A MOTHER'S LOVE
Spoiler: Rachel Starsky is forced to send her thirteen-year-old son away from home.
CHAPTER 1
Rachel Starsky quietly opened the door to the darkened room where her youngest son lay sleeping and stepped inside. Seven-year-old Nicky was lying sprawled out across the bed, sleeping peacefully, worn out from a day of play. Rachel smiled faintly as she picked up the blanket that he had kicked to floor and gently placed it back up over the sleeping child.
Sighing, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her. She walked down the hallway to the stairs and went down to the first floor. She entered the tiny living room and sat down on the worn sofa. Now she would wait. Wait for her oldest child, her thirteen-year-old son, David, to come home. She glanced anxiously at the clock on the wall above the mantel. It was almost midnight. Two hours past his ten o'clock curfew. David was getting more rebellious, out of control with each day that passed, and Rachel didn't know how to reach him anymore. He was shutting her out of his world. And it hurt. It hurt so much.
It was almost one A.M. before Rachel finally heard the kitchen door softly click open, followed by quiet footsteps on the linoleum floor. She glanced towards the archway between the two rooms just as David stepped out of the kitchen. He stopped and stood still, his sapphire eyes widening with surprise when he saw his mother sitting on the sofa. He hadn't been expecting her to be waiting up for him. Rachel felt a pang of sorrow when she saw David's eyes darken with suspicion and mistrust.
"Where have you been?" Rachel asked trying to keep the anger out of her voice but her tone still conveyed her worry and her anxiety.
"Out with my friends." David answered sullenly, a defiant tone slipping into his voice, determined to slip by his mother and to the security of his room.
"It's almost one o'clock in the morning. You were supposed to be home by ten." His mother reminded him.
"I'm home now. So what's the big deal?"
"David, you know the rules. You can't just do what you want." Rachel said trying to sound reasonable. "You're only thirteen years old."
"What are you gonna do about it?" David asked with a smirk, assuming a cocky stance with his hands resting on his hips. "Ground me?" Rachel sighed. She already knew that wouldn't work. He'd only sneak out of the house the first chance he got. He'd done it before. She visibly flinched at her son's next words and the venom in his voice "Just leave me the hell alone! Hanging out with my friends is better than hanging out around here!" Glaring at Rachel defiantly, he stomped past her and up the stairs. A moment later, she heard his bedroom door slam shut.
Rachel felt the sting of tears burning her eyes. David had always been so polite and respectful, such a well-behaved child. That was before his father's death had shattered his world. Rachel's thoughts drifted back to that day just over a year ago that had changed all of their lives forever.
Micheal David Starsky had been the love of her life. They had gotten married when she was eighteen. She had known from the beginning that he planned to be a cop. It was the only thing he had ever wanted to do. He had loved his family and he was crazy about his two sons, his namesake, David Micheal and his youngest, Nicholas Marvin. David looked so much like his father that it was almost uncanny at times to see them together. They both had the same olive skin tone, dark brown curly hair, and beautiful sapphire blue eyes with thick dark lashes.
Every evening, David would stand at the back door, watching and waiting for his father to get home from work. They were so close. His father was David's hero and he wanted to be just like him when he grew up. He was already talking about following in his father's footsteps and becoming a cop too. He could spend hours just sitting and listening to his father tell stories about his day.
That night had been just like any other night. There was no warning to prepare them for the events that were about to destroy their lives and leave them picking the pieces. Rachel was cooking supper when she heard her husband's car pull into the driveway. The back door slammed shut as David ran outside to greet his father. And then she heard the gunshots. Four loud explosions of sound that shattered the peaceful quiet of the early evening. Dropping the pan she was holding in her hands, she barely noticed the boiling water that splashed against her legs as the pan hit the floor.
She ran to the back door and burst outside. In front of her was a sight that would haunt her until the day she died and forced her to her knees in grief. Her husband was lying on his back in the driveway, his life's blood seeping out into the gravel beneath him. And her twelve-year-old son was kneeling beside him, cradling his dying father's head in his lap. Rachel didn't remember screaming, or the neighbors that came running from all directions, attracted by the sounds of the gunfire. What she did remember the most about that night was the sound of her son's screams as he begged his father not to die.
The next thing she remembered clearly about that terrible day was being in the kitchen as the tiny house filled with family and friends. Micheal had died in his own driveway, gunned down by unseen assailants. His life slipping away as he was cradled in his oldest son's arms. Rachel's next door neighbor, Pete O'Riley,, who was also a police officer had been one of the first people on the scene. He was the one who had stepped in and forced David to let go of his father's body so the paramedics could put him into the ambulance to take him away. David had shut himself in his room, coming out only for his father's funeral and to sit Shiva for seven days with the rest of the family. Afterwards, he had retreated back into the solitude of his room, refusing to talk to anyone and barely eating for almost two weeks.
When David finally did come out of his room, he came out a different child. An angry, sullen shell of himself who didn't know how or where to vent his rage at his father's murder. For the first time in his life, he was disrespectful to his elders and started getting into trouble, both at home and at school. Things only got worse as he started hanging out with an older group of boys from the neighborhood. And with each day that passed his behavior became worse and Rachel began to worry more. And now, a year later, it had come down to this. David was a child totally out of control and Rachel no longer knew what she should do.
Rachel finally shoved herself to her feet and slowly made her way to her own bedroom. She paused at David's closed door but didn't open it. Her eldest no longer sought the comfort of her arms when he was in pain. Rachel went on to her room and threw herself down across the bed. She lay there, unable to sleep, until the early morning sun started to creep through the windows. Wearily, she forced herself to her feet to begin another day.
She woke up Nicky first and got him started on his morning routine, washing up and brushing his teeth and then getting dressed for school while she started breakfast. She would wait an hour before going upstairs to wake up David since he didn't have to leave for school as early as Nick did. She mentally braced herself for another fight. After staying out so late with his friends, David never wanted to get up in the morning. It had become an constant battle to get him out of bed and on his way to school during he week.
Rachel tried to pay attention to Nicky as he chattered throughout breakfast, excited about something he was doing at school that day. But her thoughts were distracted by her concerns for her eldest.
Finally, she shooed Nicky out the door and down the street towards the bus stop. Then she slowly climbed back up the steps to wake David up. She knocked loudly on his bedroom door. "David!" she called out "It's time to get up for school." When there was no answer, she knocked again. When there was still no sound from David's room, she carefully opened the door and stepped inside. She caught her breath sharply when she saw the empty bed and the open window. She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and buried her face in her hands. She had no idea where her son had gone or when he would be back. All she could do was wait and pray that he would be all right out there alone on the streets. This wasn't the first time in the past year that David had cut school but it was the first time that he'd snuck out of the house in the middle of the night. With a heavy heart, Rachel realized that something had to be done soon about her son's rebellious behavior.
She spent the rest of the day trying to do some household chores and anxiously watching the clock. Nicky came home from school shortly after three and started telling her about his day as he enjoyed his afternoon snack. Rachel was only half listening, her thoughts still centered on her older son and his whereabouts. She fixed supper for herself and Nicky, putting a plate aside in the refrigerator for David. She continued watching the clock, getting more and more anxious and worried as it got later and David still didn't come home.
Trying to keep busy, she gave Nicky his bath and tucked him into bed, taking time to read him a bedtime story. She had just gone back downstairs when she was startled by the shrill ringing of the telephone. Grabbing it before it could ring again, she lifted the receiver to her ear and said breathlessly "Hello?"
"Is this Rachel Starsky?" an unfamiliar female voice said in her ear
"Yes, it is. Who is this?" she demanded, a worried tone creeping into her voice, as her eyes automatically checked the time. It was almost ten P.M. .
"This is St. Rita's hospital. Your son, David, is here and we need you to come down here as soon as you can."
"Is he all right? Is he hurt?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I'm not authorized to give you that information over the phone. The doctor will talk to you as soon as you get here. We need your verbal consent to treat him until you arrive."
"Yes, of course. Do whatever you have to do for him. I'll be there as soon as I can." Rachel said, hanging up without listening to the woman's reply. Immediately picking up the receiver again, she dialed her brother, Jacob, who lived just a few blocks away. After rapidly explaining the situation to him, Jacob told her he would come to the house to take her to the hospital and his wife, Mary Anne, would come with him so she could stay with Nicky. Rachel struggled to control her emotions and to hold back her tears as she hung up the phone and waited for her brother to arrive.
4
