Ricky
Ricky's head shot straight up and he began to breathe heavily as his emotions were split between fear and confusion. He turned his head to the right and frowned.
He had forgotten to turn off his alarm clock the night before.
Ricky frowned, irritated with himself before reaching over to his nightstand and turning the irritating electronic miscreant off.
Ricky sighed tiredly before taking his hand off the alarm clock and turning back to lay completely flat and still on the bed. He had every the intention of going back to sleep. It was the first day of summer vacation.
However, before he could allow his mind to drift back off into the realms of dreamland, his ears picked up the sound of clinking and clattering. He lay there as he listened to the sounds, deducing that his mother was up and making breakfast for the both of them. He was still slightly shaken from his dream but he comforted himself with the reminder that it was only that... just a dream and that vampires were simply pieces of fiction, not of reality. 'I really hate it when that happens.' Ricky thought to himself. Sometimes after watching monster movies, he'd get these weird dreams. They were made by a combination of both the movies and his overactive imagination. He yawned widely as he upright, pushing the dark blue comforter that he had been wrapped up in away from him in regret. He no longer felt like sleeping in after all.
Ricky rubbed his eyes to clear his sleepy vision and let out a heartfelt yawn as he sat up and looked groggily around his room. Dark blue comforter, walls painted light blue. There could be no doubt that blue was his favorite color.
His eyes landed on one of the few posters he had decorated the light blue walls with. The posters depicted some of his favorite horror movies.
An oak dresser lay along one wall with a large attached mirror. He was looking at the mirror now. He wrinkled his nose at the crazy haired, sleepy eyed reflection staring back at him. He stretched his arms high above his head as he gave himself one last grimacing glance before he turned away to look out the window to the left of his bed. The sun was shining brightly and he grinned. 'That is a good sign' he thought to himself. It was a bright sunny first day of summer vacation. Hopefully for him this day would turn out to be both a great day and a great start to his summer vacation.
Ricky stood up and walked the few steps to the window so he could look out and down. He could faintly hear the distant sounds of car horns and police sirens outside. He could make out the hustle and bustle of individuals, some who were on their way to work, some who were running errands, and some who were just like him... enjoying their first day of summer vacation. Ricky rubbed his hands down either side of his head trying to calm his bedhead as he absentmindedly wondered what he would get up to today.
Turning away from the window, Ricky walked past the oak wood nightstand that matched his dresser. He caught a peek of the new book on wolves he had just received and had barely had a chance to read yet. That, he thought as he walked toward his closet to get some clothes, was high priority on his list of what he wanted to do first. Wolves were his passion and he had ordered this new book from Amazon with his allowance. With all the end of year testing and projects due he had had the book for about two weeks now but hadn't had the time to dig in.
Ricky pulled some cargo shorts from some make-shift milk crate shelves in his closet and an old faded grey t-shirt with a wolf outline from a hanger. Discarding the white tee and boxer shorts he preferred to sleep in, Ricky hurriedly pulled on his clean clothes, slipped his feet into an older pair of sneakers that had seen better days but were comfortable and made for summer days of play.
Stepping back in front of his dresser mirror, Ricky decided he was glad he had spiky hair as he grabbed up his hairbrush. A few swipes of the brush was all that was needed to change bedhead into an all-out style, he thought as he gave his reflection a mock male model style pose.
It was as he was putting the hairbrush back down onto his dresser that Ricky caught the scent of ... what smelled like perhaps bacon? He took in a huge whiff and his stomach grumbled at him in response. 'Yep definitely bacon.'
Ricky turned from the mirror and headed to his bedroom door. He glanced at his wolf book silently promising the book he would return for it after he had had some breakfast. He would have actually preferred to take it with him and start reading it as he ate breakfast but his mother did not like him reading at the table. She said it was not good manners. And the real truth was he would not be really spending some time with his mother this morning if he did.
Ricky grabbed the doorknob and twisted. Pulling the door toward him he started to walk out but paused on the threshold when he heard muted voices. Two voices to be exact. Ricky could not tell who's they belonged too but he twisted his lips into a scowl as he recalled yesterday and Tyler.
He closed his bedroom door carefully and crept toward the kitchen quietly. The talking became clearer. One was definitely his mother's voice... and the other, to his unfortunate displeasure, was Tyler's.
Ricky suppressed a growl of annoyance, he really had hoped that he wouldn't have to put up with that Tyler today. But apparently that hope had been in vain. He sidled closer and closer to the kitchen, stopping just off the living room. From this vantage point no one could see him but he was more than able to hear every word being said and it did not take long to figure out they were talking about him. Ricky's stomach clinched in that familiar way if often did when he experienced anxiety.
"So you think it'd be good for him?" Ricky heard his mother ask. He thought she sounded a bit anxious herself but also a little hopeful.
"Of course, babe," he heard Tyler assure her. "Ricky's a growing boy. Almost a man. Trust me this little man will get into all sorts of things new and exciting out there."
Ricky thought Tyler sounded extremely convincing and worst of all... very sincere. If Ricky hadn't known Tyler all that well, he was sure that he himself would've bought his sincerity as well. If Tyler hadn't had made it as a car salesperson, he would've made one heck of an actor. Ricky pushed those thoughts away as questions more pressing questions began to form. 'What were they talking about? Out where?' He wanted to burst in and demand some answers but he stayed quiet and continued to listen.
His mother spoke. "I suppose you're right. He gets bored around here during the summer and he gets very worried when I'm not here. This little vacation could be good for him right?"
Ricky was frustrated beyond belief as he heard Tyler assure his mom that this... trip, wherever this trip was too, was going to be the best thing that ever happened to Ricky and he gritted his teeth when he heard Tyler tack on, "Then we can be all alone." He said something else but Ricky couldn't tell since it was only above a whisper.
Ricky heard his mother giggle.
'TMI! TMI!' Ricky thought urgently, turning away and walking quickly and quietly back the way he had just come. He did not need, or want, to hear the rest.
Ricky walked back to his bedroom but did not go inside. He stopped at the door and lay his forehead against the cool wood. He counted to four ten times. He only counted, literally picturing the numbers in his mind's eye so that he could not replay the slightly disturbed conversation he had just overheard.
When he felt calmer he allowed himself to remember what they were talking about before the... other conversation... As the memory came clearer, the questions immediately started again. What did their conversation mean? Where were they sending him?
Ricky knew the answers were only a few feet away and as much as he was dying to know them he was dreading to know them as well. Taking a deep breath and berating himself for being a chicken, he pushed away from his bedroom door, turned around so that he faced the kitchen once again and began walking. This time he made sure to make enough noise so that they would hear him walking their way.
He walked back through the living room, lightly humming, hoping that he was behaving convincingly unaware and walked into the kitchen.
He saw his mother first. She was already dressed in a plain white t-shirt and old faded blue-jeans with sparking rhinestone flip flops. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and Ricky had the unexpected thought that she seemed to look younger than she had in a long time. And really pretty.
Ricky noted that Tyler was sitting at the table but unsurprisingly the man hardly glanced at the boy. Ricky shook his head and allowed his attention to remain on his mom, he walked up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"Morning," he mumbled, forgetting that he was trying to act normal and not give away that he had just overheard their mysterious conversation.
His Mom reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Morning kiddo. Timed it perfectly as usual I see," she said walking over to the stove and grabbing up a heated plate.
He looked over to the oven at the clock. It was about 9:22 a.m. Ricky always woke up like clockwork 9:00 in the morning on non-school days. His mom had timed the breakfast around him. Despite everything it made Ricky feel warm inside to know his mother knew him so well.
"Here you go," she said, carrying the bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast on the happy yellow plate, over to the table. "Sit down and eat your breakfast," she instructed with a smile, setting the plate down on the table in the spot designated as 'Ricky's spot.'
Ricky continued to ignore Tyler. He walked over to the table where his food was. He pulled his chair out and sat down, before scooting himself and the chair closer to his plate. Ricky was reaching for a piece of crispy bacon when Tyler spoke.
"Morning Ricky."
Ricky was taken aback by the friendly tone and almost bought it if it had not been for his past actions and the conversation he had heard this morning. He hesitated for a fraction of a second before glancing up at Tyler, mumbling a polite 'morning' in return. The crispy bacon which only a few moments ago had looked and smelled so tempting, now looked only half as appealing, which bummed Ricky a little. But he took a bite anyway. He chewed and silently watched as his mother poured him a small glass of orange juice. "Thank you," he murmured politely to her.
"You're welcome Ricky," his mom returned with a small smile as she walked back to the refrigerator to put the orange juice away.
A few minutes of quiet passed as Ricky took bites of his scrambled eggs, Tyler drank his coffee and read from the paper that lay strewn over the table, and Ricky's mom wiped down the kitchen counters and finished the dishes, putting the tiny yellow and white kitchen back into its usual pristine shape.
With no conversation, Ricky once again found his appetite and he ate hungrily from his loaded plate. He was drinking the last of his orange juice when his mom came over and sat down at the table facing him. She began to speak.
"Ricky?"
Ricky looked up. "Yeah Mom?" he asked before turning back to his toast and cramming the last bite into his mouth. He frowned when he saw her biting her lip in what appeared to be slight discomfort. The toast took on the consistency of cardboard as his anxiety spiked at her obvious discomfort and her hesitancy in talking to him. The overheard conversation from earlier popped back to the forefront of his mind.
"I've been thinking..." she trailed on, still obviously hesitant about what she needed to talk to him about.
Tension creeped back into Ricky's young lean body. Her hesitation made it more than obvious that she was not sure if Ricky would like what she was about to say. Her hesitation was also a more than obvious indicator to Ricky that he wouldn't.
"Thinking about what Mom?" he prompted. The suspense of not knowing was becoming intolerable.
His mom looked over to Tyler, who Ricky noted, nodded at her. That nod must have been what his mom needed because she launched into rushed speech.
"I'm going to be working a lot over the summer, more than normal, which means I'll be out of the house a lot. However, I know you tend to get bored and anxious when you're alone in the house. So I was thinking about it and talking about it with..." she hesitated and looked over at Tyler before speaking again, "with Tyler and your Uncle Steve" she hurried on when she saw Ricky frown at the sound of Tyler's name, "And I've come to a decision, one I think, after you get over the surprise of it, that you're gonna love."
"What's that?" Ricky could barely ask past the lump in his throat. Swallowing that last bite of toast was currently an impossibility.
"This summer your Uncle Steve and I were thinking, that you should go and spend it with him," she hesitated again before finishing in a rush, "In Colorado."
His mom leaned toward him, looking at him expectantly with a hopeful smile on her face.
Ricky's eyes had widened at 'Colorado" and his jaw dropped wide in utter surprise, which was pretty disgusting considering he had a mouthful of chewed toast.
"Ricky close your mouth when you have food in it," his mother automatically instructed in typical mother-like fashion.
He shut his mouth immediately. He chewed vigorously and swallowed down the last of the toast with a swig of orange juice before exclaiming, "Colorado? You're kidding me right, Mom?"
"No I'm not," she said in a matter-of-fact of voice. "You'll be spending you're vacation there and you'll be spending some quality time with your Uncle Steve, too whom you've always loved," she reminded him.
"Of course I love Uncle Steve!" He said in a manner of family loyalty- which was something he had always been passionate about. "But I haven't seen him since I was at least..." he paused before thinking, "since I was eleven years old!"
His mom nodded at him as if Ricky had made her point for her. "Exactly, all the more reason to go and reacquaint yourself with him and spend time with him. He and I already spoke and he is actually quite happy and excited to have you over for the summer."
Ricky noticed Tyler was being exceptionally quiet throughout the exchange between his mother and him. Ricky peeked over at him quickly but Tyler's face, for once, was inscrutable, so he turned swiftly back to his mother.
"All Summer?" Ricky asked, looking for specifics.
"Until August," she confirmed.
"When do I leave?" he inquired, trying to wrap his mind around this huge bombshell exploding around him unaware that the largest bomb had yet to drop.
"This afternoon."
"This afternoon?" Ricky exclaimed, feeling as if his head was going to explode and anxiety pounded desperately at his chest.
'This is awfully sudden,' Ricky thought desperately. More than sudden at that. He had just woken up, hoping to spend some time with his mother at some point today and read his new book, and instead his mom was shipping him far away, and today no less with barely a breath of notice. All he felt was fear and anxiety for flying on a plane, something he had never done before, and to somewhere far away no less! He also felt a little bit of anger for not getting an advanced notice so he could prepare himself mentally.
"Yes, this afternoon," she repeated back to him. "Your flight to Colorado will leave at 3:00 this afternoon."
Ricky looked over at the clock. It was now 9:45. In just a few hours he would be leaving his home for a few months. He didn't have a clue as to what to say or think.
Then one thought popped up out of nowhere.
"Flight? You mean on an airplane?" he quizzed.
Ricky heard Tyler laugh a little at his stupid question and his mother huffed a light laugh of her own. "No on a duck..." she answered back, obviously trying to tease him. "Of course an airplane Ricky. You know there is no reason to freak out," she assured him, reaching out with her hand to pat his clenched one that was lying on the table.
"But I've never been on a plane!" Ricky felt overwhelmed at the thought of flying on a huge plane. He imagined a series of scenarios going through his head about various things that could go very wrong. "What if something goes wrong?" he choked out.
"Like what Ricky?" his mother queried with a slight underlying tone of exasperation.
Tyler continued to remain silent, reading his paper but Ricky knew he was listening to every word.
"Oh I don't know..." Ricky said chuckling nervously and a tad bit desperately. "Maybe that as we fly over some water and the engine suddenly catches on fire and we all plummet to a watery death," he clipped out in a fast pace anxious tone.
"Ricky stop that! You're being overdramatic!" his mother ordered. "What's wrong with you?" Ricky shrank back not seeming to comprehend what his mother had just said to him. Though he supposed he couldn't blame her exactly. He was being overdramatic. What was wrong with him?
"Ricky," his Mom sighed out, recapturing his attention. "In life you will encounter difficult challenges. I won't always be there for you and it's time you realize that there will be things you will have to do on your own."
Ricky's head shot up at that. "Y-you're not coming w-with me? You're not going to take me there?"
She sighed. "Ricky I can't," she sighed out softly, cajolingly trying to get him to understand that sometimes adult problems took precedence over a child's wants. "I have really important things to do at work. There are...," his mom paused, looked over at Tyler and then looked back at Ricky before finishing. "There are some big changes taking place at work and I need to give it all of my attention," she finished somewhat simply.
"Like what?" Ricky asked in confusion. His mom had mentioned her work several times over the past few days. What was going on?
Ricky's mom shook her head at him. "Nothing for you to worry about," she assured him, clearly not willingly to discuss her work.
"Look Mom," Ricky said starting out cautiously, trying not to annoy his mother any further. "Not to sound ungrateful but why did you decide on doing this? Why now and out of the blue like this? Why didn't you at least mention to me the possibility of this happening?"
"Well really Ricky, it was sort of spur of the moment. Uncle Steve called me the other day to check in and we got to talking. One thing led to another and here we are. Uncle Steve thinks it will help you to get away."
"Help me?" he asked curiously. "You mean with my anxiety? You never seemed to worry about it before," he couldn't help but say. "You always just said I would grow out of it," he reminded her.
"Well," she answered, hesitating and swinging another quick glance over at Tyler, before nervously swiping at a stray hair and pushing it back behind her ear, then looking back at Ricky. "If you must know, Tyler and I discussed this last night..."
"This was Tyler's idea?" Ricky gasped, unintentionally interrupting his mother. His brown eyes looked accusingly over at Tyler before turning back to his mother, his head swirling with bitter thoughts. He should've known that Tyler would do this sort of thing. Pretending to be a good boyfriend who's helping his girlfriend with her child, when in reality he was secretly planning and plotting to get rid of Ricky.
"Yes and don't interrupt me," she said in a warning tone, her eyes signaling business. Ricky swallowed passed the massive boulder sized lump in his throat and nodded back at her, remaining silent as he was afraid that he would start crying and he did not want Tyler to see him cry.
"I told him about Uncle Steve inviting you to stay with him for the summer. We talked about you for a bit last night and he said that perhaps a vacation somewhere would be a great way for you to try new things. I told him about where Uncle Steve lived and what you could do and he said it sounded like a wonderful idea."
"Since when does Tyler have any say so about what I do and do not do?" Ricky was desperate enough to ask. Thoughts of Tyler trying and succeeding in getting rid of him were ricocheting through his mind.
His mother gave him an angry look. "Now you listen to me Ricky. Tyler has been nothing but good to us. He picked you up yesterday when he didn't have to and has been nothing but polite to us, and he's made me very happy... as happy as I was when your father..." she trailed off, as she lowered her head.
Ricky felt ashamed of himself. His father's death had been really hard for her. Since then, she worked harder, and began distancing herself from him.
Ricky lowered his head a bit, sniffing back the tears that were so close to falling. "...I'm sorry, Mom."
She just sighed then raised her head up and faced him. "Ricky." She reached her hand back across the table to where his clinched fist rested on the table and held it. "I really think this will be good for you. Besides we both know you get bored around here. Plus remember last night when you called me. This is good for you. Won't you give this trip a shot... for me?"
Ricky looked down and thought. He didn't really want to go, at least not by himself. But maybe being in Colorado wouldn't be so bad. Plus he'd get to see his Uncle Steve who as he recalled was a lot of fun. He loved wolves as much as Ricky did. Ricky looked up across the table at his mother's boyfriend. And he wouldn't have to deal with Tyler anymore. 'Or at least not for a while,' he told himself. He looked back at his mother.
"How far is it?"
"The flight from here to Colorado is about three hours," she answered quickly, seeing that the battle was nearing its end. "Not long at all really. Watch a movie and then you're there," she grinned which eased Ricky a bit. She squeezed his hand, silently requesting that he smile back.
Before giving her any kind of smile, even a weak one, he looked his mother straight in her eyes and asked, "And you promise I'll be back around August?" He knew it sounded a little childish but he felt that it needed to be asked anyway.
She laughed aloud in surprise, easing his worries with the very real shock she revealed by his question. "Of course you will silly. Cross my heart," she offered before leaning in close to Ricky and looking at him eye to eye. "This is your home," she reminded and assured him at the same time.
His mom's response was what he needed. It was what he was looking for. He slowly nodded his head at his mother.
"Okay... I guess I can go."
His mother smiled and got up from her chair. She went over to Ricky, bent down, and gave him a huge hug and light kiss on his temple.
"Thank you Ricky. I'm so proud of you."
Ricky hugged her back. The tight kind of hug teenage boys usually reserved for special moments. He guessed that this counted as one of those moments.
Tyler's voice interrupted the moment. "Well this is just great!" he said with what seemed genuine enthusiasm. Ricky imagined he probably really was enthusiastic at the idea of Ricky leaving so that he didn't have to deal with Ricky anymore.
Tyler turned to face Ricky with a slightly smug look on his face. He reached across the table and ruffled Ricky's hair, in a supposed gesture of affection, but Ricky didn't trust it or his next words. "Won't be the same without you kiddo," he told Ricky, who restrained himself from reacting in annoyance lest his mother notice.
They all finished their breakfast while talking about the trip and tips about flying. Ricky only sipped at his juice as his appetite for his remaining breakfast had disappeared once the discussion about flying to Colorado started.
Once breakfast was finished, and his dishes were carried to the sink, Ricky excused himself to go to his room. He decided he would take a shower. Once showered he brushed his teeth, towel dried and brushed his hair, and redressed in the same clothes he had picked that morning. It wasn't like they were dirty he told himself.
Once he finished getting dressed Ricky dug under his bed until he found his old, olive green, extra-large duffle bag. In minutes he started pulling out shorts, underwear, and shirts and started stuffing them into the bag. He grabbed socks, an extra pair of shoes, his toiletries, a jacket, and a pair of jeans just in case. At the last minute he remembered his bathing suit which were just simple blue swimming trunks. Once the necessities were taken care of he wondered how much extras he could fit into the already pretty full bag.
Ricky was more than pleased that he was able to fit in a few of his most favorite movies, a couple of books including his new wolf book, and his iPad. He then remembered that he would need the charger to recharge it when it lost power so he packed that as well. That should get him through, he thought, his nerves stretched tight at the thought of the trip he was about to embark on.
Thinking about how anxious he was feeling, reminded him that he needed to get his anxiety medicine, little white pills that he took with breakfast every day, that helped him manage his anxiety instead of it managing him. He ran into the kitchen to grab his prescription bottle and his vitamins as well. Going back into his bedroom he stuffed both bottles into his bag.
Once he was all packed Ricky went over to his bed and made it up nice and neat. He took his wet towel and hung it up on the towel rack in the bathroom and carried all of his dirty clothes to the hamper.
His mom popped in and went through everything he had packed making sure he had everything he would need. She explained to him then that his uncle would be able to get his monthly prescription filled in Colorado so he had no need to worry about running out of his pills. She them left his room letting him know they would be leaving in a few minutes.
Ricky was still a nervous wreck on the inside but he tried not to show it and just smiled and nodded at his mom silently letting her know he was ready and willing. A few minutes later his mom called for him from the living room that it was time to leave.
Ricky rushed to use the bathroom. When he came out he saw his mother and Tyler, whom was holding Ricky's bag, standing in the living room waiting for him.
"Ready?" his mom asked.
Knowing the only answer he could give was yes, Ricky nodded and answered with a quiet and simple, "Ready." 'Ready as I'll ever be,' he tact on mentally.
As they walked single file out of the apartment, Ricky stopped abruptly, turned around, and looked at the apartment he had lived in for so long. A strange feeling came over him. It was as if he felt he was not going to see this place again. He felt a little scared and a little melancholy all at the same time.
They walked out of the apartment and shut the door. Ricky's mother locked it behind her. Ricky's mom explained that Tyler had called a taxi, instead of taking his car because of parking difficulties at the airport. The taxi would be waiting for them in front of the apartment building.
They all got in the elevator and went down the four floors in total silence. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open, revealing the small lobby. They all walked out of the elevator, across the room, and threw the apartment entry way. Tyler opened the door and held it open while Ricky and his mother exited with Tyler following behind them, closing the door as he walked outside.
Ricky saw the taxi on the curb waiting for them. Tyler walked past the two of them to the back of the taxi and placed Ricky's large duffle bag into the trunk before snapping the trunk lid shut. Ricky and his mother climbed into the back of the yellow taxi and Tyler climbed in after them. As soon as Tyler shut the car door the taxi entered into traffic and headed toward the airport.
Like the elevator ride, the drive to the airport was also in silence. Ricky spent the car ride looking out the window watching New York pass by. He wondered, with his first show of interest in this trip he was about to take, what Colorado would look like from a car window.
Traffic, due to an accident, was extra heavy and it took longer than expected to get to the airport. His mother warned him and explained to him that because of this they would have very little time at the airport before he would need to board the airplane. Ricky nodded his understanding and swallowed back any response. He knew this was happening no matter what, the least he could do was leave his mom thinking he was fine.
Knowing they only had ten minutes to spare when they arrived at the airport, Ricky and his mother quickly walked into the airport building to check in while Tyler lagged behind getting Ricky's duffel bag from the trunk of the taxi. Ricky heard Tyler tell the taxi driver to leave the meter running for he and his girlfriend would be returning soon.
Ricky was nervous. No. He was a nervous wreck. He had never flown before and now not only was he flying for the first time but he would be doing it all on his own. As they entered he looked around the airport building and noticed how huge it was. Ricky barely payed attention to the process of checking in. At least he didn't until he heard his mother tell the lady that he was going by himself. He saw the woman pick up a speaker phone and talk into it.
"I've got an unaccompanied minor!" she announced.
Ricky jumped at the volume of the announcement. The vastness of the airport and the loud booming sounds along with the stress of the trip all on its own was really starting to work his last nerve. Ricky's anxiety was reaching fever pitch and it was all he could do to try and hide it.
Soon an airport representative showed at the same time Tyler joined them. Tyler handed over Ricky's bag which was tagged and placed on the conveyor belt and whisked away to be placed on the plane.
"The plane to Colorado will be leaving shortly," the plane representative announced, signaling that it was time for Ricky to leave and board the air plane.
Ricky jumped at that. He turned to his mother and looked up at her struggling not to beg to stay. He was surprised at the sad look on his mother's face. She looked like she was battling tears as well. Seeing her look like that gave Ricky the strength to choke back his words and instead he leaned into his mother and gave her the second biggest hug of his life. She hugged him back just as strongly. They exchanged whispered words of love and affection, of missing each other, and the standard parent warnings of behave and mind your manners.
When they pulled apart Ricky noticed that Tyler was standing off to the side ignoring them while he looked at his phone. Ricky was glad that he had not been a part of their private moment. It made it more special to him.
"This way please," the representative instructed and Ricky and his mother followed behind her. When they stopped walking, Ricky noticed they had stopped in front of a long escalator. He gulped nervously. He hated escalators. 'Geez,' Ricky thought to himself, 'I just can't catch a break'.
The representative turned to his mother. "This is as far as you can go ma'am."
Ricky smiled a small sad smile up at his mom. "So I guess this is it," he said leaning in and giving her one last hug.
She hugged him back tightly before stepping back from him and handing him his ticket. "Don't lose that," she warned and bent and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you. Stay safe and be good."
"Love you too, Mom," he answered, looking at her one last time before turning to follow behind the airplane representative heading towards the escalator.
"Ricky!" he heard his mom call and he turned around to look at her, surprised at the urgency in her voice.
"Yeah Mom?" he asked, curious at the tone of her voice.
She smiled at him. It was a very sweet, very sincere, very Mom smile. "Have fun," she insisted.
For the first time that day he smiled back. It was a very real, very sweet, very son smile before he turned back to the escalator.
Ricky stood in front of the escalator and watched how it worked. He noticed the steps that formed on a continuing rotating basis. He hesitated before cautiously but hurriedly stepping out onto a forming step. He gasped a bit as another step formed and he quickly placed his other foot on that step. He stood completely still as the escalator swept him upward. When they reached the top he quickly jumped off praying he would not trip. Once both feet were planted firmly on the ground he looked back down just in time to see his mother walk away.
He followed the representative to a line where people were going through a metal detector. He got in line just as the last two went through. When he went through the metal detector archway he was relieved that it didn't beep, of course he wasn't too worried for he didn't pack scissors or hand cream.
When he walked up to a small counter beside the entrance of the terminal that obviously led to the plane the representative instructed him to hand over his ticket to be checked in. Once checked in he was informed that people were already loading the plane and that he could go ahead and board. He followed the representative through the entryway and down a tight hallway until they reached another entryway that Ricky suddenly realized was the airplane door.
The representative exchanged a few words with a pretty petite blonde stewardess. The stewardess look over at him and smiled. Ricky smiled back.
"Hope you have a good trip," the representative said to Ricky with a jaunty salute and a grin before walking off back down the hall from where they had just came.
'Me too,' Ricky silently thought to himself as he followed the stewardess to his air plane seat, barely hearing the flight attendant as she introduced herself and talked about this and that as she showed him to his assigned seat.
"You okay?" the flight attendant asked him as he sat down. "You haven't spoken a word," she remarked.
Ricky nodded shyly back and spoke real soft. "Yes ma'am."
"Flying without your parents can be a little scary but no worries, I'm here if you need anything. No one will be sitting in the seat beside you so I can sit with you some on the flight. Buckle up while I check in. I won't be far."
Ricky nodded and smiled in return.
Within minutes of buckling his seatbelt he heard the plane's engines come to whining life and only a few short moments after that the plane began slowing moving slowly backwards disengaging from the terminal. In seconds it turned sharply right and began moving forward. Ricky tightened his seatbelt a little tighter then grabbed the arms of the chairs on either side of him very tightly.
The captain's voice suddenly started speaking from the cockpit, the sound carried throughout the plane by speakers. Ricky listened intently to every word he said though none of it really helped to calm his nerves. He watched the flight attendants as they instructed from the front of the plane what to do in case of emergency situations. Even though he was glad that he would know what to do in case of an accident, none of that comforted Ricky either.
Suddenly the whining grew louder and the plane once again began taxing forward, the speed of the plane grew faster and faster and the pressure on Ricky's body pushed him back into his seat. Ricky squeezed his eyes tightly closed and he held his breath as he felt the plane move slightly upward and he knew immediately when they were no longer touching the ground. The plane rose and rose and rose and the pressure in his ears grew and grew until they suddenly popped.
Finally and gradually the plane evened out and they were no longer rising. The pressure pushing his body back into his seat eased and he was finally able to relax naturally back into his chair. He loosened the tight grip he had on the chair arm but he didn't yet open his eyes.
Ricky just sat there quietly as the plane started its flight across the country.
'Okay only for about three hours. You can do this Ricky,' he told himself, calling upon his inner strength, convincing himself to open his eyes and focus on the first leg of his journey to Colorado. To start enjoying, at least try to start enjoying, his first day of summer vacation.
With eyes still closed, engine thrumming lightly and oddly enough, comfortingly beneath him, Ricky's body, encouraged by his closed lids, a stress-filled morning, and a nightmare crammed night, unexpectedly relaxed and sleep claimed him in shocking abruptness.