Those Brunette Boys

Chapter 14 - Mom

Sage Dunwoody

"Fuck!" I muttered to myself. My mom was home. She probably came back early from my grandma's house to surprise me. All I could say was that it was definitely a surprise. I was going to be so screwed.

My mom never really got upset with me because I never bothered to do anything wrong. In her eyes, at least. She was always out almost every other night, going on a date with some random dude. She could never stay with one guy and seeing her date all these men was sickening to be quite honest. But, it's not like I could blame her.

My father died from heart failure back when I was in the sixth grade. It was absolutely heart breaking (no pun intended.) All three of us used to be that perfect little family that you would see in shows and movies before everything crashed and burned. He was the one who got me into playing basketball. At first, he didn't think it would work out because that's more of a father son type of thing. But it did work out, and I've been loving it ever since he lifted me up into the rim and I dunked it into the net.

Okay, so I didn't make it on the first try. I was like five years old don't judge me. It took me about 15 tries and my dad was getting so tired and he had to take a water break.

Anyways, everything was perfect. He had a good job, I had good grades, my mom cooked some bomb ass food; the whole world seemed like it was full of sunshine and rainbows. Him passing away changed all of that. My mom and I were devastated for a long time. Friends and family would say everything would be okay, but at the time it seemed like it never would.

You would've thought that my mom and I would grow even closer since it was the two of us, but it was the opposite of that. I isolated myself from even her. Knowing that I had lost my dad forever made my chest ache with pain and my stomach flip.

After about a year, my mom decided that it would be time to go out and find someone again. I was so incredibly hurt. I couldn't believe that after only one year, she thought she could would be able to replace my father with some man. One night, I saw her getting ready. Hair curled, lipstick on, and an attempt of eyeliner. She was wearing a dress. I continuously asked her where she was going but she always dodged the question, saying she would be back soon and giving me instructions like when to go to bed and how to warm up dinner.

She kissed me on the forehead and stumbled out the door in her heels. I could feel tears prick my eyes when I saw a man that I have never seen before in the car with a suit. She climbed into the vehicle and gave me one last glance, looking down in her lap with shame.

She left me to go on a date.

Without even asking me if I was okay with it.

Throughout the years I had become accustomed to my mom leaving at least three times a week durning the night since she still had work in the daytime. I never bothered with asking her questions anymore. I didn't know where she was going, who she was going with, or what time she was coming back. But I was always glad and thankful to see her face the next morning, having two plates of waffles ready for her and I to eat together... In silence.

"Dude, my mom is home!" I whisper yelled to Grayson. His eyes widened in realization.

"What're you going to do?" He asked. I bit my lip and ran my hand through my hair, trying to think of some options.

"I could go in my house and either lie to her or confess the truth," I thought out loud. "Or, crash at your place and give her some bullshit tomorrow."

Grayson rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Not so sure the second one could be a solution. My older brother is visiting from college over the weekend and he's kinda an absolute pain in the ass."