The Saints Can't Help Me Now

Frieda and I walk out of the gates and I search for my mom until I see her, waving her arms jumping up and down. I laugh and run through the airport, attacking her with a hug. Matthew stands behind her with a big smile. I pick him up and spin him around and he giggles. He’s always enjoyed talking on the phone with me, and I send them pictures all the time with my phone.

Frieda trails behind me, and my mom pulls her into a hug as well. Frieda smiles. She’s always referred to my mom and I as her ‘family of the America’. I put Matthew down and he stands behind me, staring at Frieda with scared eyes. My mom and I laugh.

Frieda smiles and crouches down to his level. “Matthew, we have had the talking on the mobile phone. I will not have the hurting of you. Pinky promise?” He cautiously holds out his pinky and they pink promise. She giggles and ruffles his hair as she stands up.

We find our bags and make our way to my mom’s old car that she’s had since I was young. On the way home, we go to my brother’s favorite restaurant and grab a bite to eat. In the car, my mom starts to catch me up on old gossip around here, telling me about who got divorced and married and who had died. Then , she starts to speak about April Margera. “I was talking to April about you coming home and she’d love to see you.” April and my mother have always been friends as long as we lived here. They work together.

My face turns red. “I mean, I’ll see her when the crew comes in a few weeks. They’re heading to Louisiana first.”

She glances over and pokes me in the cheek. “Aw, Bammy have you all flustered again?”

I roll my eyes. “I’ll tell you about it later, when young ears aren’t about.”

We make it to the house and settle in. My room hasn’t changed one. There are skateboards on the wall, posters of bands I enjoyed when I was younger, and stacks upon stacks of cds. I unpack some things and go down to the kitchen to see Frieda and my mom having a beer together at the counter.

My mom hands me one. “Alright, Mills. Spill.”

I’ve always been close with my mom, and ever since I’ve moved away I’ve told her everything about my love life besides recently. I had kept her updated with a few texts here and there, but hadn’t given her full details on my Johnny and Bam situation. “Well, I pissed off and slept with two guys in the same week.”

My mom just tsks and Frieda spits out a mouthful of beer. Frieda yells. “WHAT DID YOU HAVE THE DOING OF?!”

I laugh. “I’m concerned that Frieda is more concerned than you, mom.”

She shrugs. “You learn by your own mistakes, sweetie. There’s nothing I can do about it now. I mean, I had you when I was 16, and look where your father is now, same with Matthew’s father. I’d be a hypocrite if I told you what to do when it came to guys, because I suck when it comes to that department.”

Frieda frowns. “Why did you not having the telling of this to me?”

“It just happened yesterday. “

“Well we know the first guy is Bam, due to the red cheeks in the car at the mention of April.” My mom pokes my cheeks again. “Now, who is this alleged second man?”

I sigh a long, deep sigh and move my hair out of my face. “Johnny Knoxville.”

Frieda gasps and claps a hand over her mouth. My mom looks confused. “What? Who is that?” I open my mouth to tell her but then she remembers. “Oh! That’s the guy that works at Dickhouse with you that calls you all the time, isn’t it? What’s so wrong with that, he sounds nice.”

I explain the whole situation to my mom about how he feels about me, and what happened between Bam and I and him and I and she begins to understand what’s wrong with it. She then asks me the question that I have been battling with this whole time. “Which boy would you rather be with?”

Good question mom, but I’m stumped on that one as well.