Escaping the Current

4. Breakfast & Ultimatums

He walked slowly to Kaden's front door, seeming unsure of what he was about to do. But the reward of going through with it would be great. As he walked up the steps on the porch, the door opened. Kaden's dad walked out of the house in a hurry. He was a bit startled by him. He looked at him, squinted his eyes a bit then raised his brow.

'Good morning, sir,' he uttered. 'Is Kaden here?'

'I don't know. Who's asking?' he retorted, crossing his arms with a dry look on his face.

'Oh, I'm so sorry.' He reached out his hand and smiled. 'I'm Mauricio Alvarez, a classmate of Kaden's.' He was quite intimidated by the sherriff's uniform Kaden's dad was wearing. All he could do was keep his hand there and carry on smiling. 'We made plans today.'

He finally shook his hand and raised his brow, 'Hello, Mauricio.'

'Okay, we're both late. Let's go,' Kaden's mom commanded from behind the big man in uniform. She laid her eyes on Mo. 'Who's this?'

'Hi, Mrs. Jefferson.' He reached out his hand to her. 'I'm Mauricio, Kaden's friend.'

She grabbed it almost immediately. 'Hi. I'm his momma, Diane.' She adjusted her bag and checked her watch. 'You looking for Kaden?'

'Yes, he is,' Kaden's dad answered before Mo could. 'Says they have plans. This early in the morning, can you believe it?'

'Charlie, it's Saturday. Let the kids live,' she smiled. 'Now let's get going. We're both late.'

Diane grabbed Charlie's arm. 'Kaden's upstairs sleeping.' She turned to the face the door and pointed at the staircase. 'First room on the left.' She and Charlie walked past him. She smiled at Mo.

Just as Mo walked through the door, Charlie cleared his throat and uttered, 'There are about fifty tasers in the house. About thirty are in Kaden's room. Don't try anything smart.'

Mo gave an awkward smile.

'Charlie, leave the poor boy alone.' Diane hit Charlie's elbow. 'He's joking. Go right on in.' She waved at Mo before she and Charlie finally left.

Kaden slept peacefully in the fetal position. The blanket looked as though it had been kicked off during the night. He was wearing a rainbow t-shirt with black tights. His long, curly, dark brown hair rested across his pillow made him look like one of those princesses trapped in deep sleep. So beautiful and rested. Although the subtle snoring made Kaden a bit more like Merida from Brave.

Mauricio sat on Kaden's desk facing the window. He also admired Kaden's bookshelf and all the shells placed around the books. He saw that Kaden had left his closet open. He couldn't help but lean closer and glance into it. Kaden had the pairs of jeans, shirts, and hoodies on the shelves. On the hangers, he saw a lot of jackets. He noticed the door had a collage of photos of Kaden and Austin through the years. From pre-teen pictures to recent ones too, Kaden had collected them all and it became quite apparent how important Austin was to Kaden.

Mauricio heard Kaden yawning and stretching. Mo headed back to the desk. He folded his arms and smiled at Kaden as he crinkled his nose.

XXX

Kaden's eyes started twitching. They opened slowly. He rubbed his eyes. As his hand left his eyes, he noticed the body in his room.

'Austin, what are you doing in my room?' Kaden whispered.

'If you're gonna think I'm Austin all the time, then this will never be fun.'

Kaden screamed and leaped back, falling off the other side.

'Mo?' he squirmed from the floor.

'And Bingo was his name,' Mo smiled as he stood back up.

Kaden didn't want to get up from the floor. 'What are you doing here?' He just cupped his hands on his face.