Renaissance of The Dog Days

Jeremiah Part III

"So how did you sleep?" Mom asked as we ate breakfast at the Hawthorne's Waffle-house. She had some Mexican skillet while I had good old-fashioned chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream, syrup, rainbow sprinkles, and bacon on the side. Hit the jackpot. I didn't plan on reliving my nine-year-old self days and yet here we are.

"It was fine." I told her.

"Well that's great," she said with a warm tone. "You know I was so worried after hearing what happened."

"Yeah..." I chowed down on the rest of my pancakes before sipping some orange juice at a... slower rate. Personally, I've got no issue talking to my mom. Then again, she's my mom. She birthed me, raised me by herself, plus she knows things people don't and things people should never know. She always wanted the best for me and to tell her about all the shit that went down in detail wasn't for me. I couldn't do this to her and frankly, I couldn't even describe my feelings let alone how everything fell apart on one night.

I finished drinking my orange juice and held it up for the waitress. After she left, Mom nodded and chuckled.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Oh, I just remember when you were ten and you really wanted Uncle Zeke's corkscrew. When we gave it to you, the look on your face said it all."

"I remember that." I laughed while remembering the time. "I thought it was nasty at first. Then I couldn't stop licking my lips. I wanted more."

"And we would've given you more of that if you weren't a child."

"That's totally fine," I said with a smile.

Both of us laughed a bit until the waitress brought my drink back and once again we had hit another awkward point. Both of us knew we had to talk about the elephant in the room sooner or later, though neither of us could do it.

Eventually Mom did put her fork down and pulled out her purse. In the mean time she told me, "Well just keep in mind it's not your fault that all of this happened."

"Mom, I-uh..."

"Things like this just happen."

"Actually, it's more complicated than that." I informed her with little success.

"When I was your age, I found myself in similar situations and I managed to survive just fine. I'm sure you can–"

"Mom." My firm tone brought her to look me straight in the eyes. I took a drink of my orange juice and calmly put it down and let out a sigh. "Are you mad at me?"

"Mad?" Her eyebrows raised at hearing the word. "Why would I be mad?"

"If you haven't heard already, I got really wasted that night."

"Haven't we all at some point?"

"Except that I'm not legally allowed–"

"Okay, that's a problem but hey, everyone makes mistakes." Mom tried hard with that smile she forced on her face.

"I fought with David." I solemnly revealed.

"Like physically or–"

"Verbally, but it might as well have been physical since we..." I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "Oh, we were awful to each other."

"No death wishes right?"

"Of course not, but we did say things we never should've said."

"Oh honey..." Mom's voice softened as she touched my arm only for me to pull away.