Time Passages (Queen or Freddie Mercury Fanfic)

2. An Excess of Personality

But she goes on.  "And it typically runs in the family.  Does your mother act out in a similar manner to you?"

"Why are you asking me about-"

"I'm simply curious."

I shake my head.  "Not really."

"What about your fa- um, paternal unit?"

"Huh?"

"Your father, Danny.  Does he have a history of- oh.  Never mind.  I'm sorry."

But I answer her anyway, shrugging.  "I don't know."

I never met my father.  Mom says he disappeared when I was very young.  I know Uncle John used to work with him -he's not actually my uncle, he just likes me to call him that- but that's pretty much all.  The only things we have related to him Mom keeps in a locked box in her closet, and she only lets me look at them on special occasions, like my birthday and on Christmas- and sometimes, if I've done something really nice or gotten a really good grade on a big test, she'll pull down the box and go through them if I ask for it, telling me what each thing means.

"Long story short," Ms. Rydinger says quickly, "I think that over the weekend, you two need to explore the possibility of... um..."

"What?"

"I- uh, I'll just send your mother an email- don't worry, it's not because you're in trouble, I want to help you, and I think this will.  Help, I mean."

"Oh, okay," I nod.  "Can I go now, please?"

"Of course," she smiles.  "And in the future, Danny, please don't kiss me on the hand or anywhere else.  It's not - polite."

It was back then, I grumble to myself.  But to Ms. Rydinger, I just nod and say, "Yes, ma'am.  Goodbye."

Lauren is waiting for me at the door like she always does; this isn't the first time Ms. Rydinger has kept me after class to have a talk with me. "You coming home with us today, Danny?" 

She's Mr. Adams's daughter,so we come to school together in the morning.  But I shake my head.  "Mom's picking me up."

"Oh, okay."

"If you want, you can come back with us," I offer hopefully.  "There's room in the car."

"My dad's probably already in line," she says, tucking her red hair behind her ear.  "But I would so come with you if he wasn't."

I smile.  Lauren is the best.

At the pick-up, my friends kid me about being a teacher's pet.  So I say back, quoting Bender, "Bite my shiny metal BEEP.  You guys are just jealous 'cause she thinks I'm the best."

But deep down I'm still wondering what Ms. Rydinger meant.  Excessive or excess of?  What does that mean?

Luckily, I'm just about to find out.  Only two minutes or so, I wait after Lauren leaves, playing with my trusty yo-yo and singing Bruno Mars along with Jamal when I hear my name called.

"Samuels!"

I look up and there's our car, the red Jetta that Mom drives.  I grin.  Even though it's freezing outside, patches of ice and snow everywhere, she's got the windows rolled down, blasting one of my favorite songs -"Raspberry Beret," off Prince's 1985 album Around the World in a Day. 

Mom sticks her head out the window, the wind blowing her hair wildly around.  She doesn't wear her hair like a lot of moms- you know, really short or shoulder-length. It's long and light brown except for two streaks of white that used to make her look like Rogue, but she dyes them the regular color so no one knows.