Cassidy couldn't remember the last time she was in a hospital and quiet frankly she was happy about that. She sat in the unwelcoming printed waiting chair gazing back and forth between her parents and an older doctor who seemed to be in his early 50's. Her mother's face was tired and pale, her eyes blood shot and puffy. Her father scratched at his 5 o'clock shadow, nodding his head as the doctor spoke. In between both her parents was a tired red eyed Tommy. His eyes had no life in them, dark and clouded as he stared at the worn sneakers on his feet. The doctor's face was full of sorrow as he knelt down to the zombified child and rested his hand on his shoulder, giving him unwanted condolences about his loss.
The doctor left them to be, shaking his head in grievance for the small child. Mrs. Parker quickly knelt to Tommy's height and embraced him in a tight loving hug. Cassidy had never seen Tommy Riordan cry but at that moment her best friend shed one lone tear before wiping it away and breaking off the hug. Mr. Parker took Tommy onto the other side of the waiting area as Mrs. Parker walked over to her distraught and confused daughter. Kneeling down in front of her, she ran her hand through her daughter's tangled pigtails and looked at her with remorse. "Cassidy. Honey..." Anne started but hesitated trying to find the right words. Cassidy held her breath waiting for her mother to explain what was going on."Cass, Ms. Riordan passed away a few hours ago. She was very sick, you know." Cassidy's mother said in a soft melancholy voice. Cassidy's hazel eyes clouded over and shifted to the quietly mourning Tommy. His head remained down as her father held him in a tight arm. "What about Tommy?" Cassie's voice cracked. Her mother cleared her throat slightly before answering. "Well, Tommy is going to stay with us tonight and tomorrow. His father and brother are going to pick him up tomorrow." She softly explained to her bewilder child. 'Tommy has a dad and brother?' Cassidy thought to herself. Tommy had never told her anything about having a father or brother. As far as Cassidy knew, Tommy only had a mom who was very sick. "Where do they live, Mom?" She asked the exhausted woman. Her mother let out a deep sigh before answering her daughter. "They live in Pittsburg, sweetie. About an hour away."
Cassidy's round eyes widened as she stood up and bolted down the hallway, tears starting to stream down her face. Finding the girl's bathroom through blurry watery vision, she pushed through the door and climbed up on the empty counter, her sobs loud and her tears now pouring down her cheeks. She didn't care about the scene she had made or the fact that she bolted away from her mother in such hast. All she knew was that Tommy would be going away to live with his father in Pittsburg. He would be leaving her. Her best friend, who use to be a ten minute walk up the block was now going to be a full hour away. She would never see him. No more races to her house or summer afternoons at the park. There wouldn't be snow days where they would build forts and snowmen and then have hot chocolate and watch movies by the fireplace. No more after school team practices and stops at the ice cream parlor. Her thoughts only sent her into a larger crying fit, not noticing her mother had snuck into the bathroom and wrapped her in a warm consoling hug. "Mom... Tommy.. I won't.. ever see him." Cassidy said between huffs. "Aww Cassie. You're worried Tommy will forget you when he leaves?" Her mother asked as she gave her a kiss on the head. Cassidy nodded as she wiped her face. "Tommy will never forget you, no matter how far away he is. You're his best friend and he's yours. But, right now, you need to be strong and stop crying. You need to be there for your best friend, okay?" Mrs. Parker said in a sweet voice. Nodding to her mother, she jumped off the counter, wiped her face with her sleeve and made her way out the bathroom door and back to her best friend.
Cassidy's parents set up the guest bedroom bed for Tommy, tucking him in and waiting for him to fall asleep until they made their way to Cassidy's room and finally theirs. Cassidy looked at her Betty Boop clock, learning that is was close to 4:30 in the morning. The sun would be rising soon but she couldn't seem to fall asleep. As quiet as she could, she slipped out of her bed and placed her bare feet on the soft carpet. Tip toeing out to the hallway, she moved silently to the guest bedroom, sneaking a peak through the tiny crack between the door and doorframe. Even in the dark she could still see Tommy's body tossing over every so often. She crept in and made her way to the other side of the master bed. Crawling under the comforter, Cassidy made sure she didn't jostle the mattress to much. She rested her head on the pillow next to Tommy's and faced towards him. "Cass." Tommy whispered. She was silent for a moment. "Am I your best friend?" Cassidy asked in a whisper. "My only best friend." Tommy answered. "I'll miss you, Tommy." Cassie spoke softly. "I'll miss you too. Best friends forever?" Tommy asked putting his hand out in between them. Cassidy looked at his hand, it was much bigger then hers. It always had been. Grabbing his, she answered him. "To infinity and beyond." She whispered squeezing his hand. The two youngsters fell asleep with in minutes after their vent session, hand in hand the entire night.
Cassidy and Tommy both woke up to the smell of pancakes and two scurried out of bed and made their way to the kitchen. Tommy's heart sunk to his stomach once he saw the home made breakfast displayed for him and Cassidy on the kitchen table. His heart ached as he looked over the spread. His mother would always splurge on Tommy's birthday, spending more then she could afford to make him a delicious birthday breakfast. Mama P's soft sweet voice brought the nine year old out of his memories. "Honey, you want orange juice?" She asked him a second time. "I'm not that hungry." Tommy mumbled. "You sure, kiddo? We made chocolate chip pancakes." Mr. Parker offered from the head of the table. "Nah, I'm good. Thanks." Tommy grunted and simply turned away and made his way back up to the guest room, leaving Cassidy and her parents in guilt.
After breakfast, Cassidy made her way up to the guest room as her parents packed away the leftovers from breakfast. Tommy was laying on the bed, the tv on though he was paying no attention to it. "Hi." She spoke, quiet as a mouse. He looked at her and slightly smiled before looking back up at the ceiling. Cassidy fiddled with some papers in her hand. "You wanna draw?" She asked stepping into the room, holding up paper and a bucket full of crayons. He smiled and patted to the bed as she walked to him and jumped on the bed. The spent a hour or so coloring pictures for each other. Cassidy lifted the mood of Tommy even if it was only for a little. She started on a new piece of paper and began writing the letters 'M, A, S, H'. "Tell me when to stop." She smiled to Tommy as she began to draw lines on the paper. "What?" Tommy asked peaking over to her paper. She stopped what she was doing. "Tell me when to stop." She stated again and began drawing the lines again. After a few seconds, Tommy spoke. "Okay, stop." She stopped and counted the lines, writing '10' at the top of the page. "Okay, name three girls to marry." Cassidy instructed. "Umm, Kelly Myers, Lori Davids, and you." He said and she wrote down the names.
Cassidy then told him to think of three cars and three colors for the car, three numbers of kids he wanted, three jobs he wanted, and three places for a honeymoon. After giving her his choices, Cassidy counted to 10 and crossed off the choices until there was one left in each category. "Okay! I have the plans for your future!" She squealed excitedly. Tommy laughed as he tried to grab the paper out of her hands. "No, no! I have to read them otherwise your plans won't come true!" She giggled and cleared her throat before reading Tommy's life plan. "Okay! So you are going to live in a mansion, we will be a professional wrestler, you will drive a black Audi, your honeymoon will be in the Caribbean, you will have two kids and you are marrying... Me!" Cassidy bursted out laughing. "No way! It doesn't say that! You counted wrong!" Tommy gasped trying to grab the sheet out of Cassidy's hand. "Count it yourself!" She giggled. He counted over the choices, his mouth dropping to find out that Cassidy had counted right. "Ugh, now I'm even more stuck with you." He teased and flicked Cassidy in the arm. "And you can't divorce me! That's the rules!" She laughed as she swatted him. He quickly moved and tickle attacked Cassidy as she squealed and rolled over the bed, her eyes tearing as she howled. Mrs. Parker passed by the room, a laundry basket in her grip, and smiled to herself to see large cheeky smiles plastered on not only Cassidy's face but also Tommy's.
Around lunch time, Mr. Parker told Tommy he needed to go home and pack up his belongings he wanted to take with him to Pittsburg. Tommy's mood quickly depressed when Cassidy's father had told him he needed to go back home. According to Tommy, he had no home. The closest thing he had to a home was the Parker's house. He could live there forever and not care about his things left in that dilapidated hut called 'home'. Cassidy was told that she had to stay home and let Tommy do what he needed to do. The car ride with Mr. Parker was awkward for Tommy. He tried making small talk with the uncomfortable boy, asking if he was happy to see his brother and what his brother was like. Tommy answered with simple comments, not wanting to dwell on the so called 'brother' that he was soon to be living with.
They pulled into the gravel driveway, the pebbles crunching under the wheels of Mr. Parkers Escalade. "You want me to wait here, kiddo?" The worried man asked. Tommy nodded his head and unbuckled his seatbelt before jumping out of the SUV and making his way up the decrepit walkway. The house was left the way it was when he had been picked up by the ambulance and cops in the early morning. He couldn't believe that hours ago, he was in his mother's room, giving her the daily medicine she needed. The small building was quiet except for the creaks in the floorboards that Tommy stepped on as he made his way to his room. He swiftly walked past his mother's room without even glancing at it, the memory of his mother screaming for him hours earlier.
He opened his closet and grabbed the three duffel bags he had and began filling them with his clothes and sneakers. He grabbed his knick knacks from his nightstand drawer and threw them into the bag along with some movies, books and important memorabilia his mother had given him. God, how he missed her. He sat on his bed for a moment and thought about his mother, how she was before the sickness had taken over. He thought of her as a flower, full of life and color, beautiful and sweet thought of her warm smile and loving hugs, her laughter when they fooled around on the swings in the backyard. How she would call him her 'little warrior'. That's how he wanted to remember his mother... a 'fighter', a 'warrior'. That's how he needed to be. He needed to be strong for his mother, just as she was for him. At that moment he decided no more tears were to be shed for her or anyone. He was going to look out for himself and the Parker's. He would turn his warm heart to stone, only giving his love out to the Parker family. He could never hurt them. They were family, a real family... his family. At that moment, Tommy changed. He changed from the warm, carefree, loving little boy to a stone cold, isolated man, only worrying about himself and the Parker's. He'd shut himself out from the world and scowled the two people responsible for his mother's death; his drunken fuck up of a father and a backstabbing, betraying, so-called 'brother'. He'd blame them for the horrible loss and decided that he could never forgive them for driving him and his mother away.
Tommy finished packing up his things, lugging the three duffle bags and his backpack out to the hallway. He checked the front pocket of his book bag and checked to see if he had all the notes and drawings him and Cassidy had done over the years. With that, he looked into his mother's room, deciding that he would take her wedding ring and some pictures of them together. He stepped in the cold quiet room, taking in the sight of the empty bed and lack of furniture in the bedroom. He made his was to the dresser and opened the first drawer and fishing through his mother's jewelry box, finding the ring and wrapping it in a handkerchief before stuffing it into a secret compartment of his backpack. He then made his way over to the nightstand and sifted through the contents, looking for pictures, letters and important documents. Grabbing the things he needed, he placed them in his bag before leaving the room. He hoisted the rest of his bags on his shoulders before taking one last glance of his mother's room. Tommy shook his head and shuffled to the front door, closing it shut and trudging to Mr. Parker. He didn't look back at the house until he was in the front seat of the SUV. As Mr. Parker backed out of the driveway, Tommy quickly stuck out his tongue and flipped his middle finger to the house.
Cassidy and her mother sat at the kitchen table huddled over a bunch of markers, papers, stickers and pictures. While Tommy and Mr. Parker were over at the Riordan's house. "I like this one!" Cassidy squealed as she picked up a picture of her and Tommy; it was a picture from last summer, both of them much skinnier and smaller then they were now. They were holding hands, jumping into the Parker's pool with ecstatic smiles on their faces. Her mother smiled and picked up a picture from two winters ago. Mr. Parker had been pulling a sled with Tommy and Cassidy sitting on it during a great snow storm, all three of their cheeks and noses a rose red color, bundled up in marshmallow winter coats, mittens and beanies. "Oh, I remember this one. Tommy and Ms. Riordan had stopped by when they saw the porch roof was caving in because of all the snow and me and her climbed out with a broom to push the snow off." Anne giggled as she looked back on the memory. "Come on, Miss Cassidy. Let's finish this scrap book and clean up before the boys get home.
Mr. Parker and Tommy stepped through the door as Mr. Parker began making an early supper. Papa Parker smelt the grounded meat browning in the pan and headed straight for the stove, peaking and picking at the different pots and pans containing food. "Um excuse me, Richard. You mind?" Anne swatted her nosey husband and ushered him away from the food. "Ugh, Anne. I wasn't picking, just looking to see what smelt so good." He smiled as he licked his one saucy finger. "Why don't you wash up, 'cause it sure isn't you that smells good. Did Tommy grab everything he needed?" Anne joked before asking a serious question. "Yeah, three duffel bags worth and his backpack. It's all in the trunk of the Escalade." He answered throwing a thumb over his back towards the front door. Leaning in, he whispered into his wife's ear, "Do we know what time his father is coming?" Anne continued scooping and mushing the meat with her wooden spoon. "They should be here soon. Paddy called about 20 minutes ago informing us he was 30 minutes away." Anne answered in a hush tone and she switched off the burner and let the meat cool down. Richard sighed and grabbed a beer from the fridge before taking a seat on the couch in the living room.
"Mom helped me make something for you." Cassidy told Tommy as she played with the mulch with her toes as she dangled from a swing. Tommy hovered in his own swing next to her, toeing at the mulch. "What'd you make?" He asked nonchalant. Cassidy zipped her lips and locked them before she threw away the key. "It's a surprise. I can't give it to you yet." She told him as she began to pump her legs. "Why not?" Tommy asked Cassie as he started to pump his legs. "Cause I said so." She smirked as she stuck out her tongue at him. Tommy rolled his eyes as he pumped harder and faster. After a few moments, both of them were swinging higher and higher off the ground. "On three we jump." Tommy told her. She shook her head and started to count. "One... two.." "Three!" Tommy finished before leaving his seat and soaring through the air before landing on the soft green grass, Cassie right along his side. They turned over and laid on the grass, staring at the clouds. "That one looks like a dog on a bike." Tommy pointed and laughed. Cassidy giggled and pointed out another cloud.
Before long, the sun and began to set and the sky lit up with green glow of the fire flies that made their way out into the cool night air. From the sliding door on the deck, Mrs. Parker called for the children to come in, though she didn't mention that supper was ready like she usually did. Cassidy and Tommy sprinted from the yard and shoved each other as they both fought to open the sliding door. Tommy gave up quickly when he saw a large figure standing in the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Parker. The older man's hair was a soft white color underneath a gray hat. His voice was gravely and wheezy yet somewhat slurred. "Tommy, sweetheart, you're father his here." Anne spoke to the shocked boy, though his shocked facial expression was actually full of anger and hate. "Hey, sport. Why don't we grab your things? Brendan's waiting in the car." The man spoke with a smirk on his face. "Hey listen, Anne, Richard, I really appreciate you helping out with Tommy." The white haired man slurred. "Our pleasure Mr. Conlon. Tommy really is an amazing boy. He's more then welcomed to stay here anytime he wants." Anne spoke though she was suspicious of the man's speech and slight sway.
"Paddy, call me Paddy." Paddy mumbled as he set a trembling hand on Tommy's shoulder though Tommy quickly shook it off and moved next to Cassidy. "Well, I'll be in the car while you say your goodbyes, Tommy." Paddy muttered before stomping out of the house and settling into his car with a teenaged boy. "Cassidy, go ahead. We already said our goodbyes to Tommy earlier." Her father motioned to her. Anne and Richard gave Tommy each another kiss and hug goodbye before moving into the family room. Cassidy's golden hazel eyes shimmered as tears fought their way out. "Don't move." She told him before running into the dinning room and grabbing a book off the table. She handed it to Tommy as tears rolled down her cheeks. The book was black leather bound and the size a normal looking book, his name printed in all caps in silver sharpie. "Don't look at it now, it's for later." She told him. "I'm gonna miss you, Cassie. You're my best friend." Tommy told her. His eyes blurred slightly but he blinked away any form of a tear. "Love you, Tommy." Cassidy sobbed as she hugged her best friend tight. "Love you too, Cassidy." He squeezed her back hard and began to walk out the front door not forgetting to turn back to her and wave. She returned the waved and sadly smiled as she stuck out her tongue and let out a small giggle. Tommy smiled back, flipping up his middle finger before blowing her a kiss. She caught the kiss once his back was turned. And just like that, Tommy Riordan was gone.