Just An Attraction

Mom, Am I Still Young?

"Your new girlfriend kicked him out! I did not kidnap him!"

On a normal occasion Victoria wouldn't be up in her ex-husbands face, shouting at him, but today she was taking no one's shit. It was this weird burst of adrenaline, or that fact that her son was mistreated for the last and final time. Caleb never liked his dad, so when he heard his dad knocking on the door his instinct was to run and hide. On the way to a hiding spot he managed to grab his moms phone, tucking himself and the phone away safely on the second floor of the apartment.

"Oh, my girlfriend did? You always have some shitty thing to say about my girlfriend as if you aren't any better!" Jared shouted back at her. "Gallivanting around with any guy who would take you, dirty whore!"

If she were the woman she was when Caleb was first born, she would have hid away from him. Made herself as small as possible and took whatever he was going to throw at her.

She's a different woman.

There was a baseball bat hidden by the stairs in the umbrella rack, hidden so that even Caleb couldn't find it. In one swift motion she grabbed the bat, adjusting her grip rather quickly if she needed to swing.

"Get the fuck out of my house."

"Or what? It's a piece of wood, you can't scare me."

"I can, the cops are just a call away, you know."

Mike was standing in the open doorway, hands in his pockets. So calm, but there was this fire in his eyes. Victoria didn't let out a sigh of relief or go hide behind him, she stood her ground in front of her ex-husband.

"Either you leave now or he calls the cops. Your choice."

" I'm so scared . Your boy toy isn't going to do anything, he doesn't have the guts. Damn, Vickie, you always pick the pussies."

For a moment Mike saw his mother and father, the "picture perfect" family after imploding again. He even heard his father's voice instead of Jared's voice. Without a second thought Mike jumped on his back and put his arms around his neck. It was this blind rage. Blind, unadulterated rage.

"Mike!" Victoria gasped and was quick to try and pry his arms off Jared's neck.

Her ex-husbands face turned red rather quickly and she started panicking. Both Jared and herself tried to pry Mike's arms off of him.

"Mike! Let go! Let go of him!" She was pulling on his arms, grabbing the fabric of his sleeves and yanking as hard as she could.

He saw the fear on her face and it was as if it snapped him out of whatever trance he was in. His arms released and he fell off of Jared's back. The larger man fell to his knees, wheezing to catch his breath. Caleb watched the commotion from upstairs, his new friend next to him.

"I don't like him." Foxy had a frown on his face, arms crossed.

"He's my dad, I have to like him."

"He put his hands on your mom."
"He always does..."

"He deserves to die."

Caleb turned away, not responding to his friend.

"Get out of my house." This time it was directed at Mike.

"Wait, wait. Let me explain–"

"Get out."

Mike wasn't going to make her say it twice. He was quick to leave her apartment, his footsteps receding down the hall. Jared was still on the floor wheezing, his face no longer a vibrant shade of red.

"Where... Where the fuck did you find him?"

"I don't... I don't know." Victoria helped him to his feet. "Let me get you a glass of water, yeah?"

"Great, you screwed a psycho."

"He's not... I don't think..." Victoria grabbed a glass and filled it with tap water, promptly handing it to him. "He has... Problems."

"I don't want him around my son."

"Understandable but–"

"I don't want that girl around my son either, who knows what kind of crazy he inherited from her."

"Okay, but we still have to talk about–"

"You're lucky I don't take you to court, you're lucky I don't get full custody. I'm doing you a favor, Vickie. Otherwise you wouldn't see him."

"Believe me, I know you mean it. But you can't just let your girlfriends kick him out of the house."

"He's a man! He can fend for himself!"

"He's ten!"

"I was hunting deer at ten, sorry to burst your bubble but boys don't need to be coddled like girls." Jared sat down at the dining room table. "Maybe if you didn't always give him what he wants then he wouldn't be such a spoiled brat."

"He is not spoiled!" Victoria snapped.

"Yes he is, and you know it! You're just a shit mother trying to cope with the fact your mom and dad messed you up!"

"I want you out of the house."

"Vickie–"

"Get out of my house. Now."

"Woah, woah, woah. I'm not leaving with–"

"Let's just say you dropped him off. Now, leave."

"Hold on–"

She was backing him up into the doorway, talking faster than she was thinking. Once he was on the other side of the front door she closed it in his face. Locking the door. Taking a deep breath she moved away from the front door on shaky legs, shaking from head to toe. Her back hit the back of the couch and she slid down to the floor. As soon as she hit the hardwood beneath her she started to cry, burying her head in her arms and tucking her knees under her chest.

" You are such a horrible mother, you let him around a maniac. " Her inner thoughts snapped at her.

The stairs creaked when Caleb made his way down carefully.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah, yeah. What's up bugaboo?" She was quick to wipe away her tears, lifting her head.

"Did dad say mean things again?" Caleb asked quietly.

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about that."

"I love you, mom."

Victoria's eyes welled with tears again, using her sleeve to dab them away quickly.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, honey. You didn't say anything wrong at all."

"I don't like seeing you sad."

"Mommy's not sad. It's okay." Victoria pulled him into a hug.