Ch 3

Sleeping in that bed was probably the best thing in the world. I slept up until eleven o'clock before getting out of bed. I stretched out my arms over my head and then made my way over to the window to look at the gorgeous scenery.

The yard was very well taken care of with freshly cut grass and tall trees off in the distance. I wished there were flowers or something, but I had to remember that this place was a camp for little boys. I folded my arms before spotting a group of young boys running from the small house that was about a football field's length from the house I was in. They were all dressed in green t-shirts and army pants like their Sergeant, Mark. He was following close behind them yelling orders to keep them moving. There were four boys, two of which were Jack and my son, Eric. The other two were a little taller than Jack and Eric and wore looks of determination on their face. One had brown hair and the other had red. They were both kind of skinny, but had strong arms and legs. They ran ahead of Eric and Jack who looked tired out of their mind.

I sighed and headed out of my room, wanting to get a closer look at things. I made sure to reexamine the house so I knew where everything was. I stopped in the kitchen for a glass of water before heading outside on the porch. The boys were just coming around the house when I sat down on the steps. I watched as they all stopped and formed a line in front of me. Mark came around the corner and blew his whistle.

"How are you guys feeling? Have you had enough?" he asked.

My son didn't budge and neither did the other two boys. Jack however bent over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "I know I have."

Mark stopped next to him and laughed, "You've only been here five hours and you're tired of this already?"

"Yes I am!" Jack shouted.

Mark growled and shoved Jack to the ground. I gasped a little when his body thudded against the ground. Why was he being so rough with them?

He walked up to Jack and said, "Give me 20."

"What?" Jack asked. "For being tired?"

Mark's eyes narrowed, "No, for speaking when you weren't directly spoken to! Now give me 20!"

I looked at Jack wondering if he truly deserved that punishment. I wanted to speak up but something in me wouldn't let that happen. I dropped my gaze as the boy got in his push up position and started going at it.

Mark then turned towards the other boys with his hands behind his back, looking at them with that tough cold look. "The rest of you seem to learn things fast…and because of that, I'll give you ten minutes for a break. When you're done, you come back here. Go!"

The three boys sighed with relief before heading inside of the house. When Jack was done with his push-ups he was sent to the garage to start cleaning the motorcycles. I guess Mark didn't think he deserved a break since he talked back to him. Maybe that was one of the problem's with my parenting skills…I was too easy on Eric. I'd tell him to stay in the house but he would simply leave and I wouldn't even bother to stop him.

"How did you sleep?" he asked me once Jack was out of sight.

I nodded, "Pretty good actually…"

"Good." He said as he took a few steps towards me. "You seem troubled."

I glanced at him for a split second and then dropped my gaze, "Oh I'm ok…"

"You're lying. And I do not like lying in my camp Serena." He said.

I sat my glass of water down next to me and folded my arms, "I just think you're a little tough on the boys…"

He raised his eyebrow at me and took one more step towards me. "Look at me woman."

I looked up at him trying to find some way to stare anywhere except his eyes.

"Being soft…is why your son acts the way he does. You need to learn to be tougher Serena, and until you figure out how, your son will continue to walk all over you."

I shook my head, "I'm not that soft on him."

"Clearly you are." He snapped. "The boy has absolutely no respect for you and it's simply because you are too weak to stand up to him."

I felt my blood boiling. No one had ever called me weak before or better yet told me how to raise my child. I grabbed my water and got up to walk into the house. "I'm going inside; I don't need to listen to this."

"But you do Serena…you really do."

I didn't bother to turn around and face him again. I went into the house and sat down in the living room. Andre was on my mind. I wanted him here to hold and comfort me, but he was gone. A tear fell from my eye as I pulled my legs up onto the couch and wrapped my arms around them. I was beginning to wonder if coming here was a mistake.

After the boys went back outside, I went upstairs to call Rachel on my cell phone. I walked into the room and went to grab it when I realized it wasn't there. Thinking I didn't take it out of my purse I picked it up and looked through it but it wasn't there either. I tossed my purse on the bed and went downstairs to see if I might have left it somewhere in the house, but it was nowhere to be found. I finally decided to head to the garage to ask Mark what he had done with it. Upon getting there, I saw him standing at the entrance watching the boys clean motorcycles. I unfolded my arms and tapped his shoulder.

"You're not getting it back." He said before I could even ask.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

He glared at me, "You're not getting it back."

"And why not?" I asked.

"Because you need to focus on your child and becoming a better mother." He said.

"Um excuse me but I'm not a child. I'm a grown ass woman who happens to pay her own phone bill." I snapped.

He turned towards me and got in my face. "Yea, you might pay the bill but when the damn thing comes between you and your focus, it needs to be eliminated."

I shook my head, "You don't know what the hell you're talking about!"

"Of course I do, and that's why you and your son are here." He said. "Now if you don't mind, you're causing a scene and it's starting to piss me off."

"Give me back my phone and you won't have a scene." I said.

He stared at me for a moment and then cracked a smile, "See, now if you would use that attitude towards your child more often you would get your point across…"

I glared at him with so much animosity in my heart but it wasn't enough to make me snap out. I sighed and went back into the house hoping that this would all be over soon.