Page 4 of Forever Frenzy
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t know how to say what needed to be said in a way that wouldn’t break her. And breaking Mom was the last thing I’d ever want to do.
“Dad is sick,” I finally said.
She blinked twice. “How sick?”
I looked to the ceiling instead of answering, and she somehow knew.
“What is it?”
“Cancer. He’s got a growth in his brain that doesn’t belong there. It’s big.”
She stood upright and covered her mouth with a shaking hand. “How long does he have?” she asked, her voice breaking.
“I wish I could tell you.”
“He’s healthy, so I’m sure...” her voice faded away.
“He’s not healthy, Mom.” As she silently began to cry, I walked around and let her cry on me. “There’s something I need to ask you,” I said when she finally calmed down.
Her back stiffened. “What is it?”
“Actually, there’s a lot I need to tell you.” I raked my hand through my hair. Damn it. She was going to kill me.
“Spill it, Seth.”
“When I go to The Sand, I’m not always there alone.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve been taking someone with you?”
“No, someone meets me there.”
Her hand brushed an errant strand back into her bun. “Tage?” she asked quietly.
I nodded.
She turned her back to me, stoking the fire, more to busy her hands than anything. I watched the poker quiver, her nervousness leaking into the steel. “I thought you only saw him in dreams.”
“When he told me about The Sand, he met me there.”
“How old were you?” She gripped the poker like a weapon, strangling the handle of it.
“Ten.”
Her top teeth raked over the bottom ones. “And you thought I didn’t need to know?”
“It would only have upset you.”
She pursed her lips together. I was in trouble. I might be bigger than her, but she was meaner when she got mad.
“The reason I’m telling you now is because Dad isn’t healthy, and he isn’t going to get better; he’s only going to get worse. He doesn’t have long, Mom, but if he wants, he can stay in The Sand—like Tage does.”
“Oh, I’m sure Saul would love to spend an eternity with Tage.”
“It would be his alone. Tage couldn’t stay there if Saul chose to.”
“What would happen to Tage?”
“That’s up to you, he said.”
