Bates

19

   That year had been almost perfect for Norma's little family.

   "Norman--Norman!"

   Alex woke with a start, blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes. He looked over at Norma, who was shifting around beside him, clearly dreaming.

   "Norma...Norma, wake up!"

   Norma's eyes opened. Her breathing slowed. Her arms relaxed. "Alex...please tell me he's okay," he could see by her glistening blue eyes that she was holding back a torrent of tears.

   He wrapped his arms around her ever so gently. "He's fine, Norma. He's across the hall, asleep."

   "I have to go check on him," she moaned, throwing off the sheets.

   He watched her go without complaint, although his eyes wandered to her scarred foot.

   He had wished it to be the only harm that would've come from such a situation, yet he knew it would never be that simple.

   This was their routine nearly every other night. Norma would wake up in a fit, insisting that she go check on her sixteen-year-old son. Although her body had seemed to adjust to the accident, her mind was ever slower and constantly convinced her that he was dead.

   He decided to follow her.

   Alex found her in the exact same place as always: standing at the threshold of Norman's door with a warm, satisfied smile.

   She stood that way for at least a minute before her hand went to her mouth.

   Norma swerved past him, running into the bathroom and vomiting the contents of her stomach.

   He came in behind her, speaking in a soft tone. "Is there something you're not telling me?" he asked, teasing with a bit of a smile on his face. He wasn't even sure what made him entertain the idea.

   She lifted her head, glaring daggers at him. "No. That shop is closed, Mister. There is nothing brewing in here," she said, gripping the toilet as she spoke.

   "You sure about that?"

   "Alex."

   "Sorry."

   Norma gave him a forceful hug. "Must just be a bug going around," she said, pulling away from him.

   "Yeah. I suppose so," he agreed, before sweeping her off her feet. For the first time in a long time, he heard her laugh. It was a pure laugh, a real laugh. And he laughed, too.

   He took her to bed. Laid her down, and replayed that beautiful, contagious laugh in his mind. He'd swore he'd never heard anything like it. Maybe, just maybe, they could be happy. Her sons could be happy again. Maybe, it could be perfect.

   ~                                                                                                                                                                                               ~

   She froze, watching the scene play before her again. The spray of bullets. The expression on Keith's face as Alex loaded him into his vehicle. Alex's own stony expression as he arrested Summers.

   She glanced down at her own bloodied hands, feeling her stomach twist. Why didn't Alex arrest her, instead?

   ~                                                                                                                                                                                               ~

   Norma was still vomiting.

   "Hey, Hon, you--" Alex stopped short of the bathroom door. He glared at his watch. She'd been like this since midnight. "Norma, you can't keep going on like this. I think...I think we need to get you to a doctor." He watched as he wiped the vomit from her lips.

   "Okay."

   Dylan declined a ride to work. Norman caught a ride with them to school. He glared at his mother through the rear-view mirror, yet neither of them noticed.

   "What's all this?" Norma had remarked, upon seeing yellow and orange signs so close to the motel.

   Alex sighed. "The bypass."

   Norma's eyes widened. "I thought-- I thought they cancelled it..."

   "It's coming. Probably going to slow down the business," he mumbled under his breath.

   He snuck a glance at her. Although they had been laughing the night before, there was no more laughter in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, placing his hand in her lap as he drove.

   She took it. Tears began to fall from her porcelain cheeks.

   He swore silently at himself, knowing that he shouldn't have said anything, although he knew she'd see it eventually. "I don't want you to worry. I want you to feel safe, and to feel loved, and to be able to take care of your boys..." he trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

   His wife sat in silent contemplation for a moment, then turned to him with her poor, puffy-red eyes and trembling lips. She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and gulped. A faint smile spread from one cheek to the other. "I've always felt safer with you around," she told him, echoing the words she used before he first asked her to stay with him. She gave a little chuckle. "I love you. I do. And the boys...you've been more to them than I could ever be. I'm sorry if I made you feel otherwise."

   In that moment, she so wished that she could lay her head on his chest. He smiled. "You know, it wouldn't be so bad, would it? To get out of this rotten, dirty little town? I know you love that motel, and the kids have friends here, but wouldn't it just be good...to start over?"

   "Uh...Alex...do you see that?"

   There, in the center of White Pine Bay, was a body hanging, set alight and blazing where everyone could see.

   Alex parked the car. There were fifty people or so surrounding the scene, yet somehow, nobody had called it in.

   "You stay here," he told Norma. "Whatever you do, don't get out of the car. I'll be right back."

   ~                                                                                                                                                                                              ~

   Dylan sat in a lawn chair overlooking the field of marijuana that stood before him.

   It was becoming ever tempting to smoke a joint, yet everytime the thought crossed his mind, he remembered Gunner and was disgusted.

   He was a good kid, but boy was that stuff starting to rot his brain.

   The more he was around it, the more he started to despise the job, but it paid too well to quit now. And it was worth it, if he was ever going to get that house.

   It wasn't like he hated staying with Norma and Alex. However, given his influences in the past few years, he was starting to observe his mother's ever-growing issues.

   She denied them, of course. Always had.

   The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't figure out his mother. He knew she couldn't help the way she was, yet it was frustrating to watch her drive herself to the brim and then lash out at others when things didn't go her way. Heck, she'd even given Alex a run for his money a few times.

   The young man stood, calling out to one of his partners. He had another job to attend to. One that didn't quite involve that intoxicating, green plant that was ever so tempting.