Page 25 of The Transfer
“Hey, Momma. Everything okay?” I ask, knots forming in my stomach.
“Yes, sweet boy. All good here. Just wanted to check and make sure you were coming over for dinner tomorrow.” I instantly relax.He’s fine…for now.
“Yeah, of course. How is Dad feeling today?”
“Today is a good day. You focus on school and basketball. We got this under control over here.” Hearing her say that eases my guilt for not being there.
“Love you, Mom. Call me if you need me.”
“Love you, baby,” Mom says, and I end the call.
The following night,I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my parents as they roast me.
“Remember that awful middle school haircut you had?” We all start laughing until Dad’s turns into a coughing fit that he can’t stop. A rude reminder that his body is slowly failing him.
He shrugs it off. “I’m fine.”He’s not. I know that he is exhausted and in chronic pain from the disease and the medications he takes to try to prolong his life.
When the food is gone, I help clear the plates from the table. Mom grabs the rest, telling Dad to relax.
We sit in the living room not much later, and the inquisition I expected begins.
“How are you doing, baby boy?” My mom gives me a knowing gaze when she asks this. I need to be honest with her, so I am…mostly.
“I’m good, Mom. Just focusing on school and basketball. The usual.” She rolls her eyes at this, just a little bit.
“I’m glad, but you know there is more to life than basketball.” The words have been spoken many times, but instead of ignoring her or arguing, I pause for a moment to contemplate what she said.
“Son, what’s on your mind? I can hear you thinking from way over here.” My dad reminds me once again why he’s my best friend.
“Nothing. Just…” I don’t even finish the sentence before he speaks again.
“Who is she?” He has a smile on his face. My expression is frozen in shock, and my mom is squealing like it’s her greatest moment.
“H-How did you know it was about a girl?” I ask, genuinely stumped.
“Oh, Riggs. When you didn’t argue with your mom about basketball is life when she said it earlier, I knew it had to be woman problems.” Then he looks at me, ready and waiting to hear what I have to say.
“Her name is Reagan. Reagan Mills.” Dad’s eyes widen at that, and Mom just smiles.
“Everett’s daughter? Jordan’s sister? You sure you want to go down that road?” Dad is smart, and what he just said has been a question I’ve been asking myself for a while now.
“I have been trying to fight it. I pushed my feelings down. There’s too much going on to have a girlfriend. That’s always been my motto, you know?” I wait for a response.
“I know, Son. But if you’ve learned anything in the past year, it’s that time is never a guarantee.” Both he and Mom tear up at that, Mom placing her hand on his and squeezing.
“I think I may have lost my chance anyway,” I say the words out loud for the first time, realizing they scare me as much as my feelings for her do.
“What happened?” Mom pipes in. I’m sure she is eating this up.
“Drew Cole happened.” I say his name like it’s poison on my lips, and it feels like it is.
“Oh, he’s the handsome boy from Durham, right?” Mom says, and then closes her mouth, realizing she just said it out loud.
“Thanks, Mom.He is from Durham, yes. They went to high school together and have a complicated past. Whatever it was, he seems to have found a way to get a second chance with her, and I have no idea what to do or where I stand.”
“Have you told her how you feel?” Leave it to Dad to ask the obvious question. He’s the most direct person I know.
Mom swats at his arm. “Obviously not, Joel! If he had, she’d be with him.” I smile at that and the confidence my mom has in me.
