Book of Extremely Short Short Stories

Always There For Him

Always There For Him

Joshua's small feet carried him to where the rest of his friends were seated on the grass of the football field. 

“Hi!” He said excitedly as he sat between two of his friends. 

They were all dressed in the same yellow football shorts and jerseys. Only the numbers on their jerseys differed. 

Their coach was a bit late for practice. All the kids were between the age of five and eight and they loved playing football. 

The kids suddenly noticed the blond woman standing a few feet away from the field, waving at them. 

Joshua's face lit up and he waved excitedly. “Hi mommy!” He yelled so she could hear him. 

“Hi sweetie!” She called back, smiling at him. 

All his friends gave him envious looks as they watched the exchange between him and his mom. 

The seven year old Joshua smiled proudly. His mother was there, watching him with his friends, while the rest of the mothers weren't. He felt happy. 

When their coach arrived, they started practice. 

When Joshua scored the first goal, his mom started clapping and cheering. 

“Good job sweetie!” She yelled. 

Joshua grinned widely and lifted his hands up, as if there was a whole crowd praising him. 

After practice, all the kids went to the parking lot, searching for their parents' cars. Joshua, though, was walking with his mom as she congratulated him for being such a good football player. 

His mom then took him to his favorite ice-cream shop and even allowed him to have three scoops of ice-cream before dinner!

“We're gonna win this!” Marco said giving Joshua a high-five. 

“Hell yeah!” Joshua said as he grabbed his keys and left with his friend. 

They got in the car and drove to school where the most important football match of the year was taking place. 

Being in his senior year and wanting to get in a good university, Joshua had to impress the scouts. He needed a scholarship. 

When they got to the field, Joshua heard the familiar sweet voice cheering for him. 

He smiled and jogged over to the bleachers, giving his girlfriend a kiss. 

“You're going to do great!” She told him. 

"Thank you," he replied. 

His eyes then found his mother who was sitting a few rows away. 

She waved at him with a smile on her face. 

He averted his gaze. 

She was embarrassing him. He told her not to do this when he was around his friends especially during football matches. 

He gave his girlfriend one last kiss, ignored his mother completely, and then jogged back to the center of the field. 

He played perfectly. 

The scouts were impressed and he now knew that the scholarship he wanted was going to be his. 

“Party at Rico's! See you there!” One of his teammates called. 

He nodded at him as he left the locker rooms. 

When he got to the parking lot, he noticed the small group of people around his car and smiled. They were the friends he was driving them to the party. 

“Joshua,” he heard a soft voice and stopped walking. He turned around and saw his mother standing next to her parked car. 

“You did an amazing job, sweetie. I'm so proud of you,” she said. “Do you want to go for ice-cream?” 

He flushed, hoping that his friends weren't listening. 

“No mom!” He hissed. “I have a party. Please stop embarrassing me.”

“Oh,” she replied, glancing at his friends then looking back at him. “Right. Have fun.”

He didn't reply. He just walked over to his car, running a hand in his damp hair. 

He got in his car and they drove to the party, leaving his mom in the parking lot with a sad look on her face. 

“You're fired,” his boss, Richard said. 

“What? I was only five minutes late! I was in class!” Joshua argued. It wasn’t the first time he was late for his job but his boss should understand. He didn’t do it on purpose.

“Look Joshua, I get that you want the money but this job is too much for a twenty three year old university student, alright? Maybe you should try something easier.”

“But—” he tried to argue but his boss wouldn't let him. 

“Just go home, Joshua,” Richard said with an exasperated sigh. 

Knowing that there was nothing else to do, he left the office, angrily slamming the door behind him.  

When he reached his car, his phone beeped. 

He took it out, hoping it was one of his close friends or his girlfriend. Maybe they could lighten his mood. 

He froze as he stared at the picture one of his friends sent him. 

'Sorry, man. Thought you might want to know.'

Under that statement was a picture of his girlfriend of two years with Marco, a guy he knew since high school, having an intense make out session. 

He got into his car and drove fast. He was angry, he was hurt, and he was disappointed. 

When he arrived home, he opened the front door and called out, “Mom?”

“In here,” he heard her soft voice come from the TV room. 

He ran there and when she saw him, concern masked her features. 

“What's wrong, sweetie?” She asked.

If she had said that to him a few years ago, he would've yelled at her, telling her to stop babying him and embarrassing him. 

But now, as he heard her concerned voice, tears welled up in his eyes as he sat next to her on the couch. She hugged him and he cried for the first time in years. 

She whispered soothing words and rubbed his back as he cried. She even took him to his favorite ice-cream shop later that day. 

His mother was the only person, who he knew, for sure, would never leave him and would always love him no matter how much he hurt her, pushed her away, and yelled at her… She was always going to be there. Always.