Home is a Four Letter Word

chapter five

Late March

When Jake got home, his mother was as well. While it wasn't unexpected to see his mother in the kitchen where she spent most of her free time, this time she was home much earlier than she should've been. His mother, although being a self-proclaimed stay-at-home-mom, was never actually home much. She was always out lending a hand to someone else, which this week had her doing the Martins' baking and yard work.

"Hey honey, you just now gettin' home from Aaron's?"

Jake set his backpack down on the floor next to the counter to talk to her while she was occupied unbagging apples from a brown paper bag, placing them into a bowl on the counter that looked straight out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

"I was helping him brainstorm promposals." Jake said unenthused, yet faking a smile because he knew how much his mother loved to be all up in their business.

"Who's he askin' this year?" She looked up, interested.

"Kath, actually. He's finally getting the balls to do it." Jake replied, catching his mistake in phrase choice with the immediate scowl written on his mother's face. "Sorry, the courage to do it."

"I never thought she would go for him."

"She probably won't. He's an idiot. He's sure gonna try though."

"You know... I always thought you should've asked Katherine."

Here we go again.

She started organizing the apples into color groups on top, a finicky thing that McKenna always went out of her way to mess up as soon as she got home. Jake leaned over the counter to watch her work.

"Yeah?"

He wasn't oblivious to his mother's adoration of Katherine. She had practically grown up in their house with them. His mother would talk up Katherine every time she got the chance—telling Jake to check on what she was doing over the summer, or about her new babysitting job, or what nice thing she did for the church ladies that morning. He would nod his head and give a fake smile as his mother talked, letting her speak her dreams into existence when he knew they would never pan out.

"Y'all been friends for so long, I keep waiting for you to make a move and you never do..."

"Momma..." Jake rolled his head back, only slightly embarrassed that she would call him out so directly.

"Just saying." She put her hands up in surrender. "She's a real keeper. You two would make some real cute kiddos."

His face flushed. "Oh my God, stop."

"What was that?" She cupped her ear to him.

"Gosh." Jake corrected himself.

"Mmhmm. Who you askin' then?"

She looked over to him as she laid down the first row of red apples in the bowl. Jake fumbled with the house key on his keychain—something he had never used, and probably never would. Somehow the question made him nervous. It felt like he was preparing an elaborate lie even when really it wasn't.

"Um, no one really. Think I'll just go with the boys."

"What about Kaylee? Ain't that her name? That pretty girl who got into Yale or somethin'?"

Right, Kaylee. Connor's best friend Kaylee. Yeah, no.

"Um, she's already going with someone. She's outta my league anyways."

"Alright." She settled, defeated. "Hey, I told Mrs. Martin you could take her to church on Sunday since I gotta be there early to help set up the bake sale. You good with that?"

"Uh, yeah. That's fine. No Mr. Martin this time?" He started to grab his backpack back up off the floor.

"He's back in the hospital, honey. Fell down the stairs again, they think he broke something. I keep telling them they need to move outta that house, but he won't hear none of it."

"Don't kid yourself, you'd never leave this house either. Even if dad started falling down the stairs." He slung the backpack over his shoulder, preparing to leave.

"He keeps staying out so late with those buddies of his skipping dinner all the time... I might be the one to push him."

Jake couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face hearing his mother's fire come out. He tried to hide it by walking away, but her voice caught his attention again before he reached the living room.

"Oh, Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw Hunter Anderson in town today."

Jake nodded, allowing it to act as a replacement for an affirmation.

"Says you didn't get into Harvard."

"Oh, right. Yeah, I got the letter last week. Forgot to mention it." He faked a smile that he hoped his mother wouldn't see through.

"That's alright. I don't want you leaving us anyways. You gotta stick around here, you know that?"

"Yeah, momma."

"Ain't no one to help me out with McKenna when both you and your daddy gone."

"Well... I'm still waiting on OSU."

"The big one downtown?"

"Yeah."

"That's too far. I think you should find a community college, you know, something local."

Jake's heart sank, but it was an all too familiar feeling. He hated feeling like a disappointment, but his parent's backwards relationship with his success was not his fault and he knew that. It didn't help that his mother was right. He couldn't leave McKenna here to fend for herself and he certainly couldn't afford the city schools either. But that never stopped him from trying. He applied to every scholarship he could, and a few of them so far had actually been successful. It would be a shame to put that all to waste by staying home. For his mother's sake, he agreed to humor her, knowing he wasn't going to take any of her advice into consideration.

"Okay, momma."