Runaway Mother chapter 26

As Ethan sleeps in the living room, Zach’s coat draped over his tiny figure, Zach rings Connie and I run up to my room to charge my phone and ring Chad.

‘Hey!’ I say to him.

‘Are you ok? Are you hurt? What’s going on?’ he asks in quick succession.

‘Yes, I’m ok, no I’m not hurt, and I flew out to Texas to visit my mom who I haven’t seen in weeks until yesterday, we’re just back now!’

‘Your mom lives in Texas?’

‘Well, sort of…at least I think she lives in Texas… for now anyway!’

‘If she’s been gone for weeks, that means…’

‘…me and Zach have been raising Ethan on our own!’

‘Wow!’ he says and takes in a deep breath.’

‘I couldn’t tell you before,’ I explain, ‘because I couldn’t tell anyone. It was me and Zach against the world!’

‘Well, you know I won’t breathe a word, right!’

‘Thank you! That would be most appreciated!’

‘I can’t…I mean you…wow!’ he’s struggling to put a sentence together.

‘So that’s why you were babysitting a lot then! Being honest I had my suspicions…but I never thought them to be true!’

‘When she left all those weeks ago, she wrote a note on an already scrunched up piece of paper!’

‘That’s how you found out she had left?’

‘Yup’

‘Ouch!’

‘I know, right!’

‘So…well…how come you’re telling me now, do you mind me asking? I mean I get why you didn’t tell me, so what’s changed?’

‘Do you remember, during one of our lengthy conversations, me telling you about aunt Connie?’

‘She’s the lady who got ye barred from the ice cream shop, right?’

‘Yea. Well she has some friends who mom used to hang out with, and they have taken us all under their wing. Anyway to keep a long story short, she is officially our guardian!’

‘What! That’s amazing!’

‘She helped us out of a tricky spot when the preschool insisted on speaking to our mother, so aunt Connie went in and gave the teacher my number to ring whenever there is a problem in the future! She’s one sound gal, I can tell you that!’

‘And have you been trying long to get fostered by her?’

‘Well…Thumper, another one from their gang is like really high up in some sort of law position. I know he’s a judge! But he could be even higher up from that…anyway he got her temporary guardianship until Wednesday where Thumper has moved things around in order for a custody judge to rule on our case!’

‘This Wednesday?’

‘Yea!’ I answer getting giddy.

‘Ah Mary, that’s brilliant! Now, only if you feel up to it though…’

‘You want to hear about my mom, right?’

‘Yea! But if you…’

I recanted the story to Chad and didn’t leave one detail out! I think his reactions made me love him more, if that’s even possible.

I wrap things up after about an hour of talking, and head downstairs, my charger in hand. I look into the living room and Ethans up!

‘Mary!’ he says and runs with ducky giving me a big hug.

‘Did you have some lunch Ethan?’

‘Zach’s bringing me out on the bike like we go to school!’

‘Really? That’s exciting! Where are ye going?’

‘To get more cars!’ and with that Ethan runs off into the living room.

‘That’s ok, right Mare?’ Zach asks

‘Of course it is! You don’t have to have my seal of approval!’ I tilt my head to the side and give him eyes that are supposed to tell him he should have known better than to ask! I think he’s still learning my subtle facial expressions…if I’m honest, I am too!

‘It’s just cause he was a bit sluggish, so we shared a can of Fanta, and now he’s on a sugar high!’ Zach rolls his eyes. ‘You spill your guts out to Chad?’ he asks.

‘I surely did!’ I answer and wonder aloud, ‘when is aunt Connie coming?’

‘She said she’s going to pack up her stuff today and bring things over sporadically over the duration of the week!’

‘Go you! Sporadically and duration used correctly in a sentence!’ we high five each other and Ethan comes zooming into the room.

‘I think we might walk bud, the bike has a tummy bug!’

‘Aww’ Ethan answers but then says ‘ok!’ very soon afterwards.

He zooms back into the living room and Zach threatens practicing suicide drills. ‘That will get all of the extra energy out of him!’

‘Well I’d personally go now because he becomes so lethargic when the sugar wears off! You might just have to carry him home!

Zach quickly goes into the hallway and sits Ethan on the bottom step to do up his laces.

I take out the computer and hear, ‘bye Mary!’ come from the door.

‘Bye buddy!’ I shout back as the laptop powers up, its plug in the wall.

 

The first thing I do is check my emails. I want to do next week’s column because I’m going to be in court on Wednesday. Low and behold, the letters haven’t come through yet. But something else catches my eye! It’s an email from Carolyn! I debate whether to open it or not and decide that it can’t do any harm to read through it and see what she has to say for herself!

 

To Ethan, Mary, and Zach,

I’m so sorry for the way in which I treated you all! In truth, I was delighted to see the three of ye well, and most importantly, together! I could make excuses ‘til the cows come home but the truth is that Paul is very abusive! Hell, he even put a gun in your face Mary!

I meant what I said about giving a child away before I had Ethan, but I promise that that was the only one. It killed me inside, but you’re right, I didn’t know who the father was and I had a six-year-old and a five-year-old to consider. I felt it the more responsible thing to do!

When I fell pregnant with Ethan, the pair of you were too old not to notice, and I couldn’t go through the whole giving away another baby thing! I know Ethan isn’t a brat, that he’s a sweet, sweet boy, but I had to say all of those horrible things to get you off Pauls property! He’s a very possessive man who I only met after the whole convict thing fell through.

I met him in Disneyland and he pursued me from there. We travelled California together and he treated me like a queen. It wasn’t until he brought me to Texas, where he welcomed me into his home, that his whole demeanour changed. After he hit me the first time, he was so apologetic. He said that he would raise the baby with me and treat it like his own! But then there was a second time, and a third! After he raped me, I knew I had to get away! It’s an easy thing to say, but when you’re dealing with a man like Paul, you have to think three steps ahead of him. He became very possessive and I didn’t want to bring a baby, a miracle from God, into the mix.

I was the one who broached wanting to give the baby up for adoption, that I had already had my share of nappies and night time feeds! It was his idea to sell it! He will do anything for a quick buck! I wasn’t sure if I could get away from him in time for the baby to arrive, and if I did, I was afraid he’d find me.   

I know I’m never going to see a cent of what the baby brings in, not that I want any of it…I want the baby! I want the four of you to be siblings who look out for each other! He has a rich family lined up who have tried and failed IVF five times already, but they can’t go through it again emotionally. They seem like a lovely family, they really do! At least I will know that the baby won’t want for anything and is safe away from that psychopath.

I did mean what I said when I needed a fresh start. I had just found out about the baby and got scared! That’s why it was scribbled on a scrap of paper, I knew if I sat down properly to write you a goodbye note, that I wouldn’t and I didn’t know how to cope with that.

I’ve tried to do the same here, but Paul locks the doors and windows before bed and keeps the keys locked away with his gun. There was one day he didn’t lock the door after going out and I tried to escape, but he has a security camera in the hall hooked up to his phone! He broke my cheekbone after pulling me out of a bus and dragging me home.

I felt I had to act like a cold, heartless bitch to you in order for you to hate me, so you would never come looking for me again! I’m really in a bind here and I don’t know how to escape! But that’s my problem. I got myself into this mess so I’m going to live with it. Maybe its karma for leaving you three beautiful children.

When I saw you all, my heart soared. Ethan is after getting so big, I can’t get over it! Just seeing you was a way for me to accept my fate. What I have now, being in an extremely abusive relationship, made seeing the three of you so special. I just wanted to have a family group hug, which I knew would mean Paul would take possession of you three as well. I wasn’t prepared to run the risk, so instead of him abusing you physically, psychologically, emotionally, verbally and probably sexually as he does me, I did the one thing that popped into my mind first…get you off his property!

I don’t expect you to feel sorry for me, or try to help me in any way! I just want the three of you to know that I love you all, both individually and as a family. You three are my greatest accomplishments, and always will be.

Please forgive me.

Mom xx

P.S. if Zach wouldn’t mind continuing to send those family updates, I would be eternally grateful.

 

I wiped the tears from my eyes with the sleeve of my top and knew deep down in my heart that she was being genuine.

The first thing I did was ring Thumper! If anyone knew the legal system like he claims he does then he would be the perfect person to help! I phoned Connie and told her about the email and asked for Thumpers number. The pair of them arrived at the door within twenty minutes just as Zach and Ethan were returning.

‘I got four new cars Mary!’ Ethan said delighted with himself.

‘Four!’ I said enthusiastically, ‘that’s amazing!’

‘I want to show ducky!’ he said and kicked off his shoes before heading towards the living room.

Zach looks at Connie and Thumper, ‘I didn’t think you were moving in until tomorrow!’ he said.

‘Mary called us over,’ Connie smiles faintly, ‘something about an email?’

‘C’mon into the kitchen, I’ve printed it off!’ I say and look at Ethan showing his cars to ducky. What I wouldn’t give to have his innocence!

The other three take a page each and read the email at the same time.

‘How can she be so careless to get herself into such a predicament in the first place!’ Connie says.

Zach is speechless, the colour drained from his face!

‘Can you print out more of these please Mary?’ Thumper asks as he takes out his phone and heads out the front door to keep out of the way of little ears. I print out five more copies as he’s out there working his magic.  

Zach’s head hangs in shame, ‘how could I have missed it!’

‘You did say on the plane that you thought him to be a man who used his fists!’ I reminded him.

Connie, as usual was the voice of reason, ‘Carolyn should have never gotten you involved!’

‘I agree, she shouldn’t have…but she did and it’s something we can’t ignore!’

‘Well now Thumper is on the case, and if there’s anyone who can fix anything legal, its him!’

Thumper knocks gently on the front door. Zach lets him back in and he sits down at the kitchen table to read the email again.

‘I might just be able to help!’ he announces. ‘I have a buddy in Texas, good guy, very good judge! I just spoke to him and he wants to know the address you guys were at yesterday, and the email address and passwords to both Carolyn’s email, and I’m sorry Mary, but to your email too.’

I immediately look for a pen but Thumper takes one out of his inside jacket pocket and hands it to me. I write down my email details and hand it to Zach to write Carolyn’s and the property address as well.

Thumper looks into my teary eyes and puts a hand on mine. ‘Don’t worry Mary!’ he says, ‘I will move heaven and earth to get her freedom once more!’

I nod as a sort of thank you. Zach on the other hand says, ‘it’s freedom that got her into this mess!’

Thumper folds up the pieces of paper in four and tucks them, along with his pen, into his inside pocket.

‘I’d better go and email these to every precinct in Texas and, even though domestic violence isn’t on everyone’s priority list, selling babies is a crime that can’t be ignored!’

Zach grabs hold of me as I begin to cry and with that Thumper leaves, saying goodbye to Ethan as he goes.

‘I see the little man come out of the living room and turn so as my back is to him as I pull myself together. Then I take Ethan by the hand and ask him to show me what type of cars he picked out. We sit on the rug and play for over an hour while Zach and Connie converse in the kitchen.

When Connie pops her head around the door and asks, ‘who wants pizza?’ Ethan erupts with enthusiasm.

The four of us sit in with the pizza and watch Finding Nemo. When the movie ends, Zach carries the sleeping Ethan up to bed, and although she isn’t due to move in until the next day, Connie spends the night!

 

The alarm wakes me up for work and I can’t help but smell the aroma of something cooking in the kitchen. As I go down to investigate, I hear two voices, Connies and Ethans.

I’m met with happy faces and freshly made pancakes.

‘I thought you might appreciate a proper breakfast before your shift today!’ Connie smiles at me, joy in her eyes.

‘I helped!’ Ethan chimes in.

‘Yes, you did!’ Connie praises him. ‘Did you know how good he is in the kitchen Mary?’

I look down at a little boy, his mouth overflowing with a breakfast more wholesome than rice krispies, and nod with pride. ‘I sure did!’ I smile.

For the first time since Carolyn left, I feel as though I’m being mothered by a woman I only met mere weeks ago. It’s a lovely feeling, one which I want to bottle up and keep close to me forever!