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James Wilson
Age 9
"Jimmy, baby, don't forget your lunch. I gave you a cookie. It's peanut butter, your favorite."
Jimmy allowed his doting mother to plant a kiss on his cheek, knowing that it would be easier than pushing her away in the long run. He couldn't keep from rolling his eyes, however, when she began to fuss with his hair.
"Bye, Mom."
"Bye sweetie! Come straight home, okay? Don't get into any trouble."
He had learned to live with his mother's over-protectiveness. His dad was at work most of the time, and that left Mrs. Wilson to deal with three unruly boys. Her worst fear was sending one of her sons out to play and never seeing him again.
Jimmy did well in school, teachers liked him and he always did his homework; usually out of boredom. Science was his favorite, but he loved all his classes. He would have been an outcast had he not been so charismatic. He was constantly smiling, and he had no reason not to. From what little he had seen, the world was a happy place.
He knew something was wrong the minute he began to walk up the driveway. It was a moment before he realized that there weren't any cars in the driveway. His brothers hadn't come home with him, one was held after school and the other at a friends' house. Jimmy was suddenly apprehensive, but he forced his feet to take him to the house.
Silence permeated the air, the only sound breaking the quiet was the steady tick of the clock in the kitchen.
"Mom? Mommy?"
His voice echoed throughout the house, and Jimmy knew he was alone. Suddenly panicked, he ran up the stairs.
"Mommy? Where are you, Mommy?"
He stopped dead when he reached the master bedroom. It looked like it had been ransacked; drawers were pulled out and the closet door was open, revealing nothing but empty hangers. He was so fixed on the sight before him that he didn't even hear the man come up behind him. He felt a tap on his shoulder, cried out, and then everything went black.
"Jimmy, wake up. Wake up, son."
"Who are you?"
"Jim, it's me. Dad."
"Oh. What happened to Mom? What happened to her?"
Jimmy began to panic, and his father put a steadying hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know how to tell you this, Jimmy, but your mother... Well, she…. What I'm trying to say is; she wasn't happy with her life. With me. And I guess it got to be too much for her. So she left."
"Where did she go? Why didn't she say good bye?"
"I don't know, son. I just don't know."
5 years later
Age 14
Slap!
"How could you do this to me, Jimmy? I trusted you! I loved you, dammit! And you went to the movies with my best friend! Can you be any sleazier?"
"Look, Caitlin, I'm sor-"
"Sorry doesn't cut it! We're done!"
Jimmy Wilson was no longer the naïve boy he'd been 5 years ago. He never understood how his mother could just leave him behind. Sure, she couldn't stand his dad; that made sense. But he'd never done anything to make her mad at him. Had he?
4 ½ years ago, his dad had married a perky blonde who had been a partial cause of his mother's departure. Apparently his dad really had known what drove his wife away. Mrs. Wilson the second doted on him while her husband was around, but in reality she could care less about her stepson.
Their once happy family was falling apart. His oldest brother, Peter, hung around with the wrong kind of people; was always getting in trouble with the cops for vandalism and/or loitering. Nick, the middle son, was starting to drift away. He had always been the one who got lost in the shuffle, and now it was almost as if he didn't care about anything anymore. He had all but disappeared.
Present Day
Really, his dad had taught Jimmy a valuable lesson. Push everyone away before they push you first. And he followed his advice faithfully, never staying with the same woman long enough for her to get bored and dump him. His heart remained intact, but it was as though a thin layer of dust coated it, blanketing it while it slept. He never felt heartbreak, but he never truly felt anything at all. He could make all the excuses he wanted for his philandering ways, but in the end he was just protecting himself.