I woke up on the second motel couch. I checked my phone for the time. But noticed I had gotten a notification.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Really I should thank him, he helped me clear my mind.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He didn't answer, and I thought I was coming off to desperately. Then he called. "Hey" he said sounding kind of tired. "Hello" I said. "Where do you want to meet?" he asked and I could feel his smile through the phone. That made me smile. "I'm not sure. Up to you." I replied. "Ok, meet me at the bench we were last night." "Yeah sure. What time?" "What about 1 am?" I laughed. "Oh you're not joking?" I added, "Why not." "Great" he said chuckling. "See you technically tomorrow." I said jokingly. "Yeah, see you tomorrow" he laughed.
***
I sat at the bench. It was 12:56 pm. I saw Even from a distance walking towards me. "So what's up" he asked with a smile one his face. "What's up" I repeated with a slight smile on my face. "What's the status with your mom today?" he asked. I was shocked, "You don't want to know." I scoffed. "Actually, I do." He said and sat next to me. So I told him everything. "What about you? Is Sonja going to accept you, you think?" I asked. "I don't think so, and I don't care." So we started talking to each other about our problems. We did that every night for exactly a week, even on school days.
I was about to leave the motel at 12:45 pm, when mom grabbed my arm. "Where do you think you're going?" I couldn't smell alcohol in her breath so I answered. "Just to meet a friend mom, it's a Saturday." I started walking towards the door. "Wait." she said seriously, I turned around. "What friend?" she asked. "Nobody mom." I sighed. "You aren't going to tell me who you're going out to meet in the middle of the night? Just like you aren't going to tell me your dad has been sending you money every week?" I was shocked. "Your dad called Isak, telling me to stop stealing your money!" The words didn't come out. "What, were you afraid I was going to steal your money Isak?" she was yelling. "Mom, no it's not th-" "So what is it Isak?" she was yelling really loudly. My heart was beginning to pound. "You can't ice your mother out Isak! You don't get to do that!" I was sick of her crap. "Really MOM? Now you want to act like a mother?!" I was yelling too. "I have been holding up with your crap for too long! You don't get to guilt me into feeling bad for you!" I stomped to the living room and stuffed all my clothes in my school bag. "Where the hell are you going Isak?" she shouted. "AWAY FROM YOU" I said and slammed the door on my way out and started walking. "YOU'RE LEAVING ME?" I heard her following me. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER!" I heard her slam the door inside the motel room.
I was crying uncontrollably with the heavy bag on my back. I ran to the park entrance. I walked slowly towards the bench where Even was sitting, waiting for me. When he saw the bag and my tears he stood up. He didn't ask me what was wrong, he just hugged me for a few minutes. I needed that hug. He put his arm around my shoulder and led me to his apartment. I didn't want to intrude, but I had no other place to sleep that night. Plus, he lived alone so I wouldn't be disturbing his family or anything like that. He told me to sleep in his bed, and that he would sleep on the couch. "It's ok Even, I can sleep on the ground-" "No. Sleep on the bed" he smiled at me looking like he felt bad for me. "Good night Isak" he said.
