Splinters: Part One

Part One | 44

"It's not some type of game, though. You can't just give up every time you make a mistake."

"I'm not saying what I did was right. I'm just saying that's where I was at all those years ago."

I looked away.

"I'm sorry, Brayden."

I jerked my head up at her.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For leaving you. For leaving your dad. For having a baby with another man. And for losing you both. I'm sorry."

I stared at her, amazed and shocked. She was sorry. It felt like a weight had been lifted over my shoulders. She was sorry. She cared. If she didn't, she wouldn't apologize. But she did.

"I..." I began, not sure if I could really trust my voice. "I forgive you."

Marie smiled and sighed in relief. She leaned toward me, but stopped and stared at her hands. "Do I need to be cuffed for this?" she questioned the officer. "Can I please just properly hug my son?" she asked.

The officer watched us both for short moment before nodding and uncuffing her. Marie got up and so did I, and for the first time in over nine years, I hugged my biological mother. For the first time, I felt like she loved me, like I wasn't an orphan, at least not by her. For the first time in my entire life, I felt like things would be okay and that there really are happy endings.

...

We didn't stay much longer after that, considering I wanted to visit her again and the women at the facility only get a certain amount of visiting hours a month. Melissa even came in and thanked her sister before escorting me out.

The drive home was quiet, although we both thought the same thing. I had a brother and his name was Brenden. In my head, I wondered if it was some joke, some hoax to get me to think that she really didn't leave me for no reason. Or maybe it was a way to make her feel less guilty.

"Did you know Marie had another son?" I asked Melissa.

"She never told me that, no," she replied.

I didn't say anything back. Instead, I thought about him. Brenden. Does he look like me? Does he act like me? Is he in a foster home or is he adopted? How old is he? Well if my mom was pregnant with him just before she left, he has to be around four or five years younger than me.

All I could think about was Brenden the rest of the day. Melissa was quiet at dinner and so was I, but I knew she'd talk to Greg about it. I wouldn't tell anyone. If I could, I'd probably tell Collie, but I can't, so yeah.

And as I lay in bed that night, I tried to think about the day my mom left. It was hard, because I never let myself think about it. Ever. So when I tried to remember, it was almost fuzzy. I thought about how she was pregnant and how her stomach would slowly get bigger and bigger, but never to the point where I even thought she was pregnant.

And when I fell asleep, I had the strangest, most realistic dream I'd ever had in forever. The night my mom left, I was in my bedroom, staring out the window, watching as dark, thick clouds covered New York. It was late. Really late. And my parents were screaming at each other again, but quietly, hoping I wouldn't wake up. But I was already awake.

"I'm not gonna take care of your new kid, Marie, and Brayden, alright? Brayden is our boy. He's our boy!"

"I know that, Bryson."

"You were never supposed to do this. You were never supposed to cheat on me."

"Well when you're constantly screaming at me day and night to go do something with my life, as if you're doing anything, it's kind of hard not to want to be with someone else!"

"How is that okay, Marie?! When we left Massachusetts together we were supposed to be a family like we always said!"

"We were teenagers, Bryson! We were kids! This is real life and in real life, things change."

I then heard the sound of the creaky, old apartment door open.

"You walk out that door, Marie, it's over. Brayden's not your boy anymore. He's mine."

"You can't keep my child away from me."

"If you leave, I'm sure you'd be doing it yourself."

"Fuck you, Bryson."

I opened my eyes and sat up in a sweat. The dream was vivid and engraved in my memory. All these years I had been trying so hard to forget about it, but I can't. I'll never forget that night. But was that what really happened? If so, why couldn't I put two and two together? I wasn't sure if it just felt so real I wanted to believe it or if it really was what happened.

After recollecting myself, I got up and turned on the fan in my room before shoving myself under the covers and letting myself cry. Not because of my mom leaving and not because she chose Brenden over me. I cried because I missed my dad.

I wish he didn't kill himself.

...

For this chapter especially, please comment and tell me what you think! How do you feel towards Brayden's mother? And how did you guys react to the new information of Brenden, Brayden's younger half-brother? Do you think Marie is lying about Brenden?

Aaaaand I'm tired. Goodnight!