Stay

“Mom? I’m home.” I called out again. Still, no one answered.

I ran upstairs to my mom’s room. I heard familiar voices so I decided to open the door. When I got in, she was sitting on her bed, talking to someone on the phone while taking down notes. Her eyes told me she was tired and her expressions told me she was worried. I waited for her to hang up so she would tell me what’s happening.

“What’s up, mom?” I asked after she hung up.

“Something terrible happened to your Aunt Lisa. Nobody can look after her because they all have work so I have to go to Atlanta tomorrow,” she said.

“W-w-wait, I? You’re going without me? Why and what happened to her?”

“Yes, I have to leave you behind because I’m getting the money from our savings. I’m still two weeks off from work so I don’t get any payment. I hope you understand. And she experienced a mild stroke recently. But they already got medical attention.”

“Are you driving?”

“No, I’m not taking the car. I’ll book a flight for-.”

“What time?” I cut her off.

“As soon as possible.”

“Do you need help in packing?” I asked.

“Yes! Please. The suitcase is in the attic.”

So, I went to the attic to grab her medium-sized purple suitcase and started folding and packing her clothes. I started with the most important, undergarments. From there, I went to jeans to shorts to shirts and blouses to tank tops. Meanwhile, she tried to book the soonest flight possible from Orlando to Atlanta.

“How many days, mom?”

“The longest would be two weeks. I can’t afford to lose my job here in Florida,” she said.

“What if they needed you for more than two weeks?” I asked, just to be sure.

“Then I have to make sacrifices.”

Look at my mom. She is the most selfless woman I have ever met in my life. She looked out to others first before herself. I don’t get why I’m not like her.

--
Almost 5 hours passed, and it’s just 8:00 P.M. I usually don’t sleep until 1:00 A.M. and I had nothing important to do. So, I decided to eat dinner by myself since I was hungry. And mom was still upstairs, busy planning for her flight tomorrow. I wish I could go to Atlanta and see all of my relatives.

Anyway, I haven’t had Buffalo wings in forever. I would like to savor all of them but I’m sure my mom could use some right now. So, I left five pieces for her to relish. And one blue cheese dip. After a few minutes, she went downstairs and joined me at the dinner table.

“Are these for me?” She smiled and pulled the plate with five Buffalo wings.

I nodded and continued eating.

She looked at me and sighed. “Will you be okay?” She took a bite from the Buffalo wing.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me, mom. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay. I just want to make sure. By the way, I'm leaving very early. I’m leaving at 4 in the morning because the flight is at 5:30.”

“I’ll drive you to the airport.” I insisted.

“No. I want you to have your sleep. I’ll just take a taxi cab.”

“Please, mom.”

She shook her head. Dang it. “I want your phone next to you all the time, okay? Don’t let anyone you don’t know inside the house. Don’t throw a gigantic party. A small one would be okay.” She laughed.

“And call me once in a while.” She continued with a smile on her face.

“I got you, mom.”

“Okay. Here, finish this cause I have to sleep early tonight.” She handed me the plate with 4 Buffalo wings. She got up from the chair and kissed my forehead. She walked upstairs and continued, “don’t stay up too late.”

“Night, mom.” I said. I ended up eating all of the Buffalo wings.

After I was done eating, I put all of the plates into the dishwasher and headed to the basement. I had a small movie marathon by myself. I watched Crazy, Stupid, Love having this impression that Ryan Gosling was that kind of romantic dude from The Notebook but ended up thinking he was a very sexy pimp who did a great job in seducing and attracting women of all ages. Including me. And I watched Man on a Ledge which I thought was pretty boring and clever at the same time. So that is how I spent my 4 hours.

Since it was almost 1 A.M., I decided to sleep the night away. Although, I decided not to sleep in my room, I was to sleep in the guest room upstairs. Which not to mention had a sliding door that lead to the balcony that had an awesome view of the neighborhood. And also, the guest room was close to my mom’s room. I would miss her. Seriously.

I went upstairs and tucked myself in bed. I’m pretty sure I was dreaming already when someone knocked on the sliding door. It was coming from the balcony. Who would be knocking at this hour? I peeked through the curtains a little bit to see who the person was. And to my surprise, it was Thomas Silvers.

I opened the door and whispered, “What the hell are you doing here?” I stepped out.

“I was wondering if your answer still remains the same regarding the offer of playing Call of Duty with me.” He said.

“You could have called first!!! How did you get here? And how did you know I was upstairs?”

He pointed to the huge tree beside the balcony. Of course, how could I forget? We still had the steps me and Riley made on the tree leading to our tree house. But now, the tree house is gone.

“Lucky guess. I tried knocking on your windows downstairs and nobody answered. So my best guess was upstairs. Did I wake you up?” He asked.

“No shit.”

“Sorry! But I warned you that the 'pass' was only for a few hours so can you please play COD with me?”

“Fine. I’ll play. But you have to go that way.” I pointed to the tree.

I sneakily went downstairs and opened the front door for Thomas. We both went downstairs to the basement and set up the Xbox. I tried to watch him first on how to play, learned a few techniques and took notes in my head. Then, we started playing together. It was not that easy and you have to practice. Playing with Thomas was very embarrassing. He knew almost everything and you won’t be surprised on how well he plays. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here figuring out what to do. After a few hours of playing, I grew tired so I lay down on the couch and I watched him play by himself. I couldn’t help but close my eyes a few times. And my last one was probably the longest because he tapped me on the shoulder a little and it woke me up. He was done playing and he had turned off the Xbox.

“Sorry, I was deep thinking.” I tried to excuse myself. I rubbed my eyes and slapped myself a little bit so I could stay awake.

“Yeah, okay.” He said while laughing.

We went upstairs to the living room and he headed towards the front door.

“No, you can use the stairs this time. Although, be quiet?”

He climbed up the stairs behind me. We went inside the guest room and out to the balcony. We looked at the whole neighborhood for a while.

“You have a great view.” He said.

“Yep, try not to be jealous because you might end up here all the time.” I said, jokingly.

“No, I’ll be camping in your balcony all day, every day.”

“Ironic because I have never experienced camping in my entire life. Although, I want to.”

He laughed. “You think the McDonoughs are still awake?”

“I have no idea. It’s like- 3 A.M.-ish. Speaking of, my mom will be awake in an hour. She’s leaving for Atlanta.” The minute I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have. That just means more expected visits from Thomas. In my balcony. Oh boy.

And then, he just hugged me. I stood there, shocked. My arms couldn’t afford to move and
hug him back. It was awkward. He engulfed me into his arms. His muscular arms. I tried to move my right arm and gave him a small pat on the back. He whispered, “Thank you.” And then he pulled away and took my right hand. He lead me inside the guest room and tucked me in bed. He bent over and I swear, I thought this was it. I thought he was going to kiss me. But, he tapped the blanket and said, “Good night.”

He went back out to the balcony and closed the sliding door. I went back to sleep not knowing what he was thankful for.