I Know A Secret

When Dustin had been gone for over a month, I feared that he would never return. But at least he kept in touch with Angela and I though. He told me about his new school and how there was actually a teacher more boring than Ms. Goth. He even thought about joining the football team there. That's when I realized he may not come back. I wanted everything to be back to normal and didn't like not seeing him everyday. Angela felt the same way and wanted to find a way to get him to come back. Angela decided to go to his mom and see if she would meet with him. I called him and asked him to come down and meet me at the mall so we could hang out one weekend. Angela and I walked over to Mrs. Broke's house that Thursday to talked with her for a while. Mrs. Broke really didn't want to deal with Dustin anymore at that point. She and the coach had broken up after the whole ordeal and she feared that if she ever wanted to date again it would all be jeopardized by her son's wild antics. She was tired of being alone. Tired of being the poor, single mother. Mrs. Broke wanted to find love again but Dustin would never let her. The coach had not been the only man who wanted to date her. He was just the one that had stuck around the longest. She figured that as long as Dustin was in capable hands he would be fine and she would be free to do as she pleased. Then Angela asked about the pregnancy and if she would consider getting back with the coach for the child's sake. Then Mrs. Broke sighed and looked down at the floor. I nudged Angela for upsetting the woman that way but Mrs. Broke said it was okay.

"I've had to make some tough decisions in my life. This, by far, was the toughest. I don't want anything else to do with the coach and I can't possibly afford to take care of another baby. A couple of weeks ago I went down to the clinic."

The both of us knew exactly what that meant. But we also knew that Mrs. Broke did not want Dustin back even though she wasn't having the coach's baby anymore. We thanked her for having talked with us and walked back home. We couldn't really know what would happen when Dustin and his mom talked. We just had to wait and see. Saturday finally came and I met up with Dustin at the mall. Angela had cheer practice that afternoon so I had him all to myself until his mom got there. Upon seeing him, he was the same boy had been when he left. No taller, shorter skinnier, or fatter. I didn't get butterflies like I usually do when I first saw him. I just studied him a bit and breathed him in when he hugged me. He smelled so nice and familiar. I was disappointed when his first question to me was, "Where's Angela?" I sighed and told him she wasn't here so he had nothing to worry about. Then he grabbed my face and kissed me as if he had been waiting all this time to do so. Then I had to tell him the bad news. He pulled him even closer to me and stroked his soft, blond hair and whispered, "I brought you here to talk to your mom." He quickly tried to pull away from me but I jerked him by his shirt. "You need to resolve this." I said firmly.

"I already know she doesn't want me around. Why would I need to have a conversation with her about that?" He looked at me with seriousness in his eyes. I sighed and tried to explain things to him.

"There's some information you don't fully understand. You just have to talk to your mom--"

"Do you know?" He rudely interrupted. I didn't want to lie to him. "Yea, I know. That's why you have to talk to your mom. She needs to tell you."

I looked around the store and finally saw Mrs. Broke walking in the door holding Beau's hand. I was relieved and quickly ran up to her and took Beau so that she could talk to Dustin. Beau and I went to the food court and had ice cream then went to play on the slides in the middle of the mall. It was such a surprise to me watching Beau. He acted just like a normal kid despite how crazy his home life was. Then I wondered if he really understood what was going on so I asked him. "So, do you miss Dustin, Beau?"

He looked up at me from the slide and matter-of-factly said, "Yes, but mommy won't let him come back." I was very surprised that he knew even that small bit of information. "Well, Dustin and your mom are having a talk and I'm pretty sure your mom will let him come back afterwards."

"Really?" He looked up at me with the excitement and naivety of a child.

"Yep, really." I answered hoping to God that I was right.

When I saw Mrs. Broke and Dustin walking up to us I was relieved. Neither of them looked angry so I knew they must not have argued too much. I observed them as they got closer and saw that they both had been crying. I knew then that she had told him what she did. Mrs. Broke didn't really say anything to me as she walked up.

She only mumbled, "Thanks for watching Beau." Then she took him by the hand and led him out of the middle of the mall. I looked at Dustin's face and saw his sadness. I reached out to hug him and told him I was sorry.

"So am I." he said back. He held me for a long time and then we walked down a narrow hallway where the bathrooms were. Then we both slid down and sat against the wall.

"I can't believe my mom would do that. I mean, she was only 17 when she got pregnant with me and she wasn't even married to my dad yet. If my dad was still alive, he wouldn't have let her do that."

I took his hand and stroked it lightly like my mom does to me and Angela when we're upset. "Well she had to do what she had to do, Dustin. When you and Beau came around at least she had your dad."

Dustin sighed and looked down. "I miss him a lot, Lil."

"I know you do. Your mom misses him, too. That's why she wants to date. She's tired if sitting around and missing you dad. Your mom only wants to be happy."

"Yea, I know. That's why I apologized and asked to come back and promised her that I'd stay out of her dating life. And she promised me that she wouldn't date anyone that I would come in direct contact in daily life, like teachers."

"It's about time. Now why didn't I think of this sooner?" I put my arm around his shoulder.

"So, how's Pleasantview been without me?" He inquired with that same old smirk.

"Eh, you didn't miss anything."

"Oh, but I did." he said slyly.

"Did you?"

"Yep, I did, and her name just happens to be Lilith Pleasant."

"Is that so?" I asked.

"It is. To be completely honest with you, I haven't even thought about Angela."

"Hmm," was all I could come up with. I was somewhat comforted by the fact that Dustin missed me, but disheartened that he didn't miss my sister at all. It was so weird. She's actually his girlfrind. Usually I could care less about Angela's feelings but now I was feeling a bit guilty about the whole arrangement that Dustin and I had. Since when do I feel remorse for things?