The Dreamer

Chapter 42

"Where did you see him last?" Sarah asked Martha as she rushed inside.

"Just home. I think his room. I don't know," Martha was sitting on the sofa and covering her face with shaky hands. "He is not street smart like I was, he is probably in danger."

"Don't go there. Let me call him," Sarah called his number but it went straight to voicemail. "Damn it. I am sure he will come back."

"He doesn't see me as his mother anymore. He said so," Martha cried.

Sarah wanted to feel joy to see her mother suffering like she had suffered for so long. A part of her felt Martha never really grieved for Sophie, maybe it was her turn to grieve. She shook her head, willing those dark thoughts away. This was Andrew, her brother, regardless of blood links.

"You should have told him before he figured it out," Sarah whispered.

"Not helpful," Martha looked at her with red eyes.

"Ok, ok, well, what can we do then?"

"I don't know. We should probably look for him, or at least you could. Please. I just want him safe. I doubt he wants to see me."

"Martha, you raised him. This is nonsense. You are coming with me. Besides you know him better."

Martha shook her head. "You should have seen him. He told me I treated him like an idiot. I have never seen him like that."

I have seen you like that. Guess I was lucky you didn't raise me alone. She took a deep breath. This was serious and it wasn't right to let her resentment get in the way.

"Ok. Let's go. Hold on. I am supposed to work in forty minutes," Sarah said, just becoming aware of the uniform she was wearing, with smiling vegetable in her shirt pocket.

Martha nodded and grabbed her purse and phone. Sarah meanwhile called the manager. There was no answer. Damn it. She tried two more times and nobody answered. "I'll call again on our way," she said.

Her phone rang, and she answered heftily. "Hello?"

"Hi," a feminine voice said on the other side, in a cheery way. "We are calling about your resume which we found through Linkedn."

Sarah hung up. No time for nonsense. "Let's go."

They rushed to Sarah's car and started driving aimlessly. Both remained quiet and the discomfort filled the tiny space.

"Where do you think he would go? Friends? Girlfriend?" Sarah said.

"No. He is not that popular. I think he has a friend, but I don't remember his name."

"You think? Well think harder Martha. This is your son. I can't believe you don't know him."

Martha looked out the window with clear despair all over her face and Sarah realized she was being insensitive. She was plagued with a mix of emotions. Sometimes she wanted to forgive this woman and be more understanding of her situation and upbringing. That was the high road. Sometimes however, she just couldn't stop her hurt part from coming up, her inner child, as Ali would call it.

"Ok, I'll drive to the places I took him and we'll look around. If you remember something let me know," Sarah said, and Martha nodded, with a look reassurance in her face.

Sarah went to the theater, to the laser tag place, as well as the mall, another theater. Martha suggested going to his school and driving around. In every single place, they walked around, asked people and nobody had seen him. It was clear that he had more than one place where he could go, possibly with friends.