I am dedicating this chapter to the awesome ladies who have taken time out of writing their own stories, to not only read mine, but to leave me comments. I lurve you gals :-)
Chapter 6
*Cali-20, Kevin-19, Joe-17, Nick-14, Frankie-6*
“Hey, Kevin…”
“Yeah, Cali?”
“I think your mom has some sort of super power.” I said, doing a cartwheel, not really caring that I was in a black dress-suit.
“Why do you say that?” He sat down in the grass and watched me.
“Cause she always knows what I need and she’s always taking care of me. She’s like my second mom.”
Actually, she’d become more like a mom to me than my own mom. I knew my own mom had had problems dealing with my dad’s death…and I knew that I was a constant reminder of him. So, I had tried to just stay out of her way. But Mrs. J—she always seemed to understand what I needed to hear and what I needed to do, and she made it happen for me. Like, Mrs. J was the first to really encourage me to pursue the idea of a career in psychology. She swore she’d never seen paintings as good as mine. And she was the one who arranged for my first horseback riding lesson.
And now, my own mom was with me no longer. She’d finally joined my dad, something I knew she’d wanted for a while. I knew that she needed to go. She’d been hurting for a while, but she stuck it out for me.
But I couldn’t cry. I hadn’t cried when I was told she had passed. I didn’t cry at her funeral. Even when everyone else around me was, I just couldn’t seem to get the tears to fall. Mrs. J hadn’t given me the funny looks I had gotten from everyone else. She had just hugged me and told me she loved me.
“I don’t get you, Cali.”
“What don’t you get?” I had been attempting a hand stand, but his sudden outburst ruined my concentration and I fell.
“Your mom just died. You haven’t cried once. Even Frankie cried, and he didn’t really know your mom.” I jumped up, not bothering to brush the dirt off my clothes. His remark made me angry.
“I am allowed to mourn in my own way. Just because I’m not bawling my eyes out doesn’t mean I don’t love my mom.” I stormed off towards my mom’s house.
“Cali!” I heard him call after me, but it didn’t matter. How could he imply that I don’t care that my mom died? AHHHHH!
“Cali?” Mrs. J’s voice grabbed my attention, mid-stalk. I turned towards her, and she held her arms out to me. That was all I needed, because I ran to her and buried my face in her hair, crying my eyes out.
“Why did she have to leave me?” I sobbed, barely registering that she was rubbing my back. I just clung to her. “I feel so alone.” I said, once my tears had subsided to hiccups.
“Honey,” she held me at arms’ length and looked me square in the eyes. “You are never alone. You have me, and Paul, and Kevin, and Joe, and Nick, and we all know you have Frankie wrapped around your finger.” I gave her a slight smile. “Cali, you’re the daughter I never had. And I love you. I want you to know that.” I nodded and she pulled me close.
“I love you too.” I whispered, hugging her just as tightly as she was me.
“Cali?” I heard Kevin’s voice, and I knew he was a little tentative about talking to me. I turned, still clinging to his mom.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” He came up and the three of us joined in a group hug.
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“Hey, Kevin?” I whispered, as I slipped into his room.
“Cali? You ok?” He sat up in his bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Then he glanced at his clock. 1:37 a.m.
“Not really. I can’t sleep.” I knew he couldn’t make out exactly where I was due to the darkness, so I eased over to his bed and sat down on the edge of it. “Can we talk?”
“Sure, Cali.” He scooted over to the far side of his bed and patted the spot he’d just occupied. I crawled up next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder. “What’s up?” He yawned.
“I miss her.” Almost instantly, I felt his arm wrap around me. We sat that way for a few minutes, before I broke the silence again. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For coming. I know you guys are big stars now and you have a lot of stuff you have to do, but I really needed you guys here. I really needed you here. So thanks.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, right?” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. I suddenly felt as if he was the older of the two of us.
“Yeah. And you know I love you, right?”
“I love you too, Partner.” I couldn’t stop the eye roll. Geez, could he pick a more perfect time to ruin with that stupid nickname? I elbowed him gently in the side and he chuckled.
“Hey, I know it’s weird for me to ask you this, but do you think it would be ok if I crashed in here tonight? I really don’t wanna be alone.” My voice cracked with the emotion I was trying to hold back.
“It’s fine.” I curled up in his arms and fell asleep feeling safe.
