey quite honestly didn't care where Svet had gone for his own sake. He personally couldn't care less if she had been deported or thrown in jail. But for his own kid's sake, he knew he had to try to find her. "Not yet, Yev. It's only been a day. Just give it till the weekend until we start with the posters."

"How far away is that?" He asks. They were just starting the days of the week so Yev was still a bit hesitant and new with it

"Three more days," he says. "We can start them Friday if you want."  Yev nods a bit.

"Okay, three days and I can make posters for mommy," he says.

The rest of the work day was quiet. Mickey didn't bring up Svet and neither did Yevgeny which Mickey was thankful for cause he didn't have any answers for him. Once he finished his shift, Mickey drove the two of them home. He picked up a sleeping Yev out of his car. On his front porch, Mickey saw Ian sitting on the porch, smoke coming from a cigarette between his fingers. Mickey offers him a small smile when he sees him. "Let me put Yev to bed and we can talk?" He says. Ian nods and stands.

"Yeah, take your time," he says, opening the door for Mickey. Mickey walks in and carries his sleeping son to his room. He carefully takes his coat and shoes off before pulling the blankets up. "Good night, bud," he says, kissing his forehead. As he walked out, Mickey noticed it was quiet in the house which wasn't surprising since Terry spent most of his evenings drinking at a bar. So Mickey figured it was safe enough to have Ian join him inside.

Once ian gets the door, he follows Mickey inside. He shrugs off his jacket, hanging it up on the coat rack. He then follows Mickey into the kitchen, leaning up against the counter. "So, any word?"

Mickey shakes his head. He goes to the fridge and grabs two beers. "Nothing," he says. He hands a beer to Ian and sits down on the couch. "I've got no clue what to tell the kid," he says, kicking his shoes off

"Tell him she's gone, man," he mumbles as he follows Mickey to the couch. As much as he hated to break Yevgeny's heart, he knew the truth would be best for the child. He takes a seat besides Mickey, opening his beer and taking a swig, "he needs to know."

"Yeah, but I don't even know if she's gone yet. Maybe she's just... passed out drunk at some guys house," he says, taking a long sip.

"Give it until the weekend, send out a missing person report, and if she's not found, then tell him," he mumbles. Mickey nods. He leans his head back and closes his eyes. He was afraid that that was what it was going to come to. And as much as he wanted that, he knew it would be extremely hard to tell his five year old that his mother wasn't coming back.  As if on cue, Mickey's phone starts to buzz in his pocket. He quickly sits up and pulls it out.

"Holy shit... it's Svet," he tells Ian, eyes wide. He then clicks accept and holds the phone to his ear. "Svet? Where the fuck are you?"

"Tell Yevgeny I will always love him and I'm sorry," she says softly, not trying to wake the man sleeping next to her.

Mickey frowns and rubs his forehead. "Tell me what the hell is going on. Where are you? Yevs getting worried," he rambles.

"I'm leaving. Found husband to support me. Take care of Yevgeny, tell him that I love him very much," she explains

He stands up off the couch. As much of a piece of shit that Mickey was, he'd never leave his kid. No matter what. And the fact that Svetlana was doing just that, pissed him off to no end. "You can't just fucking leave your kid like that."

"This number is being deactivated. Tell him I'm sorry and I love him," she says before hanging up and shutting off the phone

Without the chance for another word, the line went dead. "That bitch!" He mutters angrily, throwing his phone down next to him.

Ian frowns and scoots closer to him. "Hey, what did she say? What's going on?"

Mickey shakes his head. "She got a fucking boyfriend or some shit... not coming home." He realized he was working to get Svetlana deported but it was going to be different. If she was deported Yev wouldn't have to feel as if his mother didn't love him. That she left because she was forced to leave. But now she left by choice.

"Hey," Ian whispers. "It's gonna be okay... I promise it's gonna be okay." He says, kissing the side of Mickey's forehead. Mickey closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath.

"I know I just... don't know what I'm going to tell Yev."

"I know, but we'll figure it out together. It's gonna work out in the end," Ian promises.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms reading my fanfic today. And even if there aren't any moms here I hope you all had a wonderful day ALSO ONLY ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO WHOOP WHOOP