Stuck in the Middle

Chapter 38

It took a week for me to work up the courage to finally call Esmeralda. Between school and dealing with all my emotions - with my father being dead and John admitted being in love with me - it had kind of been a hectic week.

But when Marc and John went to their last football practice of the year, I had the time to myself to get my thoughts together enough. I needed to talk to Esmeralda. I couldn't put it off for any longer.

"Hola, mijo," she answered cheerfully, after just two rings. "I'm so glad you called. How's school? How's John and Marc? Those are their names, no? I didn't get them wrong?"

I couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, that's them. And they're good. Everyting is fine, I guess." I took a deep breath. "But I didn't really call to talk about me. Mom fired you?"

She sighed deeply. "Spencer, listen. What happened is not your fault."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, grabbing Marc's pillow and hugging it close to my chest. "So it was because you brought me back to school?"

"Yes, but that was my choice, not yours." She hesitated for a second before adding, "Do you regret leaving that day, even though your father..." She didn't finish her question, but she didn't have to. We both knew what she meant.

"No," I said honestly. "I'm glad you drove me back, but if it cost you your job, then that's not fair."

She didn't say anything for a long moment. I wished we weren't speaking over the phone so that I could actually see her expression. It was hard to know what she was thinking when I couldn't see her face.

Eventually, she did speak. "Spencer, the only good thing about working for your parents was you. I have loved you like my own son from the moment I started taking care of you. But you're all grown now. You don't need your ol' nanny anymore."

I clutched the pillow tighter. Maybe I didn't need her, but she had always been there. I wasn't ready to not have her anymore.

She kept talking before I could come up with a response. "Mijo, don't get upset. I'll always be there for you. You have my number, no? Call whenever you need to. I'll answer."

I laughed lightly, feeling myself relax. "Thanks."

"Of course, mijo. Now tell me about you. How are you doing? With you father? You do know, right?"

I leaned back with a sigh, fully lying down in Marc's bed. "Not the details, but yeah. Mom called me Saturday morning."

Esmeralda muttered something in Spanish under her breath before letting out her own sigh. "Did you go to the funeral?" she asked quietly, in English.

"No."

"Was it your choice?"

"Yes."

"Then good for you."

I smiled. No matter what, she was always on my side, espeically when it was against my parents. I don't think I really realized that until this year but, looking back, it's what she's always done for me. It was one of the things I loved her for.

I wasn't sure how long we kept talking after that. Long enough for me to completely relax and forget why I was so nervous to call her in the first place. I found out that she was able to get a new job working as a maid in a hotel. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to do, but she said it was a better, more consistent schedule than what my mother had her doing.

Despite not having her at my house any time I went back there from now on, I was glad she was finally in a place where she was happy. It definitely helped that she wasn't going to leave me behind. I wanted to ask her if I could spend the holiday breaks at her place, but I didn't have the courage to do that, at least not right now.

There was a rapid knocking on my door, making me completely lose track of what I was saying. I hoped it would stop, so I tried focusing on what we had been talking about.

"Spencer, holy crap! Open the door!"

TJ. And, clearly, something was very wrong.

"Uh, I have to go," I said to Esmeralda. "I'm sorry. Something just came up."

"That's okay, mijo. Talk to you soon, okay?"

I quickly said goodbye and hung up to see multiple texts and a few missed calls from TJ. Without reading any of the texts, I scrambled off Marc's bed and pulled open the door.

TJ was standing there, his face red, like he had run all the way up here. "Finally!" he shouted. "What the hell were you doing?"

"Sorry, I was on the phone. Are you okay?"

He shook his head, taking a deep breath to steady his breathing. "I'm fine. Your boyfriends? Maybe not."

I was speechless. I didn't know what happened, but I was running through the worst case scenarios in my head, all at once. They got into a major fight with each other at their practice. Someone ran them over in the parking lot. They accidentally fell into a sewage pipe.

"Come on!" TJ urged, snapping me out of my thoughts. "We gotta go!"

I managed to slip on my sneakers and grab my keys before TJ pulled me out of my room and down the hall. By the time we got outside, he still hadn't told me anything about what had happened, and I was starting to get seriously worried.

But what I saw when we got to the scene was something not even my overactive imagination could have come up with. Marc and John were being held back by two teachers, but they weren't going after each other. Instead, they were both glaring at my mother, who stood off to the side and looked to be on the verge of tears as another teacher comforted her.