Truth Is Like the Sun

Chapter 5

The sun had risen up above, introducing a new day as the weather man danced across the television screen, predicting a temperature of 75° without a single cloud in sight to hinder it.

Bacon was sizzling in a pan, its smell mixing with that of the scrambled eggs. AJ was seated at the table with a glass of orange juice, begging his mother to change the channel to cartoons.

It was such a refreshingly normal scene, a scene that Elvis had no doubt was a daily occurrence in the Riley household. It was like he was on the outside looking in. He was almost afraid to step forward and intrude but in the end he didn't have to because Carol Ann caught sight of him first. The corners of her lips quirked up in a small smile, which he returned.

"Bacon and eggs?" she asked.

"Sure." Elvis sat down, hesitantly meeting his son's gaze.

"Juice?" AJ held up his glass, offering it to Elvis.

"Sure. Thank you. But that's yours."

"It's okay. I don't like it. It has pulp in it. I like the one from the carton."

"He's picky," Carol Ann said. "Wonder where he got that from."

"Not from me."

She laughed. "Of course he did. I'd eat almost anything. My mother made sure of that."

Elvis accepted the glass and took a sip. Meanwhile, Carol Ann finished up the food and divided it between three plates, doling out a significantly larger portion for Elvis.

"Aaron, turn the TV off now," Carol Ann told her son, who groaned in response but did as she had requested. "You can watch TV and read your books all you want tonight."

Elvis silently raised a brow at Carol Ann, who just waved her hand in response.

"Are you gonna ride, Mama?" AJ asked as he sat down again.

"Well, what do you think?"

"Yes?"

"Why of course. I'm not here to miss out on all the fun now."

AJ grinned at his mother. "Does Elvis ride good?"

"Why don't you ask him that?"

He hesitantly turned to look at Elvis. "Do you ride good?"

"I do alright."

Carol Ann snorted. "You don't do alright. You're so darn good at everything you try. Sometimes I'd wonder if there's anything you couldn't do."

"I know one thing. He can't have no babies," AJ contributed dryly, causing both adults to burst out laughing. Elvis reveled in the situation. The nagging worry and discomfort that had plagued him dissipating into thin air for a few precious moments.

"Your mama is makin' me look better than I am," Elvis said once his laughter subsided.

"My mama rides real good," said AJ, not full of enthuastiam. "Better than my uncle."

"I wouldn't say so," Carol Ann said.

AJ wrinkled his forehead at her. "Aw mama don't ya sell yourself short."

Both Elvis and Carol Ann smiled, their eyes meeting as they did. Carol Ann broke the gaze by swinging her eyes over to her son. "Eat up if you wanna get out there before it gets too hot."

"75° ain't that hot," AJ protested though he did proceed to dig into his food.

Their conversations weren't meaningful, but they flowed easily and perhaps that was all they could ask for now. Once they had all finished their food, AJ took the plates to the kitchen without having to be prompted. Carol Ann joined him, beginning to run a dishwater.