Grayson's POV
Days before the school trip, Mom called to come see her and I thought I could squeeze in a day or two.
I took the three hour trip from County to Starry town. It was still just how I remembered it.
Everything was the exact same, except my mom. She was with someone else, but she wasn't too happy and didn't look good either.
"Hey Ma." I said, as soon as I got in.
"Hey baby. How are you?" She asked,
"I'm fine ma." I replied to her. "I don't know what to say of you though." I said, daring to talk about something I knew could be sensitive to her.
"Just say it, Son, say it." She said,
"Mom, you look bad." I said.
I didn't like seeing her like that.
She had two more sons from her other marriage.
"It's not his fault,"She said.
"That's all the answer I need mom. I didn't even ask if it was him." I replied, pissed.
"Gray, this isn't your battle to fight. I have to stay for Mike and Jerry." She said, more to herself than to me.
We had the discussion over a thousand times, and she kept giving the shit of an excuse which didn't fly with me.
"You're strong headed, just like your father." She said, smiling through her tears. "How is he?" She asked
"He's okay." I never liked to talk much about my dad to my mom, and vice versa.
"That's great. And how is he treating you?" Mom asked.
"He's still not married, Mom. And you know I don't like to talk much about him to you." I said to her,
She knew it, but she pressed still.
"I know, Love. But I am persistent. There's someone you got it from, you know?" She said, smiling.
"Yes mom." I admitted. "But you know I'm not party to any funny business. Y'all have been separated for over ten years now." I warned her.
"Alright, FBI. Since you stepped in here, you've done nothing to question me. What would you rather? Sandwiches or pancakes?" She asked me.
I was a sucker for my mom's pancakes.
Memories of when she and my dad were together came back flooding.
Mom took care of us, while dad worked multiple jobs at the time.
They were always so happy and gay.
Life together in County was the dream.
Mom, dad, me and my younger brother of blessed memory, Jason.
Our family came apart piece by piece after the death of Jason.
My mom blamed my dad for negligence, my dad did the same.
It was constant bickering and fighting, arguing, shouting, it got so bad, my dad couldn't take it anymore.
"Kara, if you hate me so much, why are you still here?" He asked.
"Cause I don't want to lose another son to your negligence." She screamed at him.
"I'm the one who's negligent, but it's you who has been on drugs and alcohol since forever." He shot back.
"And why do you think that is?" She asked him.
"I don't know. Maybe because you never did more with your life." He said.
That was a low blow. Mom was a clinical researcher before she got married to dad.
She quit her job when they found out she was pregnant.
They were kids of broken families themselves, and swore that nothing they did would ever make them too busy or not there for their kids.
My dad took on multiple jobs while mom stayed home to watch us.
Things were beautiful and totally amazing, till summer in 2012.
I was about eight years of age, but I still remembered how it happened. We had just arrived from a family event. They weren't too close to their relatives, so we kinda had to grace every family event, cause that's the only place they see us.
"Babe." She said, referring to my dad. "I think Jason's got a fever." She looked worried, but also tired.
He was about four years of age at the time, a handsome blond boy.
"That's too bad." He replied. "Everyone's tired and stressed right now. How about we take him to the doctor first thing tomorrow morning. I'd sit up and watch him." He offered, in answer to the quizzical frown that was forming on my mom's face.
"You're sure we can do that? Or do I stay up with you?" She said, yawning.
"Yes Hon." He kissed her forehead. "Go take a shower, I'll put Gray to bed too." He said, smiling and looking at me.
For the longest time, he had always been the best thing about our family. Our lives revolved around him and he revolved around us.
Mom went straight to bed that night, forgetting to take a shower even.
I woke up for a midnight snack when I put the light on and saw my dad asleep on a chair beside Jason's bed.
In an attempt to feel Jason's temperature, I drew his spaceship blanket down, only to be greeted by his eyes wide opened and rolled up, blood stuffed nose, and stiff lips.
I screamed so hard that I woke the neighbors up.
My mom ran from her bedroom to hers in her party clothes and saw what made me scream. Unfortunately for my dad, he didn't wake up till after she saw Jason, or what used to be him.
Mom fainted immediately at the sight of blood, only to be caught by him. That was the last time he ever held her.
Jason's burial was quick, but getting over him took forever.
It felt like he was the glue that held us together. The family slowly deteriorated after his death.
Dad got a promotion which meant more money. But mom had taken to drugs and didn't have any interest in having more kids, getting a job, or even taking care of the one she had, me.
As the days passed by, I lost her in bits and pieces till there was nothing more. My dad began to get accepted into elite spaces, places he couldn't take her along. And that was the story of his own escapades.
Back to their argument, hearing him say he didn't want to do more with her life was the straw that broke the camel's back. I woke up the next morning to a single parent household, my mom's room wiped clean.
She never reached out till five years after, she had two boys by then, twins. She also remarried the father of their kids, who really wasn't any better. He beat and battered her, and kept giving her babies she had to abort because they couldn't have anymore.
Everytime I visited her, I had to stay with friends who moved to Starry from County too, Kevin and Kayla.
We were neighbors in County, but they could not keep up with the city life after their dad passed, and so moved down town to Starry.
"I'm going to Kevin's Ma." I excused myself as soon as the clock struck five.
Her excuse of a man was going to be back soon, and I did not want to see him.