Jason
After we cried, I fucked Gabe over the log.
Kidding!
We were blubbering messes—there was no way we were fucking.
Or should I say making love?
Oh wow…
Lovemaking.
We walk back to the trailer, my arm around his shoulders and his around my waist. When the trees clear and the trailer emerges, we find Linda pacing back and forth in the backyard, smoking a cigarette.
There’s a little mountain of butts in the ashtray on the table, so it’s safe to say she was worried.
When she sees us, she starts coughing. “Oh, thank God,” she croaks, slapping her hand against her chest. She hacks some more, and Gabe pats her back. “Wrong pipe,” she says.
Once the coughing dies down, she looks at us. “So…?” she asks.
“I told him,” Gabe says.
Linda looks at him with wide eyes, and I know it’s not just because he told me.
He spoke to her.
Without hesitation.
Eyes that looked at the inside of a prison cell for two years to protect her son tear up as she hugs him.
They have their moment, Linda whispering how much she loves him, and Gabe telling her she gave him everything.
When they part, I don’t give any warning; I just wrap my arms around Linda and whisper, “I’m so sorry I was a dick.”
She pats my back, “Oh honey, you don’t have to—”
“You’re the best Mom in the world,” I add before she can finish.
Linda’s breath hitches, and she squeezes me tighter. “And you’re a great kid who deserved better,” she says.
Linda looks at me with a loving expression and rubs my shoulder before glancing at Gabe and me and asking, “Are you two together yet?”
I pull Gabe closer, wrapping my arm around his shoulder, and say, “Yeah, we’re boyfriends now.”
“Oh, thank God!” Linda sighs. “At least something good happened today.”
Gabe laughs, then Linda kisses his forehead.
We stand in the backyard, relieved that things are somewhat decent after such a fucked up day, when Linda says, “Well, I should go get my things out of Doug’s trailer.”
“I’ll help.”
“Me too,” Gabe adds.
Linda smiles. “You boys are sweet. Yeah, let’s hurry before Doug gets back.”
“Are you really through with him?” Gabe asks.
Linda thinks for a moment, then explains, “Doug showed me what he wanted me to see for a long time, but the mask is cracking. I’m starting to see who he really is. We talked for a long time about things he regretted in his life, but he’s not taking the steps to change them.”
She looks right at me when she says it. “He can’t behave like that and still expect to keep me in his life.”
I smile at her, and she responds by rubbing my back. Once we get into Doug’s trailer, we work fast to move all of Linda’s things out.
There wasn’t much, but I’m glad we helped all the same.
“I have to grab some stuff from the pharmacy,” Linda says once all of her things are in the trailer.
“Do you want us to put your things in the bedroom?” Gabe asks.
Linda waves her hand. “No, I’m sleeping on the couch. You two are taking the bedroom.”
Gabe starts to protest, but Linda puts her hand up to stop him. “You two are grown men. You can’t sleep on a sofa. I’ll be fine.”
She grabs her keys and wallet and heads to the front door, but before she leaves, she says, “I’ll probably be gone for a couple of hours.”
She shoots us a knowing look, then leaves.