Live in Color

thirty one - indigo

Jericho freezes as soon as he sees his mom standing in the living room.

I try to see what he's thinking- try to figure out exactly what could possibly be running through his mind right now, but his eyes are quick to hide the emotion- something I don't see too often from him- and his posture becomes guarded. Jericho swallows painfully, simply looking at his mom, which only seems to increase the heavy tension in the air.

Jude, all the while, doesn't seem to notice the uneasiness in the room, hopping around with a wagging tail and sniffing Emma's leg. Emma scrunches up her nose, moving away from Jude, which doesn't stop him. Sighing heavily, she gives up.

Just when I think that I'll have to be the one to break the awful silence, Jericho does it. "What're you doing here, mom?"

He says it with a clenched jaw and a monotonous tone, verging on the impression of being bored. I'm shocked how Jericho manages to keep himself so levelled- I know if I were in his situation, I wouldn't be sure whether to cry, laugh and punch her. Maybe I'd do all three. I have no doubt in my mind, though, that Jericho's cold and unaffected exterior is an act, and I'm sure that he's actually have serious internal turmoil.

Emma rolls her shoulders back, as if she's gathering up the courage, and says, "Your friend Noel called me. He said you wanted to talk to me."

"Noel's not my friend," Jericho snaps, anger finally seeping into his voice. "And I didn't."

"I'm aware," Emma says softly, as if she might set Jericho off by raising her voice anymore. "Your friend- soulmate, I mean, informed me." Her eyes quickly flicker to me before they fall back to Jericho. "You... um, you've grown up."

"Yeah, that's what happens in the span of seven years."

Emma winces as if she had been slapped in the face- just like she had done before when I was interrogating her. "I'm sorry, Jericho."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Will you at least let me explain? Jericho-"

"No."

Emma begins to get angry, something I didn't think she had in her. Before, she had just seemed quiet and feeble, but now she's getting riled up. "And why not?" Jericho doesn't answer. "Why not, Jericho?"

"Because you don't get to do that!" Jericho snaps. Forgetting about Emma, I go over to his side and take his hand- not making the affection overly obvious, but enough for Emma to see that Jericho isn't alone.

"Get to do what?"

"This! Cheat on dad, get pregnant with Jude, leave for seven years, call me asking how I am out of nowhere and no previous contact, and then show up here trying to explain it all to me. I don't need you to explain, I know everything."

"Jericho, I know that you think you know. And for the most part, you do. I made a horrible mistake- I have no excuse. But I missed you. I tired to contact you a couple of years ago but you had moved far away. I only found out about your dad a couple of days ago, Jericho, the day you called me. I'm so, so sorry."

Jericho's eyes soften. "You just found out?"

Emma nods, looking like she's about to cry before blinking rapidly. "I mean, I should have known. I could feel it. Suddenly, back in April when you were twelve, I had woken up in the middle of a nap gasping. I thought it was just a nightmare, but then I just started to feel so empty." She steps forward, and surprisingly, Jericho doesn't step back, "Jericho, why are you a rebel?"

"I'm... I'm not anymore."

"But you were before."

Jericho winces, beginning to look ashamed. I squeeze his hand. "Because I had thought... love wasn't real."