Page 12 of Everlasting Love

“I ain’t got no purse, lady.” He looks at the cops. “It’s all bullshit.”

“Watch your mouth, kid.” The cop turns to me. “Is that what happened?”

I explain how I stepped out of Cassia’s shop and what I saw. “I just reacted on instinct. I didn’tseehim steal the purse, but he was running with a lady’s purse as she shouted after him. It only took a second to put two and two together.”

A man steps out from the small crowd that’s formed around us. “Isaw the boy snatch her purse, officer.”

“Fuck,” the boy spits as he goes limp in my hold.

The officer nods and grabs his notepad as we each take turns recounting the events. All the while, I keep hold of the boy. “Okay. Thank you, I think we have everything we need. You can put the kid down and we’ll take him to the station and call his parents.”

“Fuck no! I’m not going back home. My dad’ll kill me.”

I place him on his feet, and once I’m sure the officer has a firm hold on the boy, I release him. “We’ll talk about it on the way to the station.”

As the cops take the boy away, the woman steps closer to me. “I don’t know how I’ll ever thank you. I’ve been saving that money for the past six months. If I’d lost it …” Her bottom lip trembles. “I don’t know what I would have done. Thank you so much.”

I force a tense smile. I’m just glad I could help; I don’t need any thanks for that. “It was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing. It meant a lot to me and my sons.”

I sense she’s not going to let it go unless I accept her thanks. “You’re welcome. Glad I could help.” I hold up the flowers for Mom. “I need to get going.” Mom’s going to be wondering where the hell I am.

“Oh, of course. Well, thank you again.”

I tip my head and walk toward the parking lot.

I pullinto Mom and Dad’s driveway, and dread fills my stomach like lead. I know exactly what I’ll find when I step inside—I can see it clearly in my mind’s eye. I walk along the paved walkway to the front door and knock.

After several minutes, the door opens, revealing Mom. A smile lights her tired face when she sees it’s me. “Oh, I’m so happy you’re here. I was worried you’d changed your mind.” She steps back to allow me into their home. It’s a different house from the one I grew up in. They decided to downsize when I went into the army. “Happy birthday!” She wraps her arms around me and holds me tight. The top of her head barely comes to the middle of my chest as I awkwardly return her hug while holding her flowers.

“Thanks, Mom. Sorry I’m late. I needed to make a stop on the way.” I hold out the flowers for her.

Her eyes soften, and she brings her hands up to cover her mouth as she looks between me and the flowers with her dark eyes, exactly like mine. Such a simple gift, yet you’d think I bought her a diamond-studded necklace. “Oh my gosh, they’re so beautiful. Thank you. You didn’t need to bring me anything, I’m just happy to see you.” There she goes again, making me feel guilty for my lack of presence. “Come in. Come in.” She moves to the side so I can step inside fully, and I pull the door closed behind me, locking it.

To the left, I spot Dad sitting in his usual spot in his recliner. Several empty beer bottles litter the table next to his chair, and one of his favorite war movies plays loudly on the television. Judging by the scene currently playing, it’sFull Metal Jacket. Ifhe’s not working at the post office, this is where he can be found, except when Mom manages to drag him out of the house every once in a while. He doesn’t acknowledge me as I follow Mom—who’s favoring her left side—into the lounge room, even though he had to have heard me at the front door.

“Look who’s here,” Mom says, trying to push excitement into her voice. “Shane’s come to visit on his birthday.” Without taking his eyes off the screen, he grunts at me and then takes a long pull from the beer he’s holding. I don’t even take his lack of response personally anymore. He’s been like this for as long as I can remember. Lord only knows how or why Mom’s stayed with him for this long. For a long time, I felt as though she’d picked him over me since she never called him out on his behavior toward me, not that he treated her any better. She sighs and her shoulders drop, some of her energy leeching out of her body. “He even brought me some beautiful flowers.” She tries again but he’s shut us out completely now.

I stride past her and into the kitchen, stopping short at the sight that greets me. Now I feel like an asshole. Ahappy birthdaybanner is strung across the window that looks out to the backyard, and a birthday cake, complete with candles, sits in the middle of the kitchen counter. She has balloons tied to the back of the chairs and some of my favorite snacks from when I was a teenager on the table. I find it hard to swallow around the lump in my throat at what she’s done for me. What she’s always done for me on my birthday. She may have chosen him over me but she’s never stopped trying to show her love for me.

She limps past me, mumbling under her breath as she goes. She opens a cupboard up high and tries to reach the top shelf, which is laughable with her small stature. I step up behind her and grab the vase that she was trying to reach and take it to the sink to fill.

“Why are you limping?”

She waves me off. “I had a bit of a fall a few weeks back. It’s nothing.”Nothing?Did he fucking hurt her? Is he that far gone now?

“How did you fall?” I ask in a tone harsher than she deserves.

“It was a nice day, so I convinced your father to go for a walk. Some cyclists were going a bit fast around the bend and didn’t see us in time and knocked me over. It was nothing.”

“What the hell, Mom? Why didn’t you call me?”

“You’re so busy, and it really was nothing.”

“It wasn’t fucking nothing. We ended up in the back of an ambulance, woman!” Dad shouts from the living room.

“An ambulance? Jesus, Mom. It must have been pretty bad.” I clench my jaw and look at her. “You should have called me.”

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