To Love Him | ✔

006

Sammy Walcott

"Oh Sammy, you won't believe what happened today." Mum said pushing my hoodie off the bed so she could sit.

I'm starting to regret why I told her to come in. Nobody enters my room, or at least nobody has in a long time. It was my heaven, Sammy's lonesome. And it was messy.

I teared my eyes away from the brief lying carelessly on the floor. Have I worn that? "Yeah? What happened?"

Mum laughed tucking a loose grey hair behind her ear. Seeing her laugh made me smile. My mum is the kind of woman who laughed at everything. She's one of the annoying humans who touch you went talking, laughing their asses off, who work around with a smile even when a storm cloud was right above them. There is always a reason to laugh, she'd say. Well, she was.

"Nothing much or serious, just you really won't believe who I bumped into this morning," she paused dramatically, continuing when I raised a brow. "Mona Gracia!"

I frowned repeating the name as mum laughed some more. "Mona Gracia?"

"Yep the one and only and she's our neighbor, again. Can you believe that? I call this fate, Sammy, fate."

"Again?" I asked still confused.

"Yeah remember she was our neighbor six or seven years ago, before she reconciled with her husband and moved away going to join him in some far away country. Oh Mona," Mum sighed a fond smile on her lips, "I didn't realize how much I missed her until today and you, she asked about you, remember you were so close to her son. The beautiful boy with the olden name. Elisha, I think."

And that's when all the rambling started to make sense.

"Its Elijah."

She clapped her hands together, "Yes, Elijah."

I got off my bed, walking to the window and looking out to the neighbors house. Yea, the man I saw this morning, that must have been Elijah's dad, Mr Gracia. Elijah's my neighbor. "They are our neighbors?"

"Yes. Mona said Elijah enrolled to school here. I don't know if it's your school though." Mum said walking around the room and picking things off the floor.

"It is." I answered her, eyes still set on the building.

Jeez, how amusing.

Years ago, Mona Gracia and Elijah were our neighbors, in the very same house as right now. Mona and my mum were good friends, always baking and talking together. Elijah and I too were best friends, really good friends. We would switch houses and sleep over at each others houses. Eat, bath and do everything together.

I think Elijah and I bonded more because of the fact that we were both fatherless. His father and his mom had a huge argument and got separated. After the separation, Mona found out that she was pregnant but didn't return to him and started a family on her own. Someone years later and after lots of talking, Mona reconciled with him and after twelve years of being alone, they finally returned, taking my best friend away.

Funny how now we both had fathers but I know that he was more lucky than me. Much more lucky.

"Sammy?" My mum called distracting my thoughts as I looked away from the window turning to her. She offered me a small smile and raised a pan of cookies. "Mona brought them over."

I smiled taking one and biting off it. "Thanks mum."

"I also invited them over for dinner." Mum added.

"You what?" I asked eye wide, "when?"

"I don't know, I'll have to ask permi- I'll have to ask your father first." Mum said reaching up to fix her hair, her universal sign for when she's nervous.

"That is not my father." I said slowly, fisting my palm. "Don't you ever say that again."

"I'm sorry." She muttered.

I sighed, I hate seeing her like this. I walked to her, placing my hand on her shoulder. "You shouldn't have invited them mum."

She sighed, looking like she's seconds away from crying. "But that's what neighbors do and she wanted to taste my cooking."

I smiled wiping the tear that managed to fall off. "I do love your cooking."

That made her smile and hug me. I patted her head down. "It'll be fine, Dennis will let us host a dinner."

We untangled and she wiped tears off her cheeks. "Eat the cookies, eat them all, you're so thin, just muscle everywhere." She chuckled, "and please try to keep this room tidy."

She left and I wiped my own tear away. Looking around my room, I was not surprised that it was neater. I reached for more cookies. My mom really wants this and she'll get it.

She'll get it, no matter what.

--*--*--

"No! No way Melissa, you're not bringing people into my home!"

Your home? Your home?

"Please Dennis-- Darling please, she's my friend from years ago. Just one dinner." Mum pleaded and from her voice I knew she was crying.

My head ached. My fingers already hurt from slamming them on things and I think a finger is broken.

"I don't care. You can go wherever but nobody comes in. Nobody." Dennis said, his voice sounding really dreadful.

"Please!"

"I said no!" He shouted and I heard something break down. I got up my bed in alarm, my body shaking in anger, fear and many other emotions.

I reached for my wooden save and pryed it open, I fisted out some money and closed the save back, putting it away in a safe place. Then I ran out, I halted when I saw Dennis by the hallway, walking to his room.

"Dennis."

He stopped and turned to me, "Go away Sammy, I don't feel like wasting more calories today."

"I've got a 30 with me. Let my mum through her dinner." I said walking closer.

His lips turned up in a smirk. "A thirty eh, and where the hell did you get that?"

"A friend owed my a favour." I lied freely.

He snatched the money out of my hands, "Until midnight."

"10 more and you leave the house. Until midnight." I told him wiping out more money.

He chuckled drily, "You're getting wise eh? I could just beat the money out of you."

I shrugged, "I could just tear it and you'll get nothing but my blood on you."

He glared but collected the money nonetheless. "Fine. Try to get more of this for me and we'll continue to live happily, like the perfect family."

I glared when he pat my shoulder and watched him leave. Going downstairs, I saw mum picking up the broken pieces of the wooden chair. I gritted my teeth as I imagined him carrying the chair up, deciding whether or not to hit her with it and finally slamming it down.

"I got this mum, you should start cooking." I said kneeling beside her and collecting a wooden piece from her hand. She turned to me, eyes red and puffy from crying.

"What?"

I wiped her tears. "Go do your magic mum, Dennis is gone. We can invite them over."

More tears escape, each an acid to my heart. "What did you do honey?"

"Nothing that should concern you. Stop crying, you don't want to look ugly to our visitors."

She hugged and kissed me. "Thank you Sammy, I'm so sorry."

"Go much it soon be seven." I nudged.

"Yes, I should." I watched her get up and enter the kitchen excitedly.

The moment she was in, my smile dropped and a tear of anger rolled down.

As usual, I wipe her tears and I wipe mine.

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