Telescope Eyes

Micah stepped on the solid cement of the staircase softly, trying to make her body soak up the pressure of her foot on each stair so that the small boy in her arms would feel none of it. The loud sounds of cars were enough to make her nervous already—this was the first time he’d slept in days and she’d do anything to let him rest.

Micah made it to the top step and sent a text to the boy inside the apartment letting him know she was there and to stay quiet. The door was being opened soon and she followed the familiar smile into his residence, following him to a room where she laid the small, frail boy in her arms onto a mattress, tucking him in with a loving kiss on the head. She stole one last glance at the pale boy tucked into the sheets before escaping the room and walking back into the living room quietly.

She looked at the boy who had taken the liberty to go and grab the rest of her bags and bring them upstairs for her and she gave him a smile, “Thanks, Eric.”

Eric Halvorsen nodded his head before bringing the girl into a tight hug. “Thank you for coming home, Micah. I—I couldn’t stand to see that.”

Micah shrugged as she pulled out of his embrace looking anywhere but his eyes, “You do what you have to do.”

“No, because you know you could’ve come home,” Eric argued.

Micah looked at him with a warning in her eyes, “I don’t want to have this conversation okay, Halvo?”

He nodded his head and put his hands in his pockets. The room was filled with an awkward silence and Micah looked around the small apartment. It was a bachelor pad for sure. The brown wooded floors had few scarce rugs and the couches in the room all faced the large big screen television set. Assortments of alcohol bottles were on a glass shelf above the kitchen bar and a few beer cans were scattered around the room.

“I’ll only be here for a while, okay? I plan on going to see my mom in the morning,” Micah said softly, breaking the silence.

Eric nodded his head before shrugging, “Mic, you know you can stay as long as you want. I’d do anything for you and Colton.”

She smiled softly, “Thanks, Eric…for everything.”

Eric took a step closer to her, tentatively. He placed his hand on her cheek cupping it gently, running his thumb over the bruise that was flowering over her eye, “He wasn’t very happy you left, I suppose?”

Micah bit her lip, trying to stop her tears from falling, “No, but, I needed to get out of there…that’s no place for Colton to be around. And, I just—I couldn’t take it anymore. I got my tips and left; ran straight for the bus station.”

Eric gulped, “Never go back there, again? I will give you anything you need. I don’t care about your pride. I refuse to find you that way ever again.”

Micah chuckled lifelessly, “Not exactly the best lap dance you ever got, huh?”

Eric shook his head with melancholy on his lips, “I would have enjoyed it more if it hadn’t of been your job.”

She looked away and stared at the room where her child was sleeping. She felt guilty for him having to sit backstage as she took off her clothes and danced around. She felt sick that she was dancing on guys laps while her kid was in the back coloring. She felt shameful that that was the only way she knew how to support her family.

“Vegas swallowed me up, Eric,” she said softly, letting a tear fall from her eyelid.

Eric grabbed her hand and pulled her into his chest. She hugged her best friend as he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, “Then let Arizona fix you.”

*

Micah looked up at the house in front of her, taking each step carefully once she exited her blue BMW behind her. The lawn was perfectly mowed, not one piece of grass out of the place. The sidewalk was perfectly swept making sure that not one rock from the landscaper’s masterpiece was looking off. The house was as perfect as it always had been.

She supposed it was her mother’s way of coping after her father passed. Her mother moved them home to Arizona when she was only fourteen years of age from Las Vegas, where the Air Force had stationed her father temporarily before shipping him off to Iraq.

Micah knocked on the door softly, taking notice to the American flag that was waving by the home’s entrance in the wind. Her father always used to tell her that ‘Freedom wasn’t free.’ She never fully understood what he meant until she lost him.

“Micah, oh honey, you look beautiful.”

Micah turned to the voice that was coming from the open door and smiled her first real smile in what seemed like days, “Hey, Momma.”

“Darling, come in come in. It’s so hot outside we don’t need you baking under the sun any longer, you’re already tan enough from that Vegas heat as well,” her mother gushed, welcoming her into the place Micah remembered from her childhood vaguely. Her mother refurnished and redecorated so often that it was hard to remember how the house even started.

Micah chuckled, “I like the new floorings.”

Her mother led her into the kitchen where she was baking over a dozen cookies, “Maybe if you came around more often you could help decorate, hmm?”

She chuckled, hearing the same speech she’d heard for over the past four years, “Yes, mother.”

Micah took a seat at the island stool inside their kitchen and rested her arms on the marbled counters. She looked up at her mother’s youthful features. She may have been a mother of two but you would hardly be able to tell. She had Micah when she was only sixteen years old and her brother Daniel about seven years later.

“So what brings you home, honey? Term doesn’t end for two more months!” Her mother exclaimed, a smile on her lips at the unexpected visit.

Micah didn’t have the courage to tell her mother that she had dropped out over a year ago. “Oh you know, I got ahead and I have some time so I’m just heading out for summer early this semester. ”

“Good girl getting ahead in your studies, just like your mother raised you!” her mother laughed. “Where’s Colton, honey?”

“He’s spending some time with Eric,” Micah grinned, thinking about her little boy. “They don’t see each other too often so they love spending time with one another.”

“Eric upset that he’s Momma’s Little Boy and not Daddy’s?” She laughed.

Micah shrugged nonchalantly, “Who knows. So, how is Daniel doing?” She asked, changing the subject quickly before guilt got the best of her.

“He’s doing great, he should be home from school soon, actually. He’s got a baseball party this afternoon. Oh, Micah! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this,” Her mother began, her voice full of suspense. “You will never guess who coaches his club baseball team!”

“Who?” Micah questioned as she stood up and began helping her mother place the hot cookies into Tupper Wear containers.

“John O’Callaghan,” Mom said with a smile.

“Well I’ll be damned,” she replied softly, an uneasy grin on her lips. He had always loved baseball, ever since the first day she had met him.

“Yes ma’am, say, why don’t you take Daniel to his meeting today? I’m sure John would love to see you again! You two used to be nearly inseparable,” her mother commented.

Micah shrugged, acting as if no bone in her thin body cared, “Yeah you know, things change. People grow up.”

Mrs. Crosby grinned at her daughter, “Well, maybe you two can hang out again. I honestly miss seeing him around the house. Though, Daniel is very good friends with his younger brother Samuel, so I still have an O’Callaghan running around causing havoc.”

Micah laughed, running her hand through her long blonde hair, “We used to get in a lot of trouble, didn’t we?”

“Oh, too much, darling,” she laughed.

Micah continued placing the cookies into the plastic containers as she heard the front door open and a bag fall to the floor. Footsteps were hitting the floor and making their way to the kitchen, and then her name was being yelled, “Micah!”

Micah turned and faced her younger brother, whose tall frame was towering over hers. “Daniel Crosby, get over here and give me a hug!”

Daniel took three long strides across the kitchen and picked his sister up in his arms, “What the hell are you doing here?” His deep voice boomed.

“Language,” their mother instructed.

Micah and Daniel chuckled, “I’m just visiting for a while, you know. I see puberty finally hit.”

Daniel ran a hand through his choppy blonde hair. He was wearing skinny jeans and a loose fitting baseball t shirt. His tanned skin made his blue eyes shine and for a fifteen year old he was already extremely tall—Micah guessed he stood about 6’2.

“It hit a few years ago actually and let me tell you, the ladies love it!” Daniel laughed.

“Daniel why don’t you go get cleaned up? Your party will start soon and Micah here is going to take you,” the sibling’s mother grinned.

“All right, yeah cool. I’ll be right back!” He smiled before jogging up the stairs quickly to go rinse off.

“Goodness, he’s so big…it’s so weird,” Micah said softly, amazed at how much her brother had changed in a matter of a few short years.

“Just wait, Colton will be there soon enough,” Mrs. Crosby grinned.

“Ugh, don’t even go there, Mom. I don’t want to even think about him growing old…or dating, just ah! Can’t he stay my little baby forever?” Micah sighed, leaning her back against the cool counter behind her.

“I believe I said the same thing about you two,” her mom sighed.

The two sat in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the other’s company. Micah knew how hard it was for her mother to see Daniel growing up because with every birthday she was reminded that he too would be gone soon. Soon her mother would be alone in a house built for four.

“He looks so much like Dad,” Micah sighed, thinking of how much her younger brother had grown.

“I know he does. And it makes me so happy, Micah. Daniel is so much like your father…so much. I just wish he had gotten a chance to really know him you know?”

“I know. Dad was the best man I’d ever met in my life…” Micah sighed, thinking back to the man that her father was. He was so selfless, and funny, and he just wanted to live.

“John has really helped Daniel out a lot. He really looks up to him like a father figure,” her mother said sweetly. “He in many ways has taught him more about life than I’ve been able to from the male perspective, you know? It’s good for Daniel.”

“John is like my brotha’,” Daniel chuckled entering the room. “Ready, Micah?”

“Whenever you are, kiddo,” Micah laughed, using the nick name she knew her brother hated.

“I should be calling you, kiddo, you midget!” Daniel chuckled, grabbing the cookies from his mother and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Micah followed in suit and their mother walked them to the door.

“Don’t be out too late, Daniel has school tomorrow! And Micah, bring my grandson by soon, please?”

“Of course, Mom!” Micah smiled as she led her brother to her car.

Her and Daniel climbed inside and she placed her hands on the steering wheel, “Where to?”

Daniel gave her directions as they began driving down the road to John’s new house. It was weird, only four years ago things were so different. Micah would have been driving to John’s parent’s house to sneak him out to go to a party or something, but now she was driving her teenage brother to John’s house for a meeting. They had grown up so much.

“How’s school going? Enjoying Sophomore year?” Micah asked as they began driving on the highway.

“It’s so much fun, Mic. I decided to take an AP class this year which was a horrible idea—mind you, but I mean it’s hard but a good kind of hard. It challenges me but only having one gives me the ability to still have time to hang out with friends and stuff, it’s a good mixture,” he replied, looking out the window at passing cars.

“That’s good, what class is it?”

“World History, it sucks completely, I mean, who cares at all? But it’s interesting I suppose. I know a lot of useless sh—stuff that I wouldn’t have known before,” he chuckled. “Sorry, I’ll try to watch my mouth more if Colton is going to be around the house.”

Micah laughed, “Good idea, I’m already nervous about him being with Eric and his potty mouth right now. Who knows what I’m going to go home to.”

“Are you and Eric like, together?” Daniel questioned, looking at her.

“Nah, you know, we just—we’re just best friends,” she stated simply.

“Yet you have a child?”

Micah shrugged, keeping her eyes on the road, “Someday you’ll understand.”

“Does John still not know about Colton? Like, you and Eric haven’t told him yet?” Daniel asked nervously.

“No, I’ll tell him soon…Eric and I just thought it’d be best for now,” Micah replied shortly, not wanting to continue this conversation.

Daniel sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “So, I like this girl…”

Micah was happy that her brother didn’t push on the conversation. She squealed softly, “Spill!”

“Her name is Casey. She’s a junior,” her brother replied with a small blush on his cheek.

“Oh, you like those older women, huh?” Micah teased.

“Shut up,” he laughed. “Anyways, we’ve hooked up once or twice but I’m still too nervous to ask her out.”

“You’ve ‘hooked up?!’” Micah exclaimed. “Daniel! That is how babies are made, trust me, I would know.”

Daniel chuckled, “All we’ve done is made out and a little more, no sex, geez.”

“I cannot believe we’re having this conversation and that you’ve done a little more than make out. This is freaking me out,” Micah groaned. “If you ever need condoms let me know, okay? Or if she needs to go to the clinic or something you better tell me. I don’t approve of this in the least but you’re a teenager and I know you will do it regardless, so just tell me, okay?”

“You’d go buy me condoms?” Daniel laughed.

“Hell yes I would! I would rather be embarrassed for a few moments than to have another little one running around right now! Trust me, all it takes is one time, Danny,” she replied.

“Well, thanks, Micah. But I mean, I think if I needed anything John would help me too, he already offered,” Daniel laughed. “And plus—he’s already my place to crash after parties and sh—

“What?” Micah interrupted.

“Crap,” her brother laughed. “Don’t tell mom, please?”

“I won’t, but you may have to when she asks about how your baseball coach died!” Micah retorted, shaking her head angrily.

Daniel chuckled, “Hey at least we’re being safe right? Come on, Micah. I know you had plenty of fun in high school.”

She sighed, “That’s what scares me. If you’re half as bad as I was then we are definitely in trouble. I don’t even want you to know what I did in high school.”

He laughed again, “Don’t worry sis, you’re secrets are safe with me. I heard you could beast a keg stand though? Care to show me some tricks?”

“That is definitely not happening,” Micah laughed. “Nice try though.”

Micah pulled her car up to a house where the attention seemed to be considering there were about six other cars parked around it. She looked up the beautifully landscaped yard and at the house itself—it was beautiful. It stood two stories high and was painted a crisp, pure white. The shutters on the windows were painted mint green and Micah could instantly tell that Mrs. O’Callaghan had a hand in the décor.

Micah stepped out of the car and into the summer heat following her brother up the porch steps to the door. His large tanned hand pounded on the door loudly before opening the door handle and welcoming himself in. She followed behind him nervously, taking a moment to wipe her feet on the mat at the door that read: It’s Beer:30. You’re right on time.

Micah and Daniel stepped into the house which was completely full. Parents were around the family room making conversation with one another as boys ran throughout the house causing trouble. Screams echoed throughout the residence as water balloons were being thrown—upsetting many parents considering they were indoors but the owner didn’t seem to care. And the fact that he didn’t wasn’t surprising to Micah at all.

She followed her brother deeper into the home and into the kitchen where an assortment of foods adorned the counter. There had to have been at least twenty different boxes of pizza, a vegetable tray, and a lot of drinks. Micah placed down the bin of cookies and instantly five boys surrounded her grabbing some of them. They all gave her brother pats on the back while not so slyly eyeing her up.

“Ew bro, she’s my sister!” Daniel exclaimed pushing one of his friends away, causing Micah to turn red.

Micah took out her cell phone and padded away at the screen, ignoring the perverted comments her brother’s teammates were making thinking that she couldn’t hear them.

To: Halvo <3
How’s my baby doing?

Micah closed her phone and placed it in her pocket instantly feeling nervous. She hadn’t seen John in over four years now. What was she supposed to say to him? Were they friends now? They didn’t really leave on the best of terms. Would that be the past?

“Mic, you okay?”

She turned her eyes to her baby brother’s blue ones who were gazing into her own, “Uh yeah, I’m fine. I’m just going to get some fresh air, okay? Go talk to your friends.”

Micah ignored the nervous look on her brother’s lips as she made her way out the sliding glass door and stood in the backyard. There was green grass that surrounded a kidney shaped swimming pool. She slipped off her grey toms and took a seat at the edge of the pool, letting her feet slide into the cold blue water. She felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket and she opened the text she had just received.

From: Halvo <3
Mm, I’m doing fine, honey bunches. Oh wait, were you asking about Colton? I suppose he’s doing fine as well (;

Micah laughed at her best friend’s joke and smiled at nothing. She stared out in front of her blankly, thinking of Colton before slipping her shoes back on and walking back into the house. Her head was down as she walked to the sliding glass door and as she began stepping through it her body collided with another. “I’m so sorry!” She said instantly, looking up a second later.

He had a confused grin on his lips as his green eyes bore into hers. It amazed Micah how much he had changed. His long hair that once hung in his eyes was short and choppy, his skinny jeans were replaced by jeans that might as well have been leggings, but he still had the same grin; the same one that had always made her heart beat a million miles an hour.

“Crosby?” He asked, his raspy voice hitting the air.

She smiled weakly, feeling her skin flush involuntarily, “Hey John.”