Gabe
“I’m sorry,” Mom says. I look at her with a raised brow, wondering why she’s apologizing. “I shouldn’t have asked you to lie for me,” she adds. “That was wrong.”
My head hurts, like it’s in a vice or something. I hate that Mom feels this way. I reach over and hold her hand, hoping it will show that I don’t blame her for anything that happened.
She gave up everything for me.
“I put you in a terrible position with Jason.” She reaches for the beer resting on the table and takes a swig. “I could kick my own ass for doing that.”
Doug comes out with a beer of his own. He went inside after Jason left and hasn’t been out since.
He and Mom look at each other, silently communicating, until Mom finally says, “You can’t be like that anymore. We talked about this.”
“I know,” Doug says in defeat.
Mom sets her drink down and folds her arms across her chest. “He’s your son, Doug. Why did you do that?”
Doug stares at his beer can, his blue eyes intense, just like Jason’s. “I don’t know. I’m just—” he stops, his eyes traveling to the kids playing kickball nearby. “I’m being like my dad.”
Mom stands and rubs Doug’s shoulders. “Is that what you want? To have Jason hate you as much as you hate your father?” she asks.
“No.”
I’m kind of in shock that this conversation is happening in front of me. It sounds like something they’ve spoken about before.
“You can make it right,” Mom assures Doug as she caresses his shoulders.
“What if it’s too late?” he asks.
“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” Mom replies with conviction. “When I was in prison, I thought about all the mistakes I made that led me there. I vowed that I’d do things differently when I got out.”
Mom did a lot in prison. She earned her GED and is looking for a job, but it’s tough when you’ve spent time behind bars.
Doug takes another swig from his beer. “I don’t understand it. I see him and just…something takes over.”
Mom finally takes a seat on Doug’s lap. “It’s because he reminds you of you.” She kisses his forehead, then adds, “But you gotta work on this, Doug.”Doug doesn’t respond. He stares at the kids playing kickball, clenching his jaw.
Like he's annoyed by them.
Even the way he stares at the kids playing is off.
I want to believe that he’s sorry for the way he treated Jason, but I don’t know if I see what Mom sees. The man before me doesn’t look remorseful. His words say one thing, but his face says something different.
I’m really afraid he’s going to say or do something that will hurt Jason.
And here I am again.
Worrying about Jason.
I just can’t shake him.