Runaway Mother chapter 22

I hear a thud in the hall and know that Zach’s home. He walks into the living room, his face sullen. I let my textbook fall to the floor as I get up and look deep into his eyes. All I can see is pain!

‘What’s wrong Zach,’ I wonder aloud, ‘you didn’t get injured, did you?’

He shakes his head and begins to cry. I envelope him in a hug, his body convulsing in my arms from the gush of tears that are escaping his soul. I rub his back with one hand and gently cradle the back of his head with the other. We stay like this for what feels like an eternity, but I don’t mind one bit! This is the first time in months, maybe even years that Zach has let out his emotions, his tears escaping him like an open dam.

Tomorrow is the big game…the one he’s been training for his whole life! He probably feels like his dreams are over because he said he’d cool the jets after the first game! In my eyes, however, they’ve only just begun! I’m not a mind reader, and neither is he, but I stayed up tonight, studying, waiting for him to come home, because I wanted to tell him something.

Once the crying ceases, after me encouraging for it to keep going, he sits down on the couch and I sit beside him. ‘I don’t want you to stop playing basketball!’ I tell him.

He looks at me, his face contorted. ‘After all the support The Mint Leaf people are showing us, I can’t see a reason why you even have to turn down a scholarship, as long you can commute there!

His face lights up, ‘really?’

 

‘I know that people who go to college have a lot of time to study!’ I smile sarcastically, and as long as we get another bike so I can bring Ethan to school, I’m sure one or other of our new family wouldn’t mind taking him on a Tuesday and Thursday when I’m at work!’

‘You don’t think they’ll mind?’

‘Thumper phoned today and said he’ll be over here at 5:30 on Friday to watch Ethan so the both of us can have an evening and night to ourselves!’ I inform him smiling.

‘Ok...but who’s Thumper and what time do we have to be back by?’

‘So, Thumper, sorry, uncle Thumper, as we have to refer to him, is from The Mint Leaf and they have arranged that we can both go out every Friday night from now on!’ I laugh as Zach starts to do a weird dance without even sitting up. ‘You do know you look ridiculous!’

‘So what time do we have to be home?’ Zach asks again.

‘The beauty of an empty bedroom!’ I smile back. ‘It means he can sleep over in case we have hangovers the next day to leave us, get this,’ I nudge Zach, ‘sleep in!’

‘So this guy who calls himself ‘moms friend’ is offering to stay overnight with our four-year-old brother!’

‘Yup!’

‘Can’t you think of any reason a guy who calls himself ‘Thumper’ would like alone time overnight with a four-year-old boy!’ Zach asks looking concerned.

‘Would you prefer it if I told you he is a judge who is going to help you get official custody over Ethan when you turn eighteen?’

‘What?’

I honestly can’t tell whether Zach is angry or happy right now.

‘He’s a judge?’ he rubs his hands in his hair…which makes me think that he’s not pleased. ‘We’ll come home on Friday and Ethan will be gone!’

‘Nope!’ I say, wanting to reassure not only him, but me as well.

‘Have you not thought what if the guys from The Mint Leaf are spies for our mother and are only acting nicely to get Ethan on his own and kidnap him and take him to her!’ Zach says in one breath.

‘Not until now!’ I clasp my hand on my mouth, taking in deep breaths. I look at Zach before shaking my head saying, ‘no!’ confidently.

‘What?’ Zach asks looking outraged.

‘That’s like me asking you where do you go every day? Am I to believe you are at practice or could you be shooting porno movies?’

‘Are you psychotic?’

‘No, but I’m also not going to believe that our mother is the person we’re to base all relationships on, be they friendships or whether romantic feelings are involved, because I’ll be damned if I’m to let her get in my way of trusting another human being again!’

Zach breathes hard and paces the sitting room, starting sentences and stopping them before a single word is uttered.

When he stops, he has his hands on his hips. ‘Damn her!’

I look at him befuddled!

‘You have the right attitude, Mare! For months now we have overcome some insanely shitty situations and they all turned out just fine. It was hard, but we achieved them! You got a job and a boyfriend and I’m about to play the most important game in my whole life! It’s about time for us to act our age one night in the week. After all, it was Connie who sorted out preschool and Miss Megan! I was sceptical about that as well, but she came up trumps!’

‘They are an eclectic bunch, but they’re tight!’ I nod. An unexpected thought just popped into the forefront of my brain. ‘Why don’t you take Ethan there on Thursday after school! That way you can decide whether they are trustworthy or not. After that, if you don’t want Thumper, or anyone from the group for that matter in our home, then we’ll go back to the old way and each have every second Friday to ourselves!’

‘Mare,’ Zach claps his hands together and points to me, ‘you are a genius!’

I nod my head graciously. ‘Now, you know that I can’t make it to your big game, right?’

‘Sure,’ he shrugs his shoulders, ‘you have to bring in the dough!’

‘And I told you Connie is going to pick Ethan up from preschool and go and watch it for me, right!’

‘Yea!’

‘Well I feel so bad not being able to go so I said that you might need some additional support!’ I crinkle up my face.

‘Go on!’

‘She might be bringing the others so you know there’s people in your corner! Is that, ok?’ I squint my eyes not knowing how he’s going to react.

‘Well I’d love if mom showed up!’ Zach starts, ‘I’ve been sending her weekly emails hoping that one day she’ll write back.’

‘You have?’

‘She’s still on the move!

‘Well why wouldn’t she be?’

‘She reads my emails Mare!’ tears form in his eyes again.

‘She doesn’t respond to them though, does she?’ I ask a question I know the answer to.

‘I gave her plenty of notice about tomorrow’s game!’

‘Look Zach, you can’t get your hopes up! You’ll be crushed when she doesn’t show otherwise!’

‘I can always think that she’s somewhere in the crowd in a disguise!’

‘That’s not healthy man!’ I shake my head. ‘You don’t need her to be there to be great! You have achieved greatness all on your own by putting in the work, going to practice, and keeping your grades up!’

‘It’d just be nice if…well…you know!’

‘We are living proof that we no longer need Carolyn Fisher!’ I start. ‘Look at us! We are doing our best at coparenting, and that’s working out well because there is a very happy four-year-old boy upstairs! You are killing it in the kitchen and on the court! And I’m fine at the prospect that I will never see the inside of MIT! We are all gelling as a family, something I didn’t think was happening when she was here! In my head, we’re better off without her!’

Zach nods.

‘And on that note, I’m going to hit the hay as its almost ten and my boyfriend will be ringing to say good night!’

Zach takes my arm just as I’m about to get off the couch, and looks at me with puppy dog eyes. ‘What if I’m not good enough Mare?’

‘Don’t you ever think that Mr! You are the most passionate person I know when it comes to basketball! I never want to hear you doubt yourself again, ok?’

As he smiles up at me, he whispers…’thank you!’

I wink at him and go upstairs, I want to be in something comfortable for my phone call.

 

‘Beep, beep, beep!’ the alarm rings. I knew staying up ‘til two this morning talking to Chad was a bad idea, but I’m a sucker for not taking my own advice! I put my phone on charge and start the daily routine of waking up the two monsters.  

As Ethan and ducky eat their rice krispies, I take out the blender and put some of the fruit Ethan and I bought yesterday into it. I even remember to peel everything and take out stones in the fruits that had them. As I’m blending, I can see the different colours mush together. I add juice to the mix to make it drinkable. I hear thunder from upstairs.

‘Zach’s up! Ethan says while trying to get ducky to eat his share of the rice krispies. I smile over at him.

When Zach appears I ask him if he wants to taste the best smoothie I had ever made.

‘Do I have to?’ he asks. ‘My stomach feels bad!’

‘That’s exactly why you should!’ I tell him! ‘Go on! Even Ethan had some!’

‘Is it nice bud?’ he asks Ethan.

‘It tastes like summer!’

‘Summer ‘ay!?’ He tickles Ethan and laughter fills the air. ‘If it tastes like summer, then I had better try it!

I walk over to him and hand him what looks like an unappetising looking glass of goodness. He cocks his nose up at it, then smells it, before finally tasting it. It leaves a moustache on his face which he licks away with his tongue.

He looks at the glass and back up at me and nods, ‘this goop is actually really good Mare!’ and finishes what’s in his glass, surprisingly asking for more! I hand him the rest and take Ethan up to get dressed.

 

I am very mindful that Zach is very nervous.

‘Now you know that aunt Connie is going to pick you up from school today!’ I say to Ethan, ‘and she’s going to bring you to Zach’s big game where you have to shout really loud when you see him on the basketball court, ok!

‘I’m gonna be the biggest shouter of all!’ Ethan says throwing his hands high in the air.

‘Cheerer buddy?’ I correct him and smile.

‘What?’

‘You’re going to be the biggest cheerer of all!’ I thought for a second, maybe Ethan was right because you have to shout in order to cheer!

‘Is aunt Connie gonna bring me to get ice cream again?’

‘You can ask her, but I don’t know if we’re allowed back into the ice cream store because of what happened last time!’

Ethan giggles and puts his hands over his mouth, ‘we put ice cream everywhere!’ he laughs.

‘We did, and if she does bring you, you’re to make sure you only put it in your tummy, ok!’ I wink at him.

He attempts to wink back, but he does it with both eyes…adorable!

‘Trains leaving the station!’ Zach shouts from the bottom of the stairs.

‘Coming!’ I shout back and quickly put on Ethans socks. ‘Now pop your cute little butt downstairs and Zach will put your shoes and coat on!’

‘Ok!’ he says and kisses me goodbye on the cheek.

As I spent so much time getting Ethan prepared for the big game, I end up running behind schedule. I quickly throw some clothes on and just before I close the front door, I remember that I need my uniform for work. I go back into the house and get the Bob’s Deli t-shirt out of the dryer.

 

When the lunch bell goes, I make a bee line towards the gym where I know I’ll find Zach. I want to give him a pregame pep talk seeing as I won’t be here for his actual game.

I watch from the gymnasium door jamb as he throws one ball after another into the net. I can help but smile. He’s on a roll! If he plays anything like this this evening, I’m sure he will get his pick of scholarships!

He stops to take a drink and spots me watching him.

‘Impressive!’ I clap. He waves me away with his hand. You’re going to make a name for yourself at this game! I can feel it in my waters!’

He looks at me and laughs as I make my way towards him.

‘Aunt Connie is going to bring Ethan and all the guys from The Mint Leaf said they’d come!’ I remind him. He looks disheartened. ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask thinking I know the answer.

‘She’s not going to show, is she? He bows his head.

‘I’m presuming the she you’re talking about is our mother, and no, I’m afraid she’s not!’

I can see Zach’s posture change from sitting normally into a sort of slump. I sit on the bench next to his water bottle, tapping it to invite him to join me. Reluctantly he complies and rests his weary head on my shoulder.

‘Do you know how you became such a good player?’ I ask him. His head rises and he looks me in the eye his welling up.

‘No, why?’

‘Because you put the work in! You have spent hours on this court practicing and running drills. Hell, you drew lines in the driveway in chalk and ran drills with Ethan! You are always striving to be better, to run faster and shoot more accurately! Not every player is as dedicated as you!’

‘Yea, but…’

‘…no Zach, there’s no buts! I believe in you! Ethan believes in you! Coach Hux believes in you! All you need to do now is believe in yourself!’

‘But if …’

‘It wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference if she was here, because Carolyn Fiser didn’t make you this good! You did that all on your own!’ With that, I patted Zach’s shoulder and kissed him on the cheek whispering, ‘believe in yourself!’ in his ear and left the gym.

 

Chad drove me home again, but this time I didn’t let him past my lips, I was too eager to see how Zach did. Chad being Chad is more than understanding and even walks me to the front door. My nerves are shot! He takes both of my hands in his and looks at me longingly. ‘I’ll ring you at the usual time?’ he asks.

As I let myself into the house, Chad standing at the front door, I blow him a kiss which he catches and plants it on his heart. We smile at each other and I shut the door.

I walk into the living room to find none other than Connie sitting on the sofa reading her kindle.

‘How did the game go?’ I ask wincing.

‘Oh my, Mary, you should’ve been there. Zach played the game of his life! I’ve only known him for so long, but I was really proud at the effort he put into the match. As I was taking Ethan home, I went to congratulate him, but he was busy with the scouts all wanting his attention!’ she said, ‘I’m guessing that to be a good sign!’

‘Where is he now?’ I ask with interest.

‘Coach Hux and the scouts were bringing the whole team out for pizza! The scouts wanted more of Zach’s time but he would go nowhere without his teammates!’

‘So the whole team went out with the scouts? I ask interested that Zach wouldn’t go on his lonesome. Its commendable really!

‘As far as I can gather, yes!’ Connie smiles up at me.

It brought me to tears that my brother was excelling in his craft, ‘I only wish I was there to see it!’

I quickly wipe my eyes. ‘Was Ethan good?’

‘Oh he’s such a pet,’ she answers adoringly! ‘I hope you don’t mind, but he asked for ice cream, so that’s what he had for his dinner!’

‘I’m delighted!’ I say to Connie. ‘He was asking about ice cream when he heard you were colleting him alright! I told him he’d have to ask you! I’m glad ye had fun! I hope you weren’t kicked out of it again this time!’

‘No, we weren’t. We were very civilised and on our best behaviour...well…almost.’

‘What did he do?’ I rolled my eyes and sighed.

Eh, it was more what I did!’ Connie blushed. ‘I put a bit of ice cream on the end of his nose, but he reprimanded me for it by telling me that it wasn’t the proper way to act in an ice cream store!

I began to laugh and put my hand on Connie’s shoulder, ‘you didn’t, did you?’

‘I did!’ Connie blushed.

‘I’m afraid I couldn’t put him down until after we ran around the house with the dinosaurs chasing the cars a few times. I knew he needed a bath after the ice cream, so needless to say…well…there was some splashing involved. But don’t worry! I wiped up all the water.

I put my head in my hands and shook it from side to side at the mortification of not only having a woman that has never been to the house before give my little brother a bath, but for him to splash her to a degree that she had to wipe up the water afterwards, was embarrassing to say the least!

‘Don’t worry about it, he splashes us all the time and we do the same! I’ll look after the towels!’

‘Do you know,’ Connie began, ‘that I have had more fun with Ethan today than I’ve had in years!’

‘You mean you had more fun with a four-year-old than you did anything else?’ I said sceptically.

‘Yes, it brought memories of when my own kids were that small and we’d go on great adventures together!’

‘Did it bring back some bad memories, memories you’d rather forget?’

‘It was the opposite really. If I hadn’t gone through the menopause, I might just say that looking after him made my ovaries tingle!’

I can’t help but laugh and neither can she!

‘I was wondering,’ she said wiping a tear of joy out of her eye, ‘if Zach does get this scholarship, can I take Ethan on a Tuesday and Thursday when you’re at work?’

I couldn’t hide my surprise. I personally love looking after the little guy, but I know he’s a handful when he wants to be. I was bowled over at her offer, thinking it so generous that I had no words.

I know how tough it is to look after kids, and I keep having to remind myself that you are also a kid who needs looking after every now and again!

I close my eyes and tears run down my face. Its been years since anyone has mothered me! It felt nice that there was someone in my corner. So nice that words can’t convey the happiness I feel!

Thank you, Connie, thank you!