Page 33 of Summer of the Boy

“Mom, you don’t get a say. I’ll talk to you at home.” He hangs up on her.

Taking control of his life? That’s one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. “Holy shit, Rid. You standing up to your mom was so hot and we can’t do a thing about it because my folks are almost home.”

“Six weeks,” he reminds me and pecks my cheek even as he pushes up from the bed to dress. “Six weeks, we’ll be home free.”

“I can’t wait to wake up next to you babe.”

My words might not be what most people choose to end the kind of conversation we just had with, but for us, it’s the best thing I could’ve said. Not that I don’t have a litany of things to say about his mother. I’ll be the bigger man and keep them to myself for now.

For now my only job is to reassure him that I’m all in. The new life he craves is only a few weeks off and we’ll tackle whatever challenges come along together. He never has to be lonely again.

After we make the bed, I carry the plates and water bottles while he takes charge of the empty pizza box and we head downstairs to throw the trash away. I wash up in the bathroom, then head into the family room to wait for Ridley taking his turn. We’re fully dressed and totally engrossed in a game of MLB on the PlayStation when we hear the family walk in.

“Hey Mom, Dad,” I call from my spot on the floor with my back resting against the sofa. Rid next to me. We moved the coffee table so we have room to sit with bent knees. Arms resting against our bent knees with controllers in hand. Nothing about the scene suggests that fifteen minutes before we’d been naked in each other’s arms after haven gotten one another off not long before that.

“Hey sweetheart.” Mom walks into the family room. “Everything good?”

I look at her and smile. “Yeah, everything’s great.”

She lets it go. There’s this special something that passes between us. I’m not sure what to label it as, but I just know, especially seeing and dealing with Ms. McAllister, how damn lucky I am to have her for my mom.

“Hi, Ridley. Good to see you again. I hope it’ll be more often,” she offers.

“Hello Mrs. Fraser. It’s good to be here. I’m sorry I’ve been absent. My mom…she’s well…”

Mom holds up her hand to stop him right there. “I get it. Leif has explained everything. And we’re all adults here, so it’s Cassie, Ridley. You can call me Cassie.” Then she squats down so she’s face to face with Rid. “If you need me to talk to your mom, I’d be happy to. It’s what I do.” Then she reaches out, squeezes his shoulder briefly and stands to walk back out to wherever she’s going in the house.

Only I would recognize the smile still playing across his lips is because she told him we’re all adults here. His mother treats him like a child, my mother tells him we’re all adults. The one thing Ridley craves. Well, the one thing besides me, that is.

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