Powers

Chapter six

Matthew got home very late from the soup kitchen. He had, as always, lingered there to talk to some of the people he had served to get to know them. He always tried to go the extra mile to treat these men and women like the same way he treated others. From talking to some of them he had discovered that they often felt more like dirt that other people would just walk over without even noticing.  Matthew wanted to remind them that they were still human beings, each with a life, a personality, and a soul.

Matthew walked into his building and climbed up three sets of stairs to his apartment. The elevator had been out of order for months, with no indication that the landlord was going to fix it anytime soon.

He pushed open his front door, stepped inside, and let out a long, tired sigh. He leaned back against the door for a moment and rubbed his eyes with one hand. It had been a long day, and it wasn't finished yet.

"Matthew? Is that you?"

Matthew took a deep breath and then headed for the guest room.

"Yeah Mom," he said. "It's me. Can I come in?"

His mother gave him the affirmative and he went in.

There she was, lying on the bed, looking as though she had not moved since he had left that morning. Matthew crossed over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"How are you doing mom?" Matthew asked, gently, taking hold of one of her hands. It was abnormally cold.

"Oh, I'm as well as can be expected, " his mother replied with a wry smile.

Matthew shook his head.

"Mom, I wish you would let me take you to the nursing home. They would be able to give you 24 hour care and I would be able to check up on you throughout the day."

His mother shook her head stubbornly.

"I simply will not go to a nursing home, " she said. "I can do well enough on my own here until you get home in the evenings. I don't want to have people fussing over me all the time. Besides, there doesn't seem to be much sense in putting me into care of any kind. It's only a matter of time. I don't have much longer. You know that. "

Matthew sighed and changed the subject.

"I saw Neal today," he said.

His mother snorted in disgust.

"Oh, wonderful, " she said sarcastically. "And how is the prince doing today? I'm surprised that he even took the time to get off of his high horse to talk to one of us common folk. "

Matthew frowned.

"Mom," he reprimanded her. "He's your son."

"My son? Ha!" Matthew's mom laughed bitterly. "Matthew he has not been to see me once since I got sick! I'm dying and he doesn't even care! Did he even ask how I was doing? "

Matthew sighed and looked down.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," his mother said. "Matthew look at me."

Matthew looked up and his mother took him by the hand.

"Matthew I love you, " she said. "And I love how much you love your brother. But he is not a good man. You have to accept that and forget him."

Matthew was silent for a long moment. Then, looking his mother straight in the eye, he shook his head.

"I can't do that," he said. "Not even for you. "

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Rita carefully made her way around the police station, looking for the file. She had decided that it would be safest to stay invisible. She figured it probably wasn't the smartest idea to skulk around a recently broken into police station if you didn't want to be detained.  Especially if you were the person who had 'recently broken in'.