Disclaimer: NBC, Dick Wolf...they are the geniuses behind Law &Order: Criminal Intent. I don't own any of that but sometimes I wish I did.
Max dropped his bag by the door and took off his jacket. He stuck his head into the living room. "Hey."
"Hi." The sitter held her finger over her lips in an effort to tell him to keep his voice down. "Your brother's sleeping." She pointed over to a spot on the floor.
Noah had his head resting on a big teddy bear and he hugged it, sleeping peacefully. His legs were under him and his butt was up slightly in the air.
Max smiled and went over to the shelves and opened the cupboard. He took the camera out and walked up to his brother and took a couple pictures then promptly put the camera away. He wasn't even close to being as obsessive with taking family photos as his mother was; but, if he saw something funny or cute enough he'd be inspired to take the odd picture.
The front door opened and Hannah stepped into the house and shut the door behind her. When she turned around she tripped over her son's knapsack. She gasped and stumbled before regaining her balance. She sighed and picked up the bag and brought it into the living room. "Look what I found. A speed bump."
"Oh…" Max said guiltily. "Sorry."
Hannah put the bag on the end of the couch and took her jacket off. "How was Noah?" She asked the sitter.
"A little hyper." She pointed to the sleeping boy.
Hannah smiled brightly at him, putting a hand on her chest, moved at how adorable the boy was. "Good. That means he's feeling better." She then opened her purse and fished out $40 and handed it to the young woman. It was slightly less than the average rate for babysitting. The sitter gathered her things and left.
Hannah took off her coat and shoes and went into the kitchen. She pulled out the chicken from the fridge and put it on the counter. "My shift starts a little later tonight so I can have dinner with you."
Max nodded, taking a soda from the fridge. "Okay." He walked passed her. Hannah stopped him. "Hey. I feel like I haven't seen you all week…what's going on?"
He shrugged. "Nothing much."
"School?"
He shrugged again.
"Boring, kids picking on you, are you indifferent, meet anyone new, like any of your classes? Give me something here."
"Boring…except for science class. It wasn't horrible."
Hannah took out some aluminum foil and proceeded to rip several squares of the foil. "How come?"
"We went to the shop classes and we got to see what they did…'cause it was the closest thing to engineering the school has…ya know…fixing cars and stuff." He shrugged. "No big deal."
She smiled. "You know, if you want to take a shop class next year you can."
He studied her then took a sip of his drink. "I dunno."
Hannah sprinkled some of the spices on the chicken and started wrapping them up with the foil. "Could you get a pot ready for some rice?"
Max put his drink down and did as him mom requested while she put the chicken onto a sheet and started cutting up some vegetables. "Have you decided what you'll do for March break?"
"Uh…nothing?"
"No I mean…what about your friends? Are you going to do anything with them?"
"I thought I had to take care of Noah."
"I think he'll be okay at the day care. He's not contagious anymore."
He shrugged. "Ty's going to a week long training camp…for football. He wants to have a shot of getting on the team next year…and Daj…as far as I know he wasn't doing anything. He's going to call later."
Hannah nodded, taking a frying pan out and putting it on the burner. "He can come over whenever you feel like it just as long as I know where you are…and if he wants to stay over one of the nights…then that's fine too."
"Okay…maybe." He grabbed his soda and gravitated over to the tv and turned it on, lowering the volume a little to try not to wake his brother up.
A few minutes later, the phone rang. Max jumped up and hurried over to the small table in the hall and picked up the receiver. "Yeah?" He waited to hear his friend's voice. "Oh." He sighed and walked over to his mom and handed her the portable. "It's the bank."
She wiped her hands on a dish cloth and took the phone. "This is Miss Winters." She headed over to the dining room, to keep the conversation private.
Max bit the inside of his cheek. Just when he was having a good day, something like this had to happen. His mom didn't think he fully understood their financial problems but he did. Just a few weeks ago he overheard her talking on the phone with someone about some sort of assessment done on the house. All he heard his mom say was there was no difference between rent for an apartment in the school district compared to the monthly mortgage.
His mom refused to let him get a job. She had put an age limit on that, hoping he would stay a kid as long as possible. As soon as he was going to turn 15, he knew he would get a job to help out.
Still, he doubted the family was going to keep treading water that long. His mom was working herself to death and lately it seemed like babysitters and Max were the ones raising Noah. He had called his dad twice, and asked for help. It was something he never would have considered months ago but his family was in trouble and Max had to do something. His father made the usual excuses. He was too busy or he didn't have any extra money to give them. He made promises but never kept them.
It all made him angry.
Hannah hung up the phone and returned to her cooking. She noticed her son watching her. "Nothing I can't handle…could you set the table for me?"
He rolled his eyes, annoyed and went over to the cupboard and grabbed some plates. Though he pretended to have let the matter drop, he didn't. He couldn't help but picture his dad driving his black BMW convertible and going home to his $4000 a month SoHo apartment. Max could feel his anger bubble up the more he thought about it.
Once she was leaving for work, they were surprised at how hard Noah was taking her long absences.
Hannah kissed Max on the top of the head. "I love you." She then knelt and gave her youngest a hug. "I love you." When she finally managed to pull out of the hug, Noah clung on. "Honey I have to go."
"No!" Noah cried. "Mommy!"
Her eyes stung. "Sweetie I have to. I'll be home later and I'll see you in the morning." The boy started wailing. It broke her heart. The boy's abandonment issues were getting worse and it was only because Hannah had to work so much. His reaction to his father was normally like this because he rarely ever saw him.
Max helped pry Noah from his mom. Hannah stood up and fought some tears, trying to wipe them away so her boys couldn't see her. "Mom just go. I've got him."
She nodded. "Lock up and set the alarm after me." She hurried out, and ran to her newly repaired car. Once she was in the car she tried to get a hold of herself, but seeing her 3 year old son scream like that for her wasn't easy. All she wanted to do was be there for him.
After a long, excruciating shift at the diner, Hannah managed to use what little energy remained to drive home and crawl into bed. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Thanks to the heavy and warped front door, Max knew when his mom got home. It woke him up and he waited until he heard footsteps in the hall, and the sound of the nearby bedroom door shut.
He knew his mom didn't want to work so many hours. It wasn't her fault. It was his dad's. Max threw the blankets off him and got out of bed. He changed into some clothes, pulled on a jacket and some runners then he tip toed out of his room and checked on his mom. She was passed out, her face buried in the pillow. From the looks of it she seemed like she might smother herself in her sleep; yet, she always lived to the next morning. It wasn't uncommon for her to sleep that way.
Max shut the door and went downstairs. He carefully grabbed the car keys from the small table by the door, next to his mom's purse. He then went back upstairs, trying to make sure he was as quiet as a mouse.
A floorboard creaked. He froze.
He waited a minute, making sure his mom wasn't going to come out and investigate. When she didn't, Max headed to his room. He put the small magnet he had sitting on his dresser, and slipped it over the alarm sensor. It allowed him to open the window without setting the alarm off. He then snuck out the window and down the fire escape.