Check Yes, Juliet

Tristful

I had fallen asleep, even with the coffee in my system. I woke up to a slamming door. I opened my eyes quickly and saw Chris's chest under me. I felt his arm wrapped around me I could hear his heart beat. It quickened with the slam and his chest froze.

"Chris." I whispered.

"Hey. Um...I'll be right back ok?" He whispered and then he got up and left. He closed the door gently and I tried to listen as Chris's footsteps moved across the house.

"Mom?" He said.

"Morning Chris." A gruff voice said.

"How did work go?"

"They fired me."

There was a silence. I walked closer to the door, trying to hear better.

"We have to move." The voice said again.

"Fine...um...what about back to Chicago, no one will know that we even left." He sounded hopeful, and I was crossing my fingers in the hopes that she would say yes.

"We've already been there. Chris, you're giving me a headache, just go pack."

He came closer to the door and I ran back to the bed and tried to sit comfortably as he opened the door. He looked shocked and sort of sad but he smiled when he saw me. I sat up and motioned for him to come sit in front of me. He collapsed on my lap and rested his head there.

"I'm so tired." He moaned.

I stroked his hair and kissed his head. "It's ok, everything is going to be ok."

He looked up at me and shook his head. "I'm not leaving you again." He left me there, I was staring at the door, where his plaid had disappeared. "Mom." I hear him say. It was a demanding voice, pleading with her to listen. "I am moving back to Chicago." My eyes grew wide as I listened to the conversation. Him? Move? By himself?

"Oh yeah?" She said. I can imagine her putting her sagging yellow hands on her swollen hips.

"I have been trying to manage you to for too long. I am almost 18 and I am moving to Chicago, if you don't like it you can go somewhere else." He came back into the room and grabbed cardboard boxes from his closet.

"Do you really think-" The women walked in and I was shocked to see her. She sort of looked like the picture but she had definitely aged. Her hair was sticking to her face, it was thin and parts of it were turning white. Her skin was papery and yellow like Chris described it. She was unbearably thin; it seemed to me that every bone and joint she had was sticking out. She was tall,  just like Chris but she looked nothing like him, it was just the chin that seemed the same. She looked at me, her green eyes staring at me with an intensity that scared me. She pointed her bony finger at me. "So this is why you want to move back to Chicago? For some girl who probably has diseases and will break your heart?"

I sat there quietly. This was not how I imagined meeting her. I imagined someone nice and a woman who would welcome me in and give me cookies and ask about my childhood. That day dream ended the moment she walked in here and accused me of things. I played with the hem of the plaid, trying to calm myself down. I was scared of this frail lady. What if she tried to hit me? I wasn't going to hit her back.

Chris stood there shocked. "She won't hurt me. The only one who has the done the damage here is you!"

"You've gotten her pregnant haven't you." She said to him. She turned to me. "You little-"

"Mother!" He screamed.

She stopped and turned to him. He obviously had never spoken to her like this before by the look on her face. She crossed her arms and gave him a death glare. He was fuming; I found it kind of hot, the way he stood up for me.