A/N: In case you didn't read the note at the top of the last chapter: When I originally posted the first part, I accidentally left off the last 3 pages. So if you read that before 10/20/12 and got to this page from a story alert email, you'll probably want to go back and re-read the end of the first part. Sorry for the confusion!
This one time, my mother forgot to pick me up from school. It wasn't that big a deal. Well it wouldn't have been if it wasn't raining really hard and I didn't have a coat or umbrella or those stupid rubber boots or anything with me. I wasn't mad or anything. I figured that Mom probably fell asleep or something because she had worked both the afternoon and night shifts the night before and she was totally exhausted. She hadn't even gotten home before I left for school.
After waiting for like half an hour in front of the school, I decided that I should probably start walking because it was like four miles to get home and because my teachers would be leaving shortly and I didn't want them seeing me. Some of them already had their doubts about my mom because she was always working and couldn't come in for any of the school plays or my chess matches or any of those dumb parent teacher things. They didn't understand how hard she had to work and how difficult it was for her to get time off for such unimportant things. I didn't want them to look down on her more than they already did.
It took me a little over an hour to get home on foot, and it didn't stop raining the entire time.
"Oy, Russell!" my elderly neighbor Mrs. Lieberstein gasped as I made my way into the lobby of our apartment building. No matter how many times I told her that the name on my birth certificate actually was 'Rusty', she insisted on calling me by what she deemed to be my full name. "Dear boy, your lips are turning blue! What are you doing out in this weather without a coat!" She tsked and clucked at me a little bit as she ushered me into the elevator, nearly dropping the mail that she'd been picking up. I smiled weakly and took her grocery bags from her to free up one of her hands.
"I didn't know it was supposed to rain and I was at my friend's—"
Her eyes narrowed and she frowned at me. "And you could not stay there until the rain let up?" she challenged. "You do not fool me, child. That 'mother' of yours forgot to pick you up again, didn't she?" I hesitated for just a hair too long and her frown deepened.
"No!" I insisted, even though we both knew already that she had me. I'd never been a good liar, but I tried anyway. "I was supposed to come home right after school, but I stopped at my friend Charlie's and we got caught up in this game but then I realized that I was late, so I had to—"
"And this Charlie's family doesn't have a phone?" Mrs. Lieberstein clearly didn't believe me anyway, so I just shrugged. The elevator stopped on our floor and I trudged down the hall to her door. Unfortunately, she kept walking right past me, heading to my apartment.
"Mrs. Lieberstein," I called after her, hoping to dissuade her from having another talk with my mom. Really, that was the last thing my mom needed was another person giving her grief or another problem hanging over her head. Gary or Jerry, or whatever his name was had just dumped her and we didn't have enough to pay the water bill and she was worried that our electricity was going to be turned off. Me walking home in the rain wasn't worth upsetting her further. "Mrs. Lieberstein, wait!" I hurried after her. "Please, I swear this was my fault and I promise from now on I'll come straight home after school when I'm suppose—"
"Russell," she admonished, turning around so fast that I almost ran into her. She sighed and raised her hand to rest gently on my cheek. "Russell, you are a good boy. And I know you love your mama, but I can't let this go on. This is not the first time that—"
"It wasn't her fault!" I insisted. "It's my own fault for stopping at Carl's—" Wait. Had I said my friend's name was Carl before, or had I said Charlie? The look on Mrs. Lieberstein's face told me that I'd said the wrong name. Crap. My voice rose both from a feeling of desperation and in an attempt to warn my mother what was coming. "It's just a little rain. I got a little wet! It's not a big deal! There's no reason to-"
My apartment door swung open. I was expecting my mom, but instead there was a guy I'd never seen before. My mom's latest boyfriend, no doubt. He didn't really look like her normal type, though. Not that I'll complain about that because he looked…nice. Judging from his suit and his trendy haircut, he didn't appear to be hurting for money so at least he probably wouldn't be yet another monetary drain.
"Where have you been?" the man asked, glaring at me. My eyes widened and I stared at him dumbly. "Your mother and I waited for you outside the school for half an hour," he chided. What?
Mrs. Lieberstein pursed her lips. When she looked toward me, the guy flashed a wide grin and winked, sobering again before Mrs. Lieberstein turned back to him. It was so bizarre I almost burst out laughing, but managed to keep a straight face.
"You know you're supposed to wait for a ride when it's raining," the guy continued to scold me. "And then we got home and you still weren't here? Your mother is worried sick about you!"
Mrs. Lieberstein's eyebrows raised and she looked to me again, though this time her disapproval was clearly directed at me. So much for me being a good boy. Still, much better that she be mad at me than be mad at Mom.
"You get on in and let her know you're okay," the guy instructed me as he reached out to take Mrs. Lieberstein's bags from me. "And I'll help Miss…" He smiled as he raised his eyebrows, prompting her to introduce herself.
And Mrs. Lieberstein smiled right back, apparently charmed by him. "Lieberstein. Helen," my neighbor introduced herself.
"Helen," the man repeated back. "I'm Roger." He looked back to me, "Go on in and I'll help this young lady get her groceries home." Young lady? Who was he kidding? But she was apparently eating it up and let out an actual giggle as she started leading him back toward her apartment.
Okay, then. I slipped past them, escaping into the apartment. My mom was standing just around the corner with both of her hands covering her mouth. I hid my grin until I got the door shut. Roger was kind of a dork the way he 'flirted' with Mrs. Lieberstein, but he'd saved my mom a verbal beatdown she didn't deserve. That made him okay in my book.
Mom's amusement faded as she got a better look at me. "I am so sorry, Rus. I fell asleep and I—"
"It's okay," I assured her as I kicked off my shoes. It was exactly as I expected. It wasn't her fault she had to put in so many hours.
Mom took my backpack from me, biting her lip as she looked down at the puddle that was already pooling at my feet. She looked apologetic but motioned at my dripping clothes. "Off with 'em."
I rolled my eyes, but quickly stripped out of my sopping shirt and jeans. She gave me a little smile before turning around to let me take off my shorts as well. I hesitated for only a moment. I wanted to get to my room and get into dry clothes before the guy got back. Our first meeting was awkward enough without nudity.
"You go wash up and I'll get you some clean clothes," Mom offered, keeping her back turned. "Just leave those there," she directed, motioning toward my pile of waterlogged clothing. I started to protest, to tell her that I'd take care of it, but she didn't let me get a word in. "I'll take care of them. You just go get warm," she insisted. Not wanting to get caught, I hurried to the bathroom and turned on the shower, not even bothering to let it warm up before stepping inside. It still felt warmer than the rain.
True to her word, my mother had gotten me something dry to wear while I got warmed up and clean. Embarrassingly it was only the sweatpants I always wore to bed, but at least I wouldn't have to get to my room in only a towel.
I dried off and pulled on the sweats. I listened for a few moments before opening the door, but didn't hear anyone talking. Maybe the guy didn't stay. It wouldn't be the first time one of Mom's guys took off as soon as they met her kid. Though I don't know why I thought he would be, I'd kind of hoped that this one would be different.
I padded out to the living room, and was startled to see that Roger hadn't left after all. He was looking through the books on our shelves. I quickly turned around, intending to get back to my room to grab a sweatshirt, but he called out. "You must be Rusty."
I turned back to him, my face feeling a little hot as I folded my arms across my chest. "Must be," I replied, and winced at how stupid that sounded. "I mean, yeah. Hi. I'm Rusty."
Roger grinned at me. "It's okay. I'm kind of nervous, too." My confusion must have shown because he let out a small laugh. "Meeting Sharon's kid." Oh. "She's just changing, said she'd be right back," he informed me. I nodded. I wanted to change, too, feeling really awkward standing around in my pajama bottoms. "So you play chess?"
Huh?
"Your trophies." He picked one of them up for a moment, and then set it back on the shelf. "You must be pretty good."
"I guess." I didn't really know what to say. Yeah, I was 'pretty good', but it wasn't really something I liked talking about with Mom's boyfriends. Most of them seemed to think it made me a total geek.
"You're a man of many words," he commented. "We should play some time."
"You play?" I asked, surprised.
"I guess," he tossed my words back at me.
Right. I grinned back at him. "So, um…are you staying for dinner?"
Roger shrugged. "I thought I might, if that's okay with you?"
That was the first time one of Mom's guys ever posed that question to me. When I didn't answer right away, Roger held up his hands as though surrendering. "It's okay. I don't want to—"
"No. Sorry. Yeah, stay,"
"I was thinking we could order pizza," my mom suggested as she came back into the room.
"After you spent all afternoon telling me how good Rusty's casseroles are?" Roger teased. I blinked. My mom had actually told him that? "I was kind of looking forward to a home cooked meal." After a long pause he clumsily added, "But pizza sounds great, too."
I noticed my mom giving me a hopeful look and realized that they'd been waiting on me to offer. "No. I think we've got everything we need for me to whip something up,"
I headed into the kitchen and began pulling ingredients from the cupboards and the fridge. I heard my mom's laugh floating in from the other room. It was a sound I didn't hear nearly often enough. I stopped working for a few moments and just listened to it, feeling warm.
I couldn't help but wonder if maybe Roger would turn out to be "the one". He seemed nice. He at least seemed to think I was okay, and clearly Mom liked him.
I really hoped he'd stick around for a while.
If only I'd known then what I know now.
A/N: Reviews are greatly appreciated and encourage me to write faster ;) Thanks for reading!