Where The Dandelions Grow

10 - Bat

I kneel below eye level as she sits and lays my hands on her thighs. Her pants are soaked, and all her clothes are soaked with rain. I squeeze her, feeling her shake. She must be freezing.

"It's not your fault," I tell her. "You never asked for any of that to happen. You didn't kill her."

Silence follows, and Echo licks her lips, sniffling. God, I'd always pay any amount of money to know what she's thinking. That head of hers must say a lot. Most of the things it says I know are things she shouldn't be hearing or untrue.

"You understand?"

She nods once, but I don't think she does. I think she's just letting me hear what I want, so I don't bother her about it anymore. So that's what I do; I nod and say okay just when the door to the bathroom busts open.

Both Echo and I shoot to our feet, alert. I stand in front of her, putting her behind me.

"I don't know who you are, but you need to get the fuck out of my house before I stick this bat up, yo—" My mom's threatening voice halts as she stands at the bathroom entrance, holding a bat high and ready to swing.

"Mom. Fucking relax."

"Oh," She sighs, lowering the weapon. "Brandon, how lovely. What are you doing here? And why are you shirtless?" She props the bat against the wall, walks towards me, and stops.

She tilts her body and looks past me at Echo. A large grin grows on her face. I inhale. "No, fuck off, mom."

She waves me off and then shoves my shoulder to reach Echo. I step aside and look at Echo with an apologetic face.

"And who are you? You're beautiful, on my God." Mom grabs Echo's shoulders and intensely looks at her. "Please tell me you're dating my son!"

I drop my head back, wanting to die at this very moment. "Mom, please."

She ignores me and waits for Echo's response. Echo glances at me, then at my mom, wide-eyed, and laughs briefly, shaking her head. "No, sorry, Brandon and I are just uh..." She avoids my eyes as I wonder what she'll call us. "We're just—"

"Awe, dammit," Mom interrupts, sighing disappointingly, turning to me and looking me up and down. "Why is she crying? It's not because of you, is it?"

Echo answers before I can. "No, it's not. I just had something in my eye."

Mom hums, believing her Lie.

I shake my head. "Wow, Mom, thanks for thinking the best of me," I say sarcastically.

My mom and I have always had a great relationship. We've always been super close with a bond some people will never have with theirs. As I got older, my mom became more like my best friend. There were always boundaries I couldn't cross and things that I couldn't say because she was my mom. Though, she was the first to know something exciting or something terrible. When I got my first kiss, she knew. I told her about the relationships I used to be in. I told her everything. Now with me living in New York, I don't see her as often as I used to. Clearly, that doesn't change anything about us, though.

She slaps my shoulder. "Go put a shirt on and tell me why you're sitting with a girl in my bathroom and scaring the shit out of me in the middle of the night." We follow her out of the bathroom and into the living room. "You know I almost killed you, right?"

"Yeah, Mom, we were terrified of that bat of yours." I glance at Echo, and she smiles, giggling. I'm glad she's finding this humorful.

"We went to the cabin to check out the renovations you did," I tell her as I plop down on the couch. Echo sits beside me silently. "Then it started raining, and we were going to drive back to the city, but my car ran out of gas, and now here we are."