Growing Pains ✔

Chapter 6

When Jamie got home on Sunday morning his mom was alone with Julia. They seemed to be playing some sort of game but Jamie could see by the way Julia had her lips pursed that she was about two steps away from a tantrum. His mom's fraught expression suggested she was bracing herself for the onslaught.

'Hi mom,' he said throwing his bag onto a chair in the living room. Charlotte looked up smiling but when she caught sight of the bag her smile faded ever so slightly. Jamie knew she hated anything being out of its place.

'How was the party?' she asked keeping her voice light.

'Ok, kinda boring.' Boring would be good in his mom's eyes.

'This game's boring,' Julia whined, and Charlotte sighed. Jamie could see she was undecided about which of them to give her attention to. Obviously, she wanted to know more about the party but Julia was incessant with her demands.

'Where's Lou and Andy?' Jamie asked while she was distracted.

'They've gone to watch a soccer match, I guess it gets them out of the house.'

Jamie couldn't tell if that bothered Charlotte or not. He assumed his mom and Lou were happy, he rarely heard them argue, and never over anything serious, but who knew?

'If you'd been home earlier you could have gone with them,' she said and Jamie felt her tone was ever so slightly accusatory.

He shrugged. 'I don't like soccer that much, and I bet Andy was glad to get his dad to himself for a change.'

Charlotte turned her eyes on him frowning. 'Louis gives you all equal attention.' Jamie couldn't miss the edge to her voice, she was always so defensive. They all knew that Julia monopolised her parents, partly because she was the youngest, and partly because she was Charlotte's longed for daughter.

He bit his tongue and changed the subject. 'Are we going to Grandma's today?' They usually went to his Grandma Harper's house for dinner every other Sunday. He saw a shadow flit across his mom's face.

'Not today, maybe next week.' She paused. 'Actually, your father called last night, I said you'd call him back.' 

'What did he want?' He couldn't help but grumble, his dad rarely seemed to bother these days, saying he was snowed under marking essays, exam papers and planning lectures. Jamie guessed it could be true; his dad was a university professor and he'd had a promotion a few years back which had coincided with his lack of availability.

His mom glanced at him impatiently. 'If you call your father you can ask him yourself, I'm not your social secretary.'

Jamie couldn't help being hurt by her snippy tone. 'It's okay mom, I know you hate him, you don't have to pretend to me.'

Julia's eyes widened. 'Mommy doesn't hate daddy,' she said biting her lip.

Charlotte shot Jamie an irritated look. 'Jamie doesn't mean your daddy sweetheart.'

'No Lou's great, my dad's an asshole,' Jamie snapped and he met his mom's eyes, challenging her.

'Jamie if you're going to be obnoxious every time you have a sleepover then this will be the last time!'

Jamie inwardly groaned. 'Fine mom, do I look like I care.'

Her lips tightened. 'Could you take your bag to your room? I don't want to see it left on that chair all day.'

Jamie could tell he was being dismissed and got to his feet silently. Fine, if his mom didn't want him around he'd go to his room, her company wasn't so great either.

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Jamie dumped his bag on his bedroom floor and threw himself on the bed. Downstairs he could hear Julia's raised voice as she ranted that the game was unfair, and she hated it and was never playing again. He guessed she'd lost.

He looked around his room for something to do and decided to put a record on. Holding the LP in his hand he suddenly stopped; he'd left his door open so he'd better close it before Charlotte complained about the noise. As he was about to do so he found himself staring at his mom's bedroom door. Last night's conversation with Laura came flooding back, or rather he remembered what he hadn't told her, about his mom's diaries.

He paused looking at the closed door. He never went in there, the room was strictly off limits, only Julia occasionally went in when she'd had a nightmare. But inside the room were Charlotte's diaries, if she still kept them that is. He stood frozen. Turning his ear downstairs he could hear his mom talking to Julia, no doubt she'd be occupied for a while. He told himself it was now or never, when else was the house almost empty?

He quickly turned the handle on the bedroom door, cringing as the hinges squeaked. He closed the door behind him then realized that was dumb, if his mom came upstairs she'd soon find him anyway. He glanced around the room, it was immaculate. His mom was a neat freak, and Louis wasn't much better but that made his task easier. He went to the set of drawers where he'd found the diaries all those years ago. His mom was a creature of habit, if she still had them the chances were they'd be in the same place. He pulled the bottom drawer open and sure enough, under a collection of paperwork, were a number of notebooks. Flicking one open he recognised his mom's curly handwriting.

He held it in his hand for a moment, his eyes on the other books as he wondered which one he should take. If he took them all Charlotte might notice they were missing if she looked in the drawer. However, if he just took one....but which one?

He needed a diary from when she was still married to his father, that would most likely give him the answers he was looking for. He glanced at the one in his hands looking for a date, the first entry was made sometime in 1971 so that would be too late. He needed a diary from before 1968 when they divorced. Inevitably his hand found the diary he'd looked in all those years ago. He didn't want to read the words again but he held onto it telling himself the early years of his parents marriage might be the most illuminating. Having made the decision, he tucked the diary under his arm, carefully closed the drawer, and departed to the safety of his own bedroom.

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