38

3.4K 169 282
                                    

The sun rose an hour after Bill took over driving. All of the teenagers were still asleep, except for Bev and Ben, who stayed up to keep Bill company while Stan slept.

"I just don't think we can trust them, ya know?" Bev said, looking to the back of the van where Mike Wheeler laid with his group, next to Eddie and Richie.

"I d-don't know B-Bev. Max re-reminds me of y-you," Bill said, taking an exit as they passed through the open areas around New York City.

"She is nothing like me!" Bev snapped, glaring at the redhead girl who was asleep in the back.

Ben snickered, but immediately put his hands up in surrender when Bev shot him a deadly look.

"Can you please shut up? We're trying to sleep," Mike Hanlon said from the back seat, curled up in a tattered blanket.

"W-well you all sh-should start w-waking up. We're g-getting food," Bill said, stopping the van next to a 7-11.

"She lives at a 7-11?" Richie asked groggily, looking out the front of the van. His glasses were on his nose, hair stuck out at different angles.

Bill narrowed his eyes and opened the driver side door. "W-we haven't eaten i-in hours. I'm s-starving. W-want anything?" he asked, his jaw clenched.

Richie shook his head but climbed out of the van anyway. "Nah, but I'll help you carry the goods, my dear sir," he said in a British accent, earning an eye roll from Bill.

They walked into the 7-11, splitting up to grab something for everyone. Richie was in charge of candy, chips, and sugary drinks, whereas Bill went a separate way to find granola bars and water.

Richie went his own direction, filling up a basket with chocolates, sodas, and chips. He was debating over grabbing a two liter bottle of coke when someone ran into him, knocking him to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I-" Richie began to apologize, then he looked up to see who he ran into. His blood ran cold and the hair on the back of his neck stood up straight. "Mom?"

"Richie?" Maggie asked, standing above him, eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing here?!"

Richie stood up, brushing himself off. His shock faded to anger. "What the fuck do you mean? I still have to eat! Shouldn't you be passed out in a bar somewhere?" he hissed.

Maggie's eyes widened, shocked that her son was willing to stand up for himself. "How dare you speak to me that way?! Not that it's any of your concern, but I'm leaving New York to get away from your father and I decided to stop for food."

Richie rolled his eyes, ignoring how Maggie's  fist tightened. He knew she wouldn't hit him. Over his time of training, he had gotten stronger and now had visible muscles. She was too skinny and weak to want to fight him.

"Whatever. I need to ask you something," Richie said, picking his basket up from the ground, along with some of the items that had spilled from it.

"What do you want?" Maggie asked, grabbing a bottle of beer from the drink cooler next to them.

"Are you my biological mother?"

Maggie looked surprised for second before regaining her composure. "Of course I'm your biological mother. Who else would it be?"

Richie ignored her question, wanting his answer so he could leave. "Was I an only child?"

Maggie's face, for the first time in his life, seemed to soften. He could see regret in her eyes. In fact, Richie could see tears in her eyes. For the first time, Maggie looked like she had the eyes of a mother and not of a drunk.

"No, you weren't," she said, her voice cracking.

"I had a twin, didn't I?"

"How did you know?"

"I met him. Why were we kept apart? Why does he live states away with a real family and I was stuck with our broken one?!" Richie could feel his voice raising, and knew he was drawing looks from other people in the store.

"Your father didn't know there were two of you. I wanted to keep one of you safe, so I gave Michael to one of my friends from college. I knew she was moving away and she already had a child and a husband. She promised to keep it a secret that she wasn't his real mother. Your father, he would've lost it if I got rid of both of you."

"So you just gave him a good life? You didn't even try to give me one or protect me?"

Maggie turned red, looking at the bottle of beer in her hand. She used her empty and and gently placed it on his shoulder. "Richie, I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't kick you out because I hated you, I couldn't hate you. I made you leave so you could have a better life."

Richie grabbed her arm roughly, tears in his eyes and his throat tight. "Don't apologize to me. Don't fucking play the victim right now! You kept me and treated me like a mistake! You could have told me I had a brother and I would have left the same day to find him and maybe feel like I wasn't alone in the world! But no, you told me how much you hated me and you hurt me and you broke me before I knew what my life could be!"

Maggie gaped at him, tears streaming down her face. "I was hurt, too. You weren't the only one he hurt."

"Maybe not, but at least you didn't have two people attacking you." Richie walked toward the aisle Bill was in, knowing he may have heard the whole conversation.

Before he could, Maggie grabbed his arm. "Don't leave. I can change. I can be the mother you need. I'm sorry I didn't protect you, I was depressed and sick and didn't know how to cope. Come with me, and we can start over."

Richie couldn't believe his ears. His whole life, he had hoped his mother would say that. That she would change and they could be a family. Yet, he shook his head. "No. You had eighteen years to say that to me. I don't need you now.  I've found people that care about me that I love and have treated me better in two months than you have my whole life. I wish you the best, but I'm not going to stay with someone who hasn't even said they loved me. Goodbye, mom."

With that, Richie left to find Bill, ignoring Maggie's sobs and protests.

Breathe ⭐️ Reddie Where stories live. Discover now