“She ever come to Alpha U?” I asked, not wanting to voice any of the thoughts tumbling through my mind. They would upset him. And maybe I was jumping the gun. Maybe I was reading this wrong and his mom wouldn’t be as bad as I was imagining.
He shook his head. “She doesn’t get around too good. She has multiple sclerosis. She actually lives in a center for the elderly nearby.”
“A nursing home?” I questioned.
“No, it’s different. Kind of like a big apartment complex. The residents have their own places, but they have people who work there, a full staff plus a resident doctor that helps them with day-to-day stuff. She likes it there. She has her independence but still has the help she needs.”
It made me even sadder that the one person who seemed to give Trent the love he always deserved was a woman who was somehow afflicted with a painful disease.
Life just wasn’t fair sometimes.
“So you don’t think your mom is gonna act like my parents?” I asked.
He reached for the door handle and popped open his door. “Only one way to find out.”
Trent
I called ahead to tell her I was coming. It had been a while since I’d been “home,” and I wanted to be sure she’d be here. I didn’t know her schedule or even her routine. My mom and I just weren’t that close.
She didn’t ask why I was coming or if everything was okay. She just told me she’d be there, and I said okay.
When you walked into my childhood home, there was an immediate choice to go up or down. Downstairs was the doorway that led to the garage, the laundry room, and a family room. Upstairs, which is where we headed, had three bedrooms, the kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. The living room was open to the stairs, with a traditional wooden banister separating the spaces.
“Mom?” I called out when I saw she wasn’t sitting in the living room.
“In here,” she said from the other side of the wall where the kitchen was. Drew glanced at me, and I smiled. He seemed more nervous than I did. ‘Course, he was probably afraid this would be another situation like the one we dealt with in North Carolina.
The top of the stairs looked directly into the eat-in kitchen. In front of us was a wooden dining table that seated four and a set of sliders that led out onto a small wooden deck. Off to the right was the kitchen space, with a U-shaped layout for the appliances, cabinets, and countertops.
This house hadn’t changed since I was a kid. When she had the walls repainted, it was always in the same creamy off-white color. The carpet in the house was a neutral shade of tan, and all the finishes were standard for an older mid-priced home.
“Your room down there?” Drew asked, pointing down the hallway where the bedrooms were.
“Used to be the first door on the left.”
“Used to be?” he asked.
“She made it a sewing room when I moved out.”
I knew by the look on Drew’s face this displeased him. I was going to tell him it didn’t matter because this wasn’t my home anymore, but I didn’t get the chance.
“Oh, you brought a guest,” Mom said, and we both looked up.
My mom was a short woman, probably only about five feet three. She was thin and had hazel eyes like me. Her hair was light brown with golden highlights she probably got at the salon, but I really had no clue. She never bothered much with makeup, but she really didn’t need to. She had smooth skin and was still pretty young because she had me before she even turned twenty.
“Mom, this is Drew. I’ve mentioned him before,” I said. “Drew, this is my mom, Rebecca.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Mask,” Drew said, holding out his hand.
She surrendered hers but said, “It’s actually Wallace.”
“Mask was my father’s last name,” I explained.
“Sorry about that,” Drew said.
My mom smiled politely. “You didn’t know.”
Drew gave me a look that said, Why didn’t I know?
Because it wasn’t important. Because I thought it was odd my mother gave me the last name of a man who didn’t even want me instead of her own.
Maybe she didn’t want you, either.
Can I get you boys a drink? Iced tea?” she asked. “I was just slicing some apples for a pie I’m taking in to work tomorrow.”
“What do you do?” Drew asked.
“I work at the local credit union during the week, and then on the weekends, I work at a local bakery.”
“Ah, so that’s where Trent gets his love for finance. Must run in the family.”
It was kind of painful to watch Drew try so hard with her. It wouldn’t matter; she would be indifferent.
“Oh yes, that is your major.” She glanced at me.
I didn’t look at Drew. I couldn’t.
“So how you been, Mom?”
“Oh, you know me, always busy,” she replied, and I pulled out a chair and sat at the table. Drew followed my lead and sat beside me.
“School’s almost out for the semester, and I’ll be graduating. I’ve been thinking about what kind of job I might look for,” I said.
“I’m sure you’ll find something great. You’ve always been a hard worker and a smart boy.”
We made small talk for a few more minutes while she continued peeling and slicing apples. When the conversation started to wane, I cleared my throat.
“So I came over because I wanted to talk to you about something.”