What the odds want

3.

‘’It’s so sweet of you to come over and help Kyle out’’ said Martha putting two glasses of lemonade on the side table of her living room. It wasn’t hot outside, summer in Olean usually started mid-June, but a homemade juice with ice cubes was a drink that Summer would love to have even if it was freezing outside.

‘’Business seems to be great, Will has been so busy lately at the store, that’s why Kyle is doing some extra shifts, to help his father out, he’d be here any minute’’ Mrs. Kennedy added.

‘’It’s okay, I don’t mind waiting and getting spoiled here with your lemonade’’ Summer said trying to make a joke or at least to sound funny, but Martha didn’t seem in the mood to laugh, she just put a fake smile on then stared into space.

‘’Is there something wrong?’’

Martha’s face slowly got back to reality, sighed and said with a real smile on her lips this time:

‘’No honey, everything is okay, it’s just that whenever I mention the store, I have flashback of how it used to be to work there. Pictures of good old days are stuck in my head, Will and I have been owning that place since we were your age, we were expecting Kyle, there was no chance that we’d afford college for both of us and the baby’s needs, so a little groceries store seemed to be the perfect solution, and it really was, look what it got us; a family and happiness, all I ever wished for. We started it together, I just wanted to end it together as well. If only doctors didn’t say that I need to stay at home’’

‘’Prevention is betterthan cure, it’s for your own good’’ Summer tried to cheer her up.

‘’But I’m fine, as long as my heart keeps beating for love, that bad condition wouldn’t beat me’’

‘’It would definitely not beat your strength, be sure about that’’

Summer has known Martha Kennedy since she was 5. Back then, when her Mom still had time to spend with her daughter, she used to take her to the same playground Martha took Kyle to downtown, that was where it all began, and as the years passed, they kept getting closer and closer not only to each other, but also to their families, Kyle became sort of a Tisdale and Summer became a Kennedy as well. When she knew a year ago that Martha had a bad heart condition, it felt like knowing that her own mother was having one, that’s how close she was to her. Back in middle school, Karen was never really home, she was mostly at the hospital and George couldn’t look after David, who back then was still a baby, Summer and work at the same time, so to facilitate things, little brother would stay with Daddy and sister Summer would be brought to the Kennedy’s.  She didn’t mind spending time there, Martha was good to her and treated her like she treated Kyle; as if she was a child of hers.

Now that she was sitting there in their living room, Summer thought back to when she came there for the first time. It was a Tuesday, Karen dropped her off on her way to work and promised she’d be back within three hours. She didn’t want to stay at first, she was nervous because it was the first time that she’d spend the noon at a friend’s house, but when Karen came later to pick her up, she didn’t want to leave, because it wasn’t just a friend’s house anymore, it was Kyle’s house.

Her best friend’s house, a place that felt like her own one.

She remembered that Martha baked cookies for them that day, after she took them both to the store to get the necessary ingredients, and they watched Sesame Street together until they fell asleep on the couch. It felt strange now that she was sitting in the same living room, on the same couch, but in a whole different situation. She wasn’t listening to Bert and Ernie’s voices anymore, but Martha’s talking to her about her heart that could possibly suddenly stop. And for the first time, although she was at a safe place, she felt scared.