A Ballad for the Lost

twelve

I knocked on the door and mum opened it. "Finally! I was starting to worry!"

Leo popped out from behind the door frame. "Hello!"

I pushed Leo aside. Well...tried to. "No, you stay there."

"C'mon, I can't meet your mum?" He laughed.

"Who's your friend, love?" Mum asked.

"He's nobody."

"I'm Leo!" He exclaimed. "The lifeguard."

Mum laughed, looking at me and then back at him. I knew this look very well. "Well I bet you are." No! Mum! Don't! PLEASE! NO! "How about you come inside? I was just going to make supper, would you care to join us?"

And...she did it.

"I'd love to!"

Fantastic.

____________________________

"So, what do you do for a living?" Leo asked, in between bites.

"Well, I used to work at a local university as the Lead Assistant Coordinator of Athletic Communications for the Task Force on Athletic Climate, but now I'm the Deputy Provost for Academic Technology of the Subcommittee for Strategic Athletic Services."

Leo chuckled. "Wow, that's a mouthful."

Mum nodded and looked at me. "Enjoying your dinner, love?"

"Yes, it's great." I said.

"I agree, it's fantastic! If you weren't working at the university, I'd say you had potential to have become a chef."

Leo knew quite well which buttons to press. Mum was flattered, but then turned to me. "You seem down, what's wrong?" And then she noticed the bandage on my leg. "How did that happen?"

"Well...." I started. But of course, Leo interrupted.

"I was sitting in my lifeguard chair, staring at the waves when I saw splashing in the distance. She was drowning, so I brought her back to the shore and noticed she had a huge gash in her leg. I brought over my first-aid kit and patched her up."

Mum stared at me in shock. "You were drowning?"

I looked at the floor, afraid to meet her gaze. "I'm sorry."

Mum stood up. "No, love. Come here." And she brought me in her arms. I didn't care that it was right in the middle of dinner. I didn't care that Leo was standing right there. I needed my mum right now and nothing else mattered.

"Your love reminds me of my own mum," Leo sighed. "Her name was Angel, and it suited her well. She was the most beautiful woman had ever met, and it was hard for us all when her death had come."

Mum and I sat back down in our seats without a word. Memories of dad flooded my mind and an uncomfortable feeling washed over me.

And I suddenly missed Peter.