Chapter 1- Drew
Drew sat on their sagging, stained couch and checked his watch for the hundredth time. It had long gone midnight. He fiddled with the watchstrap, stroking it softly. He loved this watch. It was, pretty much, the only nice thing he had. A gift from Uncle Adam for his last birthday, his thirteenth. "Every man needs a good watch" Uncle Adam had said, shaking his hand firmly. Drew hadn't liked that at the time. He knew it should be his dad that did all that stuff but Seth was... well... he was busy, Drew told himself. Yes, very busy. Trying to make money so that he and Amber and his mom could go live with him in... New York, maybe? Or Boston. Drew had always wanted to go to Boston.
He shivered. They hadn't had heat for weeks. He tried to get his mind to focus on the list of places his dad might be buying a house for them to distract from the cold and the worry. The worry over Amber. She'd been gone for days. Something had to be wrong, she would never abandon him like this out of choice, would she?
Mom had been going crazy. She wasn't eating and Drew was pretty sure she wasn't sleeping either. Every morning when he woke she was already up and just staring absently at the wall. Until one morning, when she told him she was going to get Amber. 'From where?' Drew had asked. 'I'll come with you.' But she'd made him stay.
Drew shivered again and his teeth began to chatter. What if they never came home? What would he do without Amber? Without Mom? It'd be his fault if something happened to them. His fault for not talking Amber down, not going with mom.
Then he heard a car door slam. He jumped up and ran to the filthy window. Relief washed over him. There they both were. Safe.
Amber stormed inside and threw her jacket on the floor letting out a growl of frustration. Drew retreated into the corner of the room gingerly. Best to stay out of the crossfire.
"I can't believe you! How could you do that to me!" she yelled at the now inside Sarah. Drew did a quick cursory look up and down both of them. They weren't hurt, there was no blood. He squinted in the half-light in an attempt to check if Amber's eyes looked stoned or drunk. He didn't think so. It was hard to tell.
"Do what to you Amber?" Sarah yelled back. "Prevent you from getting pregnant? Getting an STD? You want me to sit by and watch you contract chlamydia? Would that make me a good mom?"
She must've been at Damien's, Drew concluded.
"Preferably, mom, I'd prefer you not to watch me do anything at all but you seem to think you're well within your rights to burst in on me and Damien when we're making love..."
That was a little too much information for Drew. He sometimes wished the women in his life had slightly better boundaries.
"Ha! Making love? Amber, come on. I know you're that naive. To think he wants you for anything other than a quick, cheap..."
"Mom..." Drew interrupted. "Don't yell at her."
"Drew just go to bed," Sarah said, exhausted. Drew was about to slink off when he felt Amber's hand on his arm.
"Don't talk to him like that," said Amber with renewed fury. "You know what, Sarah?" Amber said, cuttingly. Drew saw his mother wince when Amber used her first name. "You know what? You think you're such a great mom, flying in like my knight in shining armour to get me? Do you feel like supermom? Well, while you were out searching the whole city for me, you left your twelve-year-old son alone for what, how long has it been, Drew?"
"Twenty-nine hours and twenty-seven minutes."
"For twenty-nine hours and twenty-seven minutes with no food, no nothing in the absolute crap chute!" Amber gestured wildly around her. "Still feel like such a great mom?" She stared her mother down until Sarah broke eye contact. "Exactly," Amber said. Drew could tell she was proud of herself. She had won. "And get the fucking heat turned back on," she said, as she stalked to the bedroom.
Sarah sighed and looked at her shoes. When she looked up again, Drew saw tears in her eyes.
"Buddy..." she whispered.
"I'm thirteen." said Drew.
"What?"
"Amber. She said I was twelve. I'm thirteen."
"I know bud, I know." said Sarah, pulling him into a hug.
