Cinders

~5~ Confessing

I get done with my apology letters with literal minutes to spare, and I'm just praying that they're good. I had a ton to do, and towards the end I was rushing. Mom is over by the ambulance, working on her inventory. I go over to her and hand her the letters.

She's with Megan, talking about something I can't hear. They stop talking as soon as I come up; I'm sure it was about me.

"Here, mom," I say as I hand her the letters.

She gives me a hard look as she briefly glances them over.

"I hope for your sake they're good...I'll look them over in a bit. Come on."

We go over to where the majority of the men are. The Lieutenant is sitting next to the guy who walked us in, and he's gazing, still, at mom. This guy needs a hobby.

"Hey Keegan, can you help me?" Mom asks, getting the attention from the guy who walked us in. I was right—It was Keegan.

"What's up Freeman?" He asks, immediately turning to face her.

She bends down to his level, and puts her arm on his shoulder. "Do you have any jobs that a 15 year old boy would hate?"

"Jobs?" Keegan asks, confused.

"You know, chores that you've been putting off. I mean, I would make Liam do my work, but Megan and I are amazing, and all our work is done, like usual," she says, grinning. The Lieutenant, along with several other, men start chuckling.

"Ah!" He exclaims, understanding washing over him. "I sure as hell do! Whoops, sorry, I mean, I sure as heck do," he says, smiling sheepishly at me. "How much do you want him to do?"

The Lieutenant and another man chuckle again. "How many chores have you been neglecting, Keegan?" The Lieutenant asks, rolling his eyes.

"Lieutenant Preston, sir.... I always get all of my work done. I've just gotta help Freeman out, ya know?"

"Sure you do," another man scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Maybe after you get Liam started, you and I should have a chat."

"We could, Lieutenant Greene, but there's no need. I'm on top of it all!" Keegan says, still smiling. I don't know any of these men, but it's obvious they're all just kidding around. They actually seem like a pretty cool bunch'a old guys.

"What kinda work are you looking for him to do?" Keegan turns his attention to mom again.

She looks at me briefly and then looks back at Keegan. "The more disgusting, the better!"

Keegan's eyes light up. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!" He says, clapping his hands together and standing up. "Come on kid! We've got chores to do!"

I accidentally groan out loud and roll my eyes. Mom steps in front of me and puts her hand on my chest. "Excuse me?" She asks, daring me to have an attitude.

"I'm sorry," I say looking at Keegan.

"It's I'm sorry sir," she says, looking like she wants to use the paddle on me again.

I clear my throat and start again. "I'm sorry sir."

This is so embarrassing. I can see Lieutenants Greene and Preston smiling out of the corner of my eye. I think they find it amusing how tough mom sounds. You wouldn't think it by looking at her most of the time.

"No worries. Let's go, before that vein in her head explodes," he says, smiling gently at mom.

"Thanks Keeg," mom smiles.

He's already walking away when she says that, so he just puts his hand in the air, signaling 'you're welcome.'

I follow Keegan to the kitchen. "Ok, first, this grease trap hasn't been emptied in, well, in a long time. Come on, kid. I'll show ya how to do it."