8 Years Ago
Eight years ago…
“Oh, damn! There she is, Kev.”
Perry tugged the sleeve of his T-shirt with excitement and Kevin immediately lifted his binoculars to his eyes.
“Ah, Rebecca,” Kevin mused. “How perfect God has made you.”
They were too big to play on this treehouse, but it still served a purpose.
It was the perfect height to peer into Becky’s window, yet the leaves and low-hanging branches kept them shielded from view.
Lying flat on their stomachs with a pair of binoculars in hand did make him feel like they were stalkers, but he preferred the term secret spies.
Becky had dance practice every day at four o’ clock, which meant she always came up to her room to change at three-thirty.
Most of the time they only got lucky enough to see her in her bra and panties, though that didn’t stop them from hoping that one day she would take it all off, or maybe even have an accidental nipple slip.
Either way, they were never left disappointed.
She was a vision made for the fantasies of thirteen-year old boys.
“Look at those tits, Perry.”
“Look at that ass, Kev. I’m gonna keep this memory vivid in my mind so I can jerk off to it all weekend.”
Kevin didn’t respond. He wasn’t in the mood to talk today.
That was the best part of having Perry as a friend.
He didn’t have to ask to know what the problem was.
He just knew. They continued watching Becky as she pulled on a pair of tights over her long, smooth legs.
After a few minutes, Perry casually slung his arm over his shoulder.
It was a sign of comfort without dampening the mood.
He was the only person who knew how to do that.
“It’s gonna be fine,” he said reassuringly.
“I know.”
Everyone had been telling him the same thing all day, but that didn’t stop him from worrying.
His mom was in the hospital again. Two years ago, the doctor had found a benign tumor in her stomach.
They managed to successfully remove it, but she still had to go for routine checks.
Every time she went in, he became edgy. There was always a chance of bad news and he found himself expecting the worst, but hoping for the best.
He heard the back door swing open, but he didn’t pay much attention until Perry started tugging his sleeve again. “Yo, check it out. It’s your sister and…is that Billy Mason? I thought they broke up.”
Kevin shifted to look over the other side of the treehouse, and lo and behold, it was Jordan with that douche nozzle, Billy Mason.
Their on-again-off-again relationship could cause whiplash for any bystander.
It had been going on for three years now.
Max had left home this year to go to UCLA and now Jordan was toying with the idea of moving to Seattle to study as well.
Kevin could only hope that once she left, she’d give up on this loser.
They watched Billy pull her into his arms and kiss her.
“I think I’m gonna lose my lunch,” Kevin whispered. “I prefer watching Becky.”
Billy slipped his arm around her waist and they were going at it like crazy.
“Yeah, Billy,” Perry taunted. “Slip her the tongue.”
“Is sloppy make-out sessions your favorite pastime, Jo?” Kevin teased. “Tell us, what does loser taste like?”
Jordan’s angry blue eyes shot up to them. “You little shits!” She ran towards the ladder of the treehouse and started climbing, looking more murderous with every step. “When I get my hands on the two of you…” She didn’t have to complete the threat for them to take her seriously.
Kevin immediately hopped up. “Emergency exit, Perry!”
They had run away from her enough times to know the drill. As she climbed up, they shimmied down the rope hanging from a branch.
Perry was already at the fence by the time Kevin’s feet touched the ground. “Run, man! Run!”
Kevin raced towards the fence and they hopped over. This too was a practiced technique. They ran down the street towards Perry’s house, knowing that Jordan wouldn’t follow them past the front gate.
“She’s pissed,” Perry chuckled. “She’s probably still mad about the dead frog we left under her pillow last week.”
Between laughing and running, they were breathless by the time they walked up to the front door.
“Were you boys troubling Jordan again?” a voice said from behind them.
Kevin turned to see Perry’s mom carrying two bags of groceries. “Is it that obvious, Momma B?” Kevin asked as he took the bags from her hands.
She kissed Perry, then him before opening the door. “You’re gonna miss her when she leaves.”
“Which is why we gotta torture her as much as we can now, Ma,” Perry shot back.
She sighed, shaking her head as she walked into the kitchen. “I’m gonna make us all some lunch and then I’ll take you to the hospital, okay?” she said, looking at Kevin.
His jaw clenched. “I’m not going. I don’t want to see her.”
It was a lie. He did want to see his mother. He just didn’t want to see her in the hospital.
“Kevin…” Her voice was gentle yet firm, almost a warning that he shouldn’t argue. Momma B had always been stricter than his own mother, but not by any means less loving. “You are going to eat and then I am taking you to the hospital.”
The volatile mood he’d been trying to suppress all day began to surface. “What difference does it make? She’ll be home by tomorrow and…she’s fine.”
Taking out bread, butter, ham and cheese, she began making sandwiches. “She wants to see you.”
“I don’t care.”
And with the vision only a mother possessed, she saw that it was just the worry talking. But that didn’t mean that he wanted to go. He would see his mother when she was back at home, where she belonged.
“She wants to see you, so you’re going,” Momma B said sternly.
“I’m not going!” he snapped. “And you can’t make me. I don’t know where you get off telling me what to do. I don’t have to listen to you because you are not my mother!”
He’d had disagreements with Momma B before, yet never had he said anything so despicable to her.
That comment made her really mad really fast. She walked across the kitchen and slapped him.
It was too restrained to cause pain, but hard enough to get his attention and let him know she was pissed.
He glanced over at Perry and he just shrugged, giving him a look that said: Well, you had it coming.
It wasn’t the first time she’d slapped him, but it was the first time she looked like she was genuinely disappointed in him.
“You shut your mouth,” she hissed. The tears brimming in her eyes told him that she wasn’t just angry, she was hurt, making it clear that Momma B had just earned the first nail in her log.
“You have the nerve to say something like that to me? Who takes you to your swimming lessons? Who makes you soup every time you get sick? Who picks you up from school every other day?” She paused, and when he still didn’t respond, she became more agitated. “Answer me!”
“You…” He cleared his throat. Shame was weighing his voice down. “You, Momma B.”
“That’s right. I’m there, every day. Twenty-four-seven, I’m there.
Anything you need, I’m there. The same way your mom is there for Perry.
I’ve been there for every school concert, every little league game, not just for my boy, for you too.
I haven’t missed one of your swimming tournaments.
Not one.” She grasped his chin, forcing him to look at her.
“I am your mother and it will do you good to remember that.”
A weight lifted off her chest as soon as she said all that and she continued making sandwiches like nothing happened.
She said what she needed to say, forgave him for what he said, and went back to being the sweet, loving woman that she was.
He exchanged looks with Perry because they both couldn’t understand how women could just flip the switch like that.
“Now we are going to eat,” she said sprightly. “And then afterwards, we are all going to the hospital whether we like it or not.” She glanced at Kevin with a look that cautioned him not to argue again and then said the most motherly phrase ever. “Because I said so.”
Kevin was torn at that moment, not knowing whether to smile or roll his eyes. Mothers!