A MOTHER'S LOVE
CHAPTER 4
David sat in the wheelchair in front of the living room window and scowled darkly as he looked out at the neighborhood. Nicky had been excited to see him when Ma and Uncle Jacob brought him home from the hospital earlier that afternoon. He had insisted on being the first one to sign the cast on his leg and told him about an art project he was doing at school. David tuned him out; annoyed by his younger brother's insistent chattering. He wanted to be outside with his friends not stuck in the house with his mother and kid brother. But that was out of the question. Ma had forbidden him to hang out with his friends because of what had happened. And with his leg in the stupid cast, he couldn't just walk out the door like he would have done otherwise.
He turned his attention back to Nicky when he heard him say something about Uncle Al and Aunt Rose coming for a visit. "What'd cha say?" he asked sharply, glancing at his younger brother.
"I told you Aunt Rose and Uncle Al are coming to see us all the way from California." Nicky told him with a huge grin that showed the gap where his two front teeth were missing. He was please with himself because he knew something that David didn't.
"What for?" David asked suspiciously. His Aunt and Uncle from California hadn't been back to New York since Pop died. He wondered why they were paying them a visit now. "When are they coming?"
"This weekend." Nicky said happily. David had been ignoring him a lot since he started hanging out with his new friends and Nicky missed playing games with his big brother. He was pleased that David was even talking to him instead of telling him to get lost like he usually did.
"Boys, supper's ready!" Rachel's voice called from the kitchen before David could continue questioning his younger brother.
"Can I push your chair?" Nicky asked in an excited voice.
"Yeah, I guess." David told him with a heavy sigh. He reached down with his good hand and released the brake on the right hand side of the chair. Nicky grunted as he pushed the wheelchair towards the archway that led into the kitchen. The aroma of fried chicken filled the air and tall glasses of milk already sat on the table beside each boy's plate. Nicky maneuvered the wheelchair up to the end of the table in front of David's place setting.
Rachel sat a platter of fried chicken in the middle of the table and then added a bowl of mashed potatoes, one of rich dark gravy, and a side dish of green beans. She took her place at the table and reached out to join hands with her sons. Nicky rested his left hand on David's sling and the three of them bowed their heads as Rachel said the blessing. When she had finished, she began putting food on David's plate.
"Nicky said Aunt Rose and Uncle Al are coming for a visit." David said, looking at his mother sullenly. "How come?"
"I called them." Rachel said quietly "I asked them to come."
"What for?" David asked insistently. "They ain't been here for a visit since Pop died. Why should they come for one now?"
"I told you because I asked them to. We'll talk about this later." Rachel said firmly. "Now eat your supper." Both boys knew not to argue with their mother when she used that tone of voice so they began to eat. They finished their meal in silence and then Nicky helped his mother clear the table. While Rachel did the dishes, David rolled his wheelchair into the living to watch TV while Nicky went outside to play until dark.
David was engrossed in a movie when his mother came into the living room and shut off the TV. "Hey!" he objected, "I was watching that!"
"David, we need to talk." Rachel said solemnly as she sat down on the sofa, turning so she could see her oldest son's profile.
"About what?" David asked, immediately on guard and suspicious.
"About you. About all the trouble you've been getting into. About what happened with those other boys."
"There's nothing to talk about, Ma." David said flatly, refusing to look into his mother's eyes. This was a conversation that they'd already had several times in the past and he was in no mood to have it again.
"Not talking about isn't going to make it go away." Rachel pointed out patiently.
"You were lucky this time. What about the next time?"
"There won't be any next time."
"You can't be sure of that….not the way you'd been acting….not with those kids you've been hanging out with."
"Save the lecture." David said in an irritated voice, "I can take care of myself."
"No, you can't. Not as well as you think you can anyway." Rachel sighed softly. She didn't want to fight with David, not again but she knew that he was going to be very angry with her when he found what she had decided to do. "I don't know what to do with you anymore, David….you won't listen, you disobey me constantly, you sneak out of the house whenever you want to…and when I try to talk to you, you disrespect me and shut me out completely."
"Then why don't you just leave me alone?" David snapped sharply, his dark eyes turning to look at his mother angrily. "I don't need you telling me all the time what a fuck up I am!"
"David Micheal Starsky!" Rachel snapped just as sharply "You will not use that kind of language in this house! You're not too big for me to turn over my knee!"
"I'd like to see you try!" David shot back in a challenging tone, ignoring the pain that ripped through his heart when he realized that he may have finally pushed his mother too far this time. He wanted to apologize for his words but his pride refused to let him back down now.
Rachel took a deep breath to calm herself and exhaled slowly. In a quiet but determined voice, she said, "Al and Rose are coming here to take you back to California with them for awhile."
"What!?" David said his voice high with shock and surprise. "You're sending me away?" He blinked back his tears and jutted out his jaw stubbornly, refusing to let his mother see how much her words hurt him.
"You haven't let me much choice, David." His mother said, slowly rising to her feet. She knew she couldn't continue this conversation right now or she'd start crying. "I don't know what else to do with you."
As she walked out of the room, David yelled after her "I HATE YOU! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU SEND ME AWAY!" Biting back her own tears at the pain and anger she heard in her child's voice, Rachel forced herself to ignore him and climbed up the stairs to her bedroom.
As his mother disappeared out of sight, David choked back a sob and tried to calm his racing heart. He couldn't believe that his mother would actually send him away. He was sure he that could talk her out of it before that weekend. The idea of leaving the only home he'd ever known, his friends and his family terrified him. He barely knew Rose and Al. They had moved to California when David was a baby and he'd only seen them once a year when they came home for Christmas. He had to find a way to change his mother's mind.
Still reeling with shock at his mother's decision, David wheeled himself across the living to the downstairs bedroom where he would be sleeping until he could manage to climb the stairs to his room. He slammed the door loudly and locked it but he felt no satisfaction at his childish act. With some difficulty he managed to slide himself from the wheelchair to the bed. Lifting the heavy cast up to the mattress, he stretched out and turned his face, burying it in the pillow so nobody would hear the sound of his heartbroken sobs.
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