Cash In Now Honey

After eating breakfast, the guys tagged along to my scouting thing for Billabong. The kid’s name Ryan and he wasn’t bad but he wasn’t amazing either. I told him that we’d let him know before he and his dad took off, leaving us at the lake.

“What’d you think?” Kevin asked me from where he was on the dock.

“Not bad, not amazing,” I told him. “I’m trying to get Billabong to pick up Mark McMorris.”

“For snow?” Jack asked me.

“And wake. He’s ranked in wake in Canada,” I told him. “Alright, anyone want to go for a few runs?” Jack and Kevin declined but Luke climbed onto the boat with me and we headed out to the other side of the lake.

“Have you done this before?” I asked him.

“Nope,” he replied.

“Alright, it’s a lot like riding a snowboard once you get up out of the water. Keep low to move a little smoother over the water. Jumping wake, you should be alright. You know, since you snow and skateboard this should be pretty easy for you. But rule number one,” I said to him, letting this sink in. “Always wear a helmet.”

“KP getting to you?” he asked me with a grin.

“No, I always wear one when I board,” I told him. “If wake doesn’t work, we’ve got skis.”

“Skis are for wimps,” he said. I laughed and handed him the board.

“Like I said, it’s a lot like snowboarding. Bindings and everything work the same way except the boots stay on the board. The board will bring you back up when you fall. Just kind of let yourself float. It’s not comfortable but it’s better than swallowing a gallon of lake water,” I told him. He nodded and stood from the floor of the boat.

“How are you so good at all of this stuff?” he asked me.

“I did anything to get out of the house when I lived with my dad. If you ever meet him, you’ll understand,” I told him. “Okay, you ready?” Luke nodded and sat on the end of the boat and strapped in. He got into the water and swam out a little. I threw him the tether line and went and started up the boat. I looked back and he gave me a thumbs up so I pushed down the throttle. I looked back after a couple seconds and didn’t see Luke. I pulled the boat around and saw him in the water, just hanging out.

“This is fucking hard,” he yelled to me. I cut the engine and went to the back of the boat.

“You want to try again?” I asked him.

“Yeah, just how do you get up?” he asked.

“You gotta bend your knees and push down at the same time,” I told him. “It might take a few tries.” I tossed him the line again and the process began. It took Luke fours times and one serious face plant to get on his feet. He went a few more times before being done, which I didn’t blame him for because the water was freezing. I pulled the boat up a few feet from him and went to the back. Luke had disengaged from the board and it was floating towards the boat. I grabbed it and placed it on the bench and Luke tossed me his helmet. I extended my hand to help him onto the boat but ended up getting pulled into the lake. I surfaced and saw Luke sitting on the platform on the back of the boat with a smirk on his face.

“You’re such a jerk,” I said as I swam over to the boat. Luke offered me his hand and I took it, pulling myself up. I wrung out my hair, grabbed my hoodie, and pulled it on. “I’m heading in.” I started the boat and pushed down on the throttle. I docked and Luke jumped off the boat, tying it up. Jack came over and handed us both towels.

“The two of you are crazy. That water has got to be freezing,” he said.

“It is,” I commented. Luke nodded in reply. We grabbed our stuff and headed for the truck. I tossed my stuff in the back and climbed into the backseat. Luke climbed in the front seat and looked back at me. I buckled up and looked out the window as Jack began back towards their house. I scrambled out of the truck and grabbed my stuff before walking towards the house. I went and showered, trying to warm up. There was a knock on the door as I was brushing through my hair. I opened the door and saw Jack.

“Hey, sorry to bug you but your phone has been blowing up downstairs,” he said. I took my phone and saw I had like twenty missed calls from my dad and brothers.

“Thanks Jack,” I said. He nodded and came into the bathroom and sat on the counter as I hit send and called my brother Justin.

“Carson, where are you?” Justin asked me, having an urgent tone.

“I’m in Vermont with Kevin Pearce and Jack and Luke Mitrani. Why?” I asked him as I continued combing my hair.

“How long are you going to be gone?” he asked me.

“Probably about two or three weeks. Why?”

“Mom’s here.” I dropped my phone on the ground. I stared at it in shock. I hadn’t seen or spoken to my mom since I was five. When Justin started yelling and I didn’t pick up the phone, Jack picked up.

“Hello? Yeah, this is Jack,” he said. He put the phone on speaker and sat it on the counter. He went to leave but I grabbed his arm and held him where he was. I needed someone around at the moment.

“Justin, why is she there?” I asked him slowly.

“Said she wanted to see her kids, especially her daughter,” he told me, sounding pissed.

“Did she ever think that maybe we don’t want to see her?” I asked.

“She and Dad have been going at it for the past hour. He said he doesn’t want her to see you because she’ll just create a mind fuck, then up and leave. He was practically raving about how amazing you’ve turned out without any help from her and that she has no right to just walk in like this. That she gave up that right when she walked out,” Justin said.

“Good for Dad,” I replied. Jack stood and looked at me for a few seconds. I nodded and he headed downstairs. “Justin, I’ll call Dad later okay? If she asks, tell Carrie I don’t want to see or talk to her.” I did not consider that woman to be my mother.

“Okay,” he replied. “I love you sis. Have a good trip.”

“Love you too bro,” I said. I sighed and went downstairs. I heard a new voice and knew Scotty was here. Good, just the person I needed right now. I went down into the kitchen and found everyone sitting at the table. There was a chair open beside Jack but instead I went and sat on Scotty’s lap, turning into him and wrapping my arms around his neck tightly like I always did when something was getting to me. He rubbed my back while he ate and talked to everyone. Luke came in the back door and gave me a quizzical look. I looked down at the floor immediately and held onto Scotty tighter.

“Car, I can’t breathe,” he said to me.

“Sorry,” I whispered as I loosened my grip only the slightest bit. He wrapped his arms tightly around me and stood. I wrapped my legs around his torso and he carried me into the living room and sat on the large microfiber couch. I loosened my grip a little so Scott could see my face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me as he pushed some hair from my face.

“My mom showed up,” I told him.

“What? When?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Justin just called and said she was asking for me,” I told him.

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I guess my dad let her have it, telling her I turned out great without any help from her so why did she come around now,” I told him.

“You gonna talk to her?” Scotty asked, rubbing my back. I shook my head no. “Why not?”

“She’ll just create this huge mind fuck and then leave like she did when I was five. I can’t deal with that. I’m so happy with my life. When I graduated, I full accepted the fact that she wasn’t ever coming back and I don’t want to mess that up,” I told him.

“It’s gonna be alright kid. Just forget about it, forget about her. I know that she’s your mom but I’m with your dad on this one. You turned out amazing without any help from her,” Scotty said with a smile, trying to get me to smile but I couldn’t. This was going to bug me. I stayed pretty much attached to Scotty the rest of the night and the remainder of our time at Mitrani’s. Everyone knew what had happened and Luke was constantly there to try and cheer me up, which I appreciated even though he had no idea about my family situation with my mom. After a few days, it really had sunk in that my mom had shown up and fucked up my family again. I got my frustration out of the way all in one day with the help of Liza. We hung out in her room with a bunch of food that’s horrible for you and watched girly movies and stayed in our pajamas, at least until Scotty came in and threw me in the shower with my pajamas still on. He said he did it because he loved me and I needed some tough love, that I needed to just forget about my mom and enjoy my trip and the company I had. After that day, I really started enjoying Luke’s company in particular. When Luke’s smile and laugh was the first thing I thought of when I woke up in the morning and the last thing I thought about when I went to sleep, I knew I was really starting to fall for Luke but didn’t know if I was ready for it or not. I was currently sitting in the back seat with Luke and Scotty on the way to Kevin’s house for a few days. I had just woken up and had found myself with my head on Luke’s shoulder and my legs curled up in his lap, his arm half around me to keep me sitting up. Jack pulled the car to a stop in front of a beautiful house with a huge porch and attached building.
“Home sweet home,” Kevin said as he opened his door.