Runaway Mother chapter 24

Thursday is my new favourite day. It’s the day I get paid, it’s the day I have the column over me for another week, and it’s the day I’m working so I get to see Chad! Bob asked me to do overtime again, which means more money towards next month’s rent, so I graciously talk to Betsy as the coffee orders come at me quickly and consistently until he begins to turn people away with a closed sign on the door.

I hang back in the break room after Chad offers me a lift home. The second he has Bob’s car keys in his hand, he comes back to get me with no less than five BLT’s in his hand.

‘I noticed you didn’t get a break all day and thought you might like to join me for some dinner!’ he says holding the sandwiches up like a trophy.

‘You are a mind reader!’ I tell him and say goodbye to both Bob and Betsy as I leave hand in hand with Chad.

‘See you Sunday!’ Bob points at me smiling.

‘That you will!’ I wave back.

Chad opens the passenger door and hands me the food whilst he hops into the driver’s side.

I knew Zach was planning on bringing Ethan to The Mint Leaf rather than have Connie pick him up from school. He wanted to see the lay of the land with regards the characters that spent most of their time there. It would be his first-time meeting some of them so he could decide whether he was happy leaving Ethan with Thumper or not tomorrow night. I hope he is! I really want a night, just me and Chad, with no curfew, so I could spend some quality time with him, and only him!

As we pull up outside the house, Chad asks me for a sandwich and we have a mini, twenty-minute date. Chad is a classy guy who is kind and gentle and isn’t at all pushy.

‘Can I ask you a personal question?’ I ask him, wiping mayonnaise from the side of my mouth.

‘Shoot!’ he answers and smiles at me.

‘Have you had sex before?’

He coughs hard, almost choking on the food in his mouth. He swallows hard and answers honestly, ‘yes!’

I nod my head and take another bite of my sandwich.

‘It was when I was sixteen!’ he offers, ‘I was at a party and there was drink involved when a girl I can’t even remember the name of dragged me behind a bush and…well…the rest is history!’

I look at him with a furrowed brow.

‘That’s why I’m not pushing you! I felt used afterwards, especially when I saw whoever she was bring another guy behind the same bush an hour later. I was just a play thing to her, someone with a dick!’ he looks at me, his eyes gloomy. ‘The next day I heard around the school that there was a competition on between a group of girls to see how many people they could fuck in one night!’

‘What?’ I ask, shocked at the carelessness of doing something which should be sensual between two people who love each other. It might be naïve of me to think that, but it’s what I truly believe.

Chad nods his head. ‘I swore to myself that I wouldn’t ever do it again until I was sure the girl was a right fit for me, until there were strong feelings!’

I take his hand in mine. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t have a good experience!’ I say sincerely.

‘I imagine my second time to be with the girl I love, in a bed, with rose petals spread across it! Does that make me sound corny?’ he asks.

‘That’s exactly how I imagine my first time!’ I disclose.

‘Really?’ he smiles.

I nod my head.

‘Maybe I should start collecting rose petals then!’ he strokes my face with his hand.

‘Maybe you should!’ I smile at him.

It hasn’t been long since we met in the grand scale of things, but I always believed in love at first sight, and my eyes saw hearts escaping from his aura the first time I set eyes on him.

He leans in and kisses me gently, our sandwiches finished. When we naturally come to a stop, he looks deep into my eyes and says, ‘I love you, Mary!’

‘I love you too Chad!’ I reply.

Just as our lips touch again, my phone rings. ‘It’s Zach,’ I close my eyes and sigh, ‘I’d better go in!’

‘I have to get the car back to my dad anyway!’ Chad tries to make me feel better about our abrupt end to a wonderful night.

I exit the vehicle, BLT’s in hand, and walk up the driveway and through the front door. I wave goodbye to Chad as I’m about to enter a situation that I never thought I’d have to deal with on what turns out to be my favourite Thursday so far!

‘What are you ringing me for?’ I ask Zach as he is frantically counting the money in the cheerio’s box. ‘Do you know that you just ruined one of the greatest milestones in my life!’

Zach looks up, his face crinkled, ‘too much information Mare!’ he says before continuing to count.

‘What in the name of god are you doing?’ I ask him.

‘Did you get paid today?’

‘Yea, why?’

‘We need money for airfare!’

‘What?’ I’m completely confused and befuddled.

‘I found her Mare! I found Carolyn!’

‘Where?...How?...What?’ a multitude of questions come to mind, the first being, ‘is Zach having a complete nervous breakdown?’

I move closer to him and hold him by the shoulders, ‘Zach, Zach look at me!’ As our eyes meet, I ask him calmly, ‘have you taken anything?’

‘What?’ he swats me away from him.

I grab his shoulders again, ‘breathe Zach, use your words and tell me what’s going on!’

Zach slows down and takes a deep breath. I breathe with him until he starts to finally be able to articulate what he is trying to say.

‘You know the way I write to Carolyn on a regular basis and she reads the emails but doesn’t reply to them?’

‘Yeah,’

‘Well I wrote to her yesterday and I was just curious as to see whether she read it or not!’

‘Ok!’

‘When I was in her email account, a receipt from amazon was sent to her and it is due to arrive on Saturday in Texas! She’s in Texas Mare! Well, until Saturday anyway!’

The penny drops! ‘You want to go there!’

‘No!’ Zach takes another deep breath, ‘I want the three of us to go there!’

I let go of his shoulders and slowly sit on a kitchen chair trying to digest what he’s saying. Firstly, I’m shocked that he was able to find her, but doubt is swimming around my head. We don’t really need her anymore…do we?

I jump on the bandwagon. ‘When were you thinking of going?’

‘I have to see if we have enough money for airfare first, but there’s a plane that flies out of Charlotte-Douglas at nine in the morning and I want the three of us to be on it!’

‘In the morn…. Zach have you heard yourself?’

‘She won’t be able to ignore us when we roll up on the front porch now…will she?’

‘I guess not…’ I think for a minute and shout, ‘I’m in!’ I hand Zach my wages and he thinks we might just have enough for airfare and a night in a motel.

‘What if she turns us away?’ I ask as Zach is booking us in online.

‘Well then we’ll know!’ he says, ‘either way, we’ll know where we stand when it comes to our mother!’

‘What should I pack?’ I ask him, ready to throw some clothes into an overnight bag. ‘We’ll only be there barely one night so pack lightly. I’ll pack my own so if you could just look after yourself and the little man then that would be greatly appreciated!’

‘What time do we leave for the airport?’

‘Fiveish?’

‘And you’re sure we can each have a carry on?’

‘Yup. The flights about three and a half hours so bear that in mind when it comes to packing toys!’

As we rise from our beds at four am, I wake the little man up and get him quickly dressed. There’s no time for rice krispies, so I pack all the protein bars I can find at the top of the bag I’ll be carrying. As Ethan sits on the bottom step of the stairs, I ask Zach does he have our passports. He nods and picks Ethan up after his shoes are on firmly and carries him to the taxi when it arrives. I lock up after remembering to bring ducky!

Ethan sleeps the length of the taxi ride and all the way through security. The airport isn’t really busy and we sit at our departure gate with an hour to spare. When Ethan finally wakes after being moved around so many times, he can’t fathom where we are. I point to our plane, which is sitting right outside the window behind us. He is in awe at the sight of it!

‘Are we going on that?’ he points, a half-eaten protein bar in his hand.

‘We sure are buddy!’ I tell him and he just mouths the word ‘WOW!’

 

When we finally arrive in Texas, we make our way to the address our mother has down for her expectant delivery tomorrow. The taxi ride is only about twenty minutes and I look to Zach wide eyed for this is no dump she’s living in. It’s in a nice bungalow, in a well-established neighbourhood. We exit the taxi, and the questions start to fill my head.

We each have one hand holding Ethans, ducky in my other hand and the carry on in Zach’s. Zach looks at me and we nod, beginning to make our way to the front door. Zach lifts Ethan up to press the doorbell and keeps him in his arms, one hand holding mine as I’m visibly shaking. I hear movement coming from inside and am bemused when Carolyn comes to the door, her brow furrowed. She quickly exits the house and stands on the front porch with her three children.

She is hardly recognisable, what with her bleach blonde hair, big frame glasses, and a frown that could shatter a hundred mirrors.

‘What in the name of god are ye doing here?’ she asks.

‘No!’ I say with authority, ‘we’re asking the questions!’

‘Yes actually, missy! You are on my porch on my property and I could have you arrested for trespassing!’

‘Then I will have you arrested for child abandonment!’ I retort. I was ready for her to have some attitude and prepared myself mentally for being unwanted.

‘Mommy?’ Ethan asks, ‘is that you?’

‘And of course you brought the baby with you! Classy guys, real classy!’

‘I’m not a baby!’ Ethan responds and I give him a high five for speaking up to her. He may only be four, but his opinions still matter greatly!

‘Why did you just up sticks and move?’ Zach asks.

‘You obviously saw the note I left! I meant every word!’ she said. ‘I needed to start off fresh and I couldn’t do that with you three brats on my heels now, could I?’

‘You mean this note?’ I produce a clear A4 plastic sleeve that contained the note in it in all its glory! ‘You didn’t even have the curtesy of giving us a proper piece of paper!’ I add.

‘Yea,’ Zach chimes in, ‘you just wrote it on a crumpled-up scrap of a piece, one which we had difficulty in even finding! Mare was about to throw it out thinking it to be rubbish!’

‘How did you find me?’ Carolyn asks.

‘We have our sources!’ I answer.

She looks as though her back is up in one way or another and I’m not about to leave here without a proper explanation as to why she abandoned us!

‘So?’ I ask, gesticulating her to tell us exactly why she left.

‘I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself!’ she says.

‘Is someone threatening you?’ Zach wonders.

‘Who in the name of god would be threatening me you stupid fool!’

‘If there’s going to be any name calling its going to come from me!’ Zach pushes out his chest and lets Ethan down.

‘I see he still has the stupid duck then!’ she looks down at Ethan with distain.

‘Do you know what you did to us by leaving?’ I ask.

‘I seriously couldn’t give two shits!’ she answers.

‘Ethan was devastated!’ I tell her.

‘That’s what he gets for having all of those temper tantrums!’ she smiles. ‘I couldn’t stand them! They happened everywhere and anywhere, he just threw himself on the ground and screamed!’ she smirks, ‘how’s that working out for you?’

‘He actually doesn’t have them anymore. He’s much happier without you!’

‘Yea,’ Zach agrees. ‘The tantrums were because you weren’t able to communicate with him right!’

‘Oh I see…blame the mother!’

‘Who else is there to blame? Something he did with you has completely ceased since the day you left! Shouldn’t you think that’s down to how you parented?’

‘And the two of you are…what?’

‘We are successfully coparenting your son!’ I point out.

‘I would have thought the state would have taken him by now!’

‘We’re doing our utmost to keep him out of the system!’ Zach answers with conviction.

‘Look at you and your ten-dollar words!’ She scans Zach’s body with her hands on her hips and we look at each other and say, ‘you’re pregnant!’ in unison.

‘I told you I was having a fresh start!’

I lock eyes with Zach and nod.

‘Do you know the father this time?’ he asks. ‘Was it from turning tricks on a street corner? Your too big for it to be by that convict, so my guess is you were embarrassed about having another baby by another mysterious stork! Or did you run away with the father, ashamed about telling him you didn’t know any of our dads!’

Carolyn slaps Zach across the face, hard! ‘How dare you! How dare you talk about your mother like that!’

‘As far as I’m concerned, I have no mother!’ she goes to smack him again but he catches her arm, his nostrils flaring! I can see hate in his eyes and fear in hers. He keeps hold of her hand, my guess is he only let’s go when he feels the pressure from it, gone!

‘Do you know that out of the three of us, I was the one who was always in your corner?’ he asks and laughs, ‘you’ve just lost the inch of respect I continued to have for you!’

‘Aww,’ she puts her bottom lip over her top one, ‘poor baby!’ she says with condescension.

‘What makes you think that that,’ I wave my finger in the direction of her bump, ‘situation, will be different to home life with us?’

‘Oh don’t worry! Four brats are enough for me in one lifetime, I’m selling this one!’

‘What do you mean when you say four?’ I ask confused.

‘You have another brother! It was before Ethan and you were probably too small to even remember, but I left it at a fire station, mere hours after he was born!’

‘But then you…’

‘…had Ethan? Yea, that wasn’t the best decision in the world!’

‘Why are you being so nasty towards us?’ Zach asks, his cheek getting redder by the second.

‘You three ruined my life!’ she starts, ‘if I could turn back time, I would have left ye all at the fire station, especially him,’ she gesticulates towards Ethan. ‘I left ye set up for life! Or did you not go through my room and stumble on the deeds of a property?’

My mind transforms me back to the day we looked for clues as to where our mother went. It had completely slipped my mind that there were deeds to a property in there.

‘The deeds?’ I ask, Zach not getting what I’m talking about.

‘Bingo!’ Carolyn makes a gun out of her hand and I’m doubtful we’re going to get any answers from her whatsoever.

I jump as a man opens the door Carolyn closed behind her. ‘What are you hiding out here for, and talking to degenerates at that!’

‘Oh, they’re just orphans looking for money!’ Carolyn smiles a dirty smile and the man comes back with a gun!

‘It’s ok Paul,’ she tells the man, ‘they were just leaving!’ she says, with the nastiest expression on her face I have ever seen.

Zach picks Ethan up and he wraps his little arms around his brothers. I on the other hand am wanting some justice and am reluctant to leave. Paul cocks his gun and points it at me. I look from my mother to Zach and back to my mother again. She waves goodbye, as if under the power of psychosis and Zach pulls me away.

‘We don’t need her!’ he says with tears running down his cheeks. I look at her once more and realise that he’s right! We have been doing so well up until now, and seeing as our questions are now answered, we walk hand in hand back to the safety of the curb without turning back.

‘Enjoy hearing from social services!’ she cackles after us, but we just keep walking!

 

Somehow, we make it to our motel room. If I’m honest the past twenty-four hours is a bit of a blur! With Ethan playing with his toys on one bed, I voice my fear that she will call social services on us.

Zach gets out of the room saying he needs ‘air’, and when he comes back an hour later, he has a smile on his face grinning in all directions.

‘What’s with you?’ I ask wiping away the tears that I’m quietly crying whilst watching Ethan play.

‘I have a solution!’ he says bouncing around the room. ‘I’ve just been on the phone to Connie and told her everything that happened. She was in The Mint Leaf and passed me onto Thumper who then told me that if we wanted to be fostered by Connie until I turn eighteen, he will happily pass the ruling and fill out the paperwork…today!’

I get up and ask him to repeat what he just said. ‘Thumper is the most sought-after judge who deals with custody cases. He has a cancellation on his docket today and, even thought we’re not there, Connie is and she said that she would love nothing more than to foster us for as long as we want. We won’t have to lie to our friends anymore, we will have a parent, legally anyway`, and she can have Carolyns old room!’ he pauses waiting for me to catch up.

When I finally do, I ask Zach, ‘does that mean we’re out of danger?’

‘It most certainly does!’ he smiles widely!

I jump off the bed and into Zach’s arms. Even though we lost a parent today, we have just gained a family, which is way better in my book! They do say it takes a village!