Only Time Will Tell

Bushmire's Prep

Vanessa's POV
"What do you mean you let him hovo to the shop?" I panicked as Chris calmly leaned against the doorframe of his large oak front door,

"A few of his buddies invited him to the shop so I said go for it, he's old enough, he'll be fine and I had my old h-vo shoes in the shed which work perfectly fine" he winked but I was too frustrated.

"Chris he can barely cross the street by himself, he's only just turned 9" I spat angrily as he nicely invited me in but I refused, "just get his stuff so we can leave straight away" I rolled my eyes.

Eventually Mikey sprinted up the steps to the front door looking exhausted and out of breath, "hi sweetie" I smiled sympathetically but he just walked straight past me and dumped the shoes by Christopher's feet.

"Hold up!" I ordered as Mikey stopped in his tracks, "I said hello, what are you supposed to say?" I asked, hoping for some manners,

"Hi" he shrugged, storming further into the house to gather the rest of his things.

"Vanessa I've noticed some weird behavior with Mikey when he's around other kids" Chris spoke up, "I know Christopher, I have been taking care of him all his life" I rolled my eyes,

"But don't you think we should do something about it? It looks like they just pick on him, why don't we transfer him? Bushmire's Prep is still an option" he suggested, finally taking his arm away from the door and crossing them on his chest.

"I can't afford to send him to a private school" I sighed,

"Exactly but I can, you know my parents have the money but you're just not using it" he sighed, "because we don't need handouts" I whispered harshly, calling Mikey to hurry up.

"It's not a handout, Mom and Dad really want him to go there and they'll pay for the full thing and when I'm finished college in two years I'll repay them" he suggested,

"Let's just get through this month first, I don't want him going to the same school we went to, it's only been 9 years so any bets all the same staff work there and that's just weird" I shuddered as Michael finally came ready to the front door.

"Bye Mikey" Chris smiled, ruffling his soft curly brown hair while Mikey played it off, "bye dad" he waved as I took his hand and led him down the street to where I parked the car.

By the time we reached home Roni had finished auto cooking and had the pasta set out on the table, "Mikey, my favorite nephew!" She laughed, pulling him in for a hug but he just stood there, "go put your things away and come back" I suggested as he left the kitchen.

"What's up with him?" Roni asked as I shrugged my shoulders in confusion.

Dinner went smoothly but still no sound from Mikey who just played around with the gross food Roni had 'cooked'

"What's up?" I asked sympathetically but still no response,

"Y'know you're gonna have to say something soon or else we can't fix what's wrong" I smiled, hoping he'd say something,

"I don't like being in this family" he sighed as both Roni and I looked at each other in confusion and shock for a minute or two, arguing over who'd take on this conversation.

"Why's that?" I finally asked as I told the table to clear and within seconds it was spotless and the lights were back on.

"I don't understand why we're so different than everybody else, how come you and dad are so young? Why do you work as a cleaner in a hotel? And how come everyone thinks I'm weird because my mom looks like my sister" he asked in a loud voice, obviously trying very hard to hold back the tears.

"You can't help that you're different" I began,

"Why couldn't you have just had me when you were older?" He cried,

"Well, that's not really how it works" I sighed but he was overly frustrated with something else that must have happened earlier that caused the anger to rise within him, "it's not fair!" He shouted, storming to his room and ordering the door to lock behind him.

"I'll deal with this" I stood up but Veronica ordered me to sit back down, "he'll take it easier from me" she suggested so I just let her go.

I sat on the holographic stairs while eavesdropping in on their muffled voices, trying to piece together their broken sentences to make sense of it all. It only reminded me of when I tried listening in on my parents as they made the decision whether they should send me away to get 'rid' of the baby or live it out.

I heard Mikey crying and couldn't take it any more, just as my hand touched the handle the door opened to Veronica who explained that he wanted to talk to me about something.

"Tell me what's really wrong" I smiled, pulling him in for a side hug and letting him cry on my shoulder for a minute before answering.

"I was a-at dads-s when a f-few guys from my-y class called ov-ver" he sobbed as I wiped away his tears with my damp sleeve, "he made me go out and p-play with them even th-though I said I didn't want t-too" he continued, calming himself down a little,

"They were all from my grade and we're making fun of me because of you and dad so I punched Lucas in the nose" he sighed, revealing his swelling knuckles that I hadn't noticed before.

"Ice" I ordered as his bedside table opened up revealing a bag of ice cubes already ready, "Mikey" I sighed in disappointment as I lightly placed the bag on his hand causing him to wince,

"When it started to bleed he made his friends run after me and that's when I got back to dads" he explained as I finished wrapping up his hand in plasters. "You should never resort to violence sweetie, that's the one thing I've always said" I reminded him as I stood up and made my way over to his desk, "don't get angry at dad for this" he begged but I had no choice.

I tapped his desk and up appeared a floating screen, I scrolled through his contacts and dialed 'dad' and waited for the video call to be declined but to my surprise it was answered which I say Christopher regretted doing.

"Chris I trusted you to keep our son safe from things like this and I can't believe you let this happen" I sighed, my throat hoarse from yelling so loudly at him,

"Vanessa I had no clue what was going on, I thought they were his friends!" He defended himself but I had enough,

"Goodbye Christopher" I mumbled before hanging up while he continued to try and clear his name.

"I'm going to bed honey and you better do the same, I have work in the morning and you have school" I said as I shut his bedroom door from behind me but he quickly called me back in,

"Mom why can't I go to Bushmire's?" He asked, "because in my experience the kids there are just as bad maybe even worse than Jefferson Middle"

(Hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much to everyone who voted and commented! It means a lot to me💙)