Her Mysterious Ways

Chapter 35: No Choice

Do I even edit anymore? Enjoy!!

I paced the floor of my room waiting for him to call.

After Cole and his mom embraced each other for the first time in five years, everything changed. The rest of the trip consisted of them spending time together while Dawn and I did the typical things you would do in New York, even though I had done them all numerous times as a child. Then we all went on the same plane home, minus Cole's mom. She caught a flight slightly later than ours.

On the plane, Cole excitedly told me all about his mom's life in New York and what she had been doing for the past five years. He said that she had become quite successful at event photography and had even started her own business, which kept her very busy.

When he stopped raving about his mother in order to catch his breath, I asked a question that addressed an obvious topic.

"Why did she not contact you after all that time? Or at least visit you?"

He looked down and started to fiddle with the latch on his seatbelt. "You know how I said my dad was abusive? She was afraid that if she started to talk to us, we would be in danger, since we were closer to him than she is."

"Then why didn't she take you with her in the first place?" I didn't want to press, but I wanted to make sure this stranger to me wasn't taking advantage of his emotional vulnerability.

"Because she knew that we were safer away from her. He didn't care about us. And, Grandma had just been diagnosed earlier that year with no one to truly take care of her. Good thing she did, because just a couple months ago, he started to drive to New York to find her. He got arrested on the way for driving under the influence, and then was further investigated until they found out he was responsible for various assault cases. My mom wanted to wait until the trial was over before she contacted us, because she's a witness in it."

Then, I finally understood. She did the only thing she could have.

He went on to tell me that she sent money to his grandma every month to pay for her hospital bills, which he thought was covered under insurance, and she called Maurice every so often to check up on how they were doing.

That's why I wasn't calling him. He needed time to process everything. But three days? Three days seemed a little excessive to not contact your maybe-but-not-yet-but-possibly-in-the-future girlfriend. I was worried about him. For all I knew, he was in a ditch with some foot fungus trying to hitchhike home from a wild night out, although I doubted that was the case.

Right as I stopped my pacing to pick up the phone, the doorbell rang. Dropping the phone that I had just picked up, I sprinted down the stairs and to the door, only almost-falling twice.

"Hi." Is all Cole could get between heavy breaths.

"Hello? Why are you panting? Why haven't you called? Do you need water? Oh, I'm sorry, come inside. Sit down. What's going on?" He sat down in the kitchen while I poured him a glass of water.

"Sorry. I came as fast as I could. I needed to talk to you." He took a long sip from his water before talking again.

Then, right at my kitchen table, he flipped my world upside down.

He told me that his grandma was getting worse, and his mom had found an experimental treatment back in New York that wasn't offered here. They couldn't afford the treatment without selling the house here, which meant Cole and Gracie would have to move to New York and live with their mother. He said they could finish off the school year here, but then they would have to move.

"Why don't you stay here next year with Dawn and I?" I suggested, knowing she wouldn't mind whatsoever, considering she loved Cole like he was family.