Page 42 of Brandishing Betrayals
“Yeah, Mom’s been seeing one for a while now. She says she gets sad sometimes or overwhelmed and that it helps to talk to someone.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering what that was all about. I shared a look with Jason while Nico kept the conversation going with Luke. “Yeah, that sounds helpful. Does your mom get sad a lot?”
Luke’s shoulders dropped and he looked away from Nico to stare out the window. “Yeah,” he nodded slowly. “She gets really scared sometimes. Usually after she finds flowers on her car. I think someone leaves them for her. She gets really freaked out and then I usually hear her crying her room later. She doesn’t want me to know she’s upset, but then she’s sad for days after.”
My whole body tensed. “When was the last time this happened?” I tried to keep my voice even and not spook my son, but my blood pressure was rising quickly.
“I dunno, a couple weeks ago maybe? The day we picked up my football equipment, there was a bouquet of yellow flowers on the car when we got back to it. Mom seemed really scared. She doesn’t seem happy that we moved here…” Luke’s voice trailed off. He dropped his gaze to his hands and sighed. “I think she was happier in Chicago.”
“Did the flowers ever happen in Chicago?” Nico asked, setting a hand on Luke’s shoulder.
“No, I don’t think so. Not that I know of anyways. Like I said, Mom seemed happier there.”
I swallowed thickly, my warning bells ringing in my head—something wasn’t right with this picture. I shared a look with Nico then turned to Jason.
Jason was staring at Luke with narrowed eyes, his head tilted slightly, like he was trying figure out a puzzle.
“It’s possible your mom was happier in Chicago,” Nico hedged. “There’s a lot going on here. Your grandparents’ accident was hard on your mom, and she’s still dealing with that.”
“Grandma isn’t very nice to her either.” Luke spoke softly glancing around to make sure that Elaine wasn’t around. “And I know mom worries about money. I was honestly surprised she was able to pay for my football. I know it was really expensive.”
I had to grind my molars not to react to that. Maya hadn’t said a word to me about money trouble. She hadn’t said a word to me about a lot it seemed.
“What’s child support?” Luke asked, turning to look at me.
I had to take a moment to gather my thoughts, but Nico beat him to it. “It’s when one parent pays money to help the other parent take care of their child.”
“Oh.” Luke doesn’t look at me, but I can see the wheels turning in his head.
“Usually, child support is set up through the courts, meaning a judge tells which parent is allowed to raise the child and the other pays to support that. Your mom and I never set that up, because she’s done such an amazing job raising you.”
“And you didn’t know about me,” Luke deadpanned.
I nodded immediately. “And I didn’t know about you. I also didn’t know your mom was struggling. But that won’t happen anymore, ok? You don’t worry about it; those are grown up problems. I’ll talk to your mom and we’ll figure it out.”
Luke nodded solemnly.
“What else did you guys do this weekend? Anything fun?” Jason asked, changing the subject.
“Aunt Jenna took us to play laser tag while mom was at therapy! It was awesome! I totally killed my cousin Chase.”
Nico, Jason, and I all laughed at his enthusiasm. I faintly heard the click of a door opening down the hall, signaling that Maya was done with her shower. “Come on, let’s get food.”
Nico
Isatdownheavilyinthe chair at Skin of a Different Breed. Slade’s booth with covered in artwork, all done by her, showing off her magnificent skill. “Hey Nic,” Slade greeted as she walked out of the backroom.
“Hey Slade,” I replied, but didn’t glance at her, as a multi-colored massive flower piece was in the middle of display, a piece I was very familiar with. “This Maya?” I asked.
Slade slid across the floor on a rolling stool and looked where I was pointing. “Yep,” she answered.
My eyes were drawn to the right, where there was another picture—this one was of Maya’s back—I could still see the large floral piece down her side, but this one was showing her back, and the massive angel wings tatted there in extraordinary detail. “Holy shit,” I murmured, sticking my face closer to the picture. There were words tatted into the wings: redemption, remorse, resilience, strength, breathe.
“You haven’t seen that?” Slade asked, startling my gaze away from the picture.
“No.” I shook my head. “When did you do this?”
Slade looked up from the instruments she was unpackaging from their sterile packs and squinted at the picture. “About five years ago, maybe? The date should be in the corner.”
