Save Me

My hand was firmly wrapped around Tryce’s for the entire airplane ride back to Texas. A million things were swarming my mind, making it easy for the time to pass. Tryce conked out on me too, so I had no other choice but to get lost in my thoughts since I didn’t want to talk to a complete stranger. The other people in the first class section were all wealthy businessmen anyway, people that I don’t think I’d want anything to do with.

Tryce spent the last two days at my father’s house and let me tell you, it was pretty out of the ordinary. I had become so accustomed to staying at his house that I forgot what it was like within the place that I’m supposed to refer to as my home—I use that term loosely. I still barely knew my way around the place since I would spend almost all of my time in my bedroom when I was forced to be there.

My father was kind though. He enjoyed having Tryce around and he didn’t argue with me when he was in the room. It’s almost as if in some sickening way, he viewed Tryce as the son he wish he had. My father’s gold digger hated Tryce though, probably because he flat out said she was too young for my father the first time he saw her. I can’t blame him, it’s a fact, but that didn’t deter my father from getting to know him again. And if he likes him, she has to like him, or else she will no longer have access to his obscene amounts of money.

Tee also seemed to love hanging out in the garage, making me just drive him around town in the Lamborghini my father gave me my first day here as an attempt to bribe me. He liked the indoor pool as well. Honestly, I didn’t even know we had one. He found it by accident and pushed me in in my clothing, right then and there. If there is some type of body of water anywhere within miles, Tryce will be able to sniff it out. I’m not even kidding you. He’s like a hound dog when it comes to stuff like that.

But that’s beside the point.

The point is that I like being in my own home again, exploring new territory. The selfish creature that resides within me loves the fast, expensive cars and the easy access alcohol among other things. The house is so big that I truly could avoid my father if I wanted to.

I know that Tee doesn’t like him either, mainly because of the horror stories I told him within days of us re-connecting again, but he’s putting up with him. I think he’s being rather selfish too. He seems to enjoy the more luxurious things in life, something that I now have a lot of access too. I guess it is why he was so excited to ride first class on an airplane for the first time, which, by the way, he paid for with his father’s credit card, insisting that I’m spoiling him enough by allowing him to crash under my roof for the shortest period of time.

Of course Tryce would always be a gentleman. He has that southern charm about him that lures one in and keeps you there for eternity. You can’t help but gravitate towards someone like him.

To be honest, I’m thinking of asking him to crash at my place once we touch back down in Florida in a week. I don’t know if his mother will have cooled down by then or not, but I want him to know that he has somewhere else to go. And if by some miracle she does manage to cool down, things between the two of them will always be awkward. I think they’re going to be a bit strained no matter what, just because she’s always going to secretly be ashamed of him. His father will adore him no matter what, but there’s no such pain as a mother that is scorned.

At least that’s what I hear.

The second I saw the fasten seatbelts symbol go off on the headboard, I elbowed Tryce. I didn’t realize how harshly I had done it, since he jolted the second I made contact with him, but I guess my excitement got the best of me.

I really have missed my mother and I just want to see her again, have her give me a hug goodnight and a kiss on the forehead if I’m ever upset.

Tryce quickly grabbed my hand the second the captain’s voice came over the intercom system, instructing us that we were minutes away from landing.

I squeezed his hand tighter, looking over at him with an almost giddy smile on my lips.

This is it.

*

The second the plane landed and we were allowed to stand up from our seats, I grabbed Tryce’s hand and tugged him into the aisle, wanting to get off of this flying monstrosity as soon as possible. The old lady in front of us was moving at an incredibly slow pace and I fought the urge to scream at her to move faster, just barely succeeding. I would be a worried mess if Tryce wasn’t behind me, his hand resting dutifully on my shoulder.

“Just relax,” he instructed me, whispering me soothingly in my ear.

I shook my head, breathing in and out, silently willing the old lady in front of me to move a bit faster, but being patient nonetheless.

The second we were off the airplane, I speed walked towards baggage claim, surprisingly myself the knowledge of this airport’s layout. When I lived with my mother, we often travelled. She loved travelling and I could tell you how to navigate this place as if the map was printed on the back of my hand since my day of birth. I didn’t think I’d be able to remember the basic layout after being so far away from it for a while. As far as I knew, I would never actually see it again. That last thought alone is heartbreaking.

Tryce and I waited patiently, side by side, for our bags to make it around the conveyor belt. He occasionally grabbed my hand, squeezing it gently as a way to calm my nerves since it seemed as if it was taking forever. They were having some trouble getting the conveyor belt to work, but after twenty or so minutes of waiting, it finally jumped to life.

“Morgie,” he whispered quietly, catching my attention. I looked up at him, wondering what he wanted to tell me. “Look,” he said, a miniscule smile on his lips as he pointed at a random site.

I followed his gaze, laughing at the cute site before us. There were two little boys, one blond and one with dark hair much like my own, holding hands and swinging them back and forth as they waiting for their bags to arrive.

“That’s so adorable!” I murmured quietly, not even realizing that Tryce had temporarily gotten my thoughts off of my mother.

“Like miniature versions of us,” he said around another smile, watching them intently.

Two high-pitched giggles quickly sounded from the boys as they ran towards the belt, their hands still connected as they chased their bags around a tiny bit, having a bit of trouble pulling off what seemed to be a Buzz Light-year and Woody briefcase set from Toy Story. I wish I was half as cool when I was their age.

“God, that’s fucking adorable,” Tryce murmured absent-mindedly, watching the young kids depart with their families while I kept a look out for Tryce’s red duffle bag and my red one.

“There they are!” I said around a smile, running up to the belt and tugging both of them off and onto the floor, my excitement finally getting the better of me.

“Yours is heavy,” I warned him as I pushed it towards him, shaking my head as he hoisted it over his shoulder with ease. He makes me feel like such a weakling.

“I’ll take yours,” he said around a smile, throwing it over his other shoulder as we started walking.

“Thank you, Tee,” I smiled, leaning up to press a small kiss to his lips.

“No problem,” he assured me. “Now lead the way. I have a mother to meet and some friends to be introduced to!” He said around a chuckle.

I chuckled too, but quickly started walking towards the main area of the airport, pausing the second that I saw a familiar bandana being swung wildly in the air. I looked at Tryce and he laughed before nodding, giving me the okay to run and he’ll catch up with me.

Without a second thought, I ran throw the crowd, staring straight at my old pink bandana that my mother had stolen from me because she liked the color so much. When the crowd finally parted, I could see her standing there, a wig on her head, a big sweater swamping her tiny frame, and a comfortable pair of sweatpants adoring her legs. It didn’t matter that she had lost even more weight and I could tell that her arms were now toothpicks. No, what mattered was that she was less than fifty feet away from me, smiling like she never had before as she raised one of our stupid bandanas above her head wildly, her caring nurses standing behind her and watching her with somber expressions on their faces.

I took off, halting in front of her and carefully wrapping my arms around her. I forgot how tiny she was, how she barely comes up to my shoulders. I could stand there forever, breathing in her sent and listening to her chant my name over and over again with excitement as her bony hands rubbed soothing circles into my back, but I wanted to get home. I missed my home, my real home, the one that I had lived in for most of my life.

I turned around, catching Tryce’s attention as he put our bags on the ground a few feet away. My mother smiled at him, patting his cheek gently before taking my hand and guiding me out of the airport and into her old beat-up minivan that one of her nurses decided to drive for us.

No words had to be exchanged during this moment because it was simply perfect. I was sitting in the back of my favorite car, despite its old paint and salty smell of countless McDonald’s french fries, holding hands with my mother while my boyfriend carefully massaged my knee.

It didn’t matter that Tryce had never been to Texas and was staring out of the window with both wonder and fascination. It didn’t matter that I no longer had any of the luxurious I had back in Florida. It didn’t matter that my Mom was so sick and my Dad was a selfish bastard who I was ashamed to be related to.

Right now, in this very moment, everything is perfect and I’ll be damned if anything goes wrong for this entire week.