Page 48 of Key Of Dreams

Phoenix comes over immediately and rides in his own car behind us with Kailyn by his side. After being apart, she’s not going to let him out of her sight. Josh is riding along with me and Maya, directing us to Calvin’s house.

“You two stay put,” I demand, and get out of the truck. Phoenix and I walk up to the door. The closer we get, the louder the voices are inside.

“Mom, stop! Mom, please, you’re going to hurt yourself. Put down the knife. Please!” That’s Calvin’s voice, and he sounds frantic. There’s a thud like something being knocked to the floor. I try the door, only to find it locked. Phoenix kicks the door open, leaving it hanging on its hinges.

Calvin is on the ground over his mother, attempting in vain to wrest a knife out of her hands. There’s blood on her nightgown, and I can see that both are going to need stitches. Calvin’s hands are stained red with blood.

I step in without a second thought, squeezing her hand and forcing Calvin’s mother to release the knife. It clangs to the tile floor. Phoenix drags Calvin away while I assess the damage to his mother. She has marks on her wrists, thankfully not deep enough to cause her to bleed out, but I think that’s thanks in part to Calvin doing his part to keep her from committing suicide.

“Let me go!” she cries. “It’s time for me to go. I can’t be here anymore. It’s too hard, it’s just too hard.” She sags and begins to weep uncontrollably. She needs help. Help that none of us are qualified to give her.

“Call for an ambulance,” I shout. While Phoenix does that, Calvin inches closer to his mother and gathers her up in his arms.

“I’m here, Mom. I’ve got you,” Calvin says, rocking her back and forth soothingly.

“No, no. Let me go,” she murmurs, but she’s stopped fighting him and isn’t thrashing about, which is a good sign.

At the sight of the ambulance, Josh, Maya, and Kailyn rush through the door. Josh breaks down in tears next to Calvin, who also begins to weep, while the EMTs give Colleen, his mother, a sedative and strap her onto the stretcher to take her to the hospital.

Maya and Kailyn huddle around them like mother hens, and Phoenix and I decide what to do next. We move them out of the room and into the den.

“Now what?” Phoenix says.

“We take pictures. I want his father to see what he left his son to deal with,” I say angrily.

“What’s that going to do?” Phoenix raises his brows, his hands on his hips.

“Maybe nothing, but I think we need to be thorough.”

“Never a dull fucking moment,” Phoenix mutters. “I’ll do this while you talk to the boys. We need the full story, and they’re the ones with the answers.”

I let out a heavy breath. I hate this part. For one, no kid should be put in this position, trying to deal with a mentally unstable mother. And secondly, it brings back horrible memories of my past. When I walk into the room, I catch Maya’s eye, then nod toward the door, silently asking for her to leave me alone with the boys.

I wait for the three of us to be alone before pulling up a chair and sitting in front of them. Josh jumps in to protect his friend before I can get a word out. “This isn’t Calvin’s fault. He shouldn’t get in trouble. He did what any kid would do to take care of his mother.”

“Hold up, Josh. I’m not playing the blame game.” Josh relaxes and sinks back into the seat cushion. I look from one to the other. “How long have you been keeping this secret?”

Neither responds, dropping their gazes to their laps.

“Okay, I’ll piece this together myself. Let me know how I do. When you were away from school for that month, it was because your mother had an episode, and I’m going to guess that you were injured because of it. Your dad is hiding the truth because he doesn’t want to face the fact that his wife is mentally ill and doesn’t want to see that his perfect life isn’t perfect.” Both raise their heads. Calvin’s clearly desperately trying not to cry. “How am I doing?”

“Dad doesn’t know how to handle Mom. I’m the only one who can get her to stop crying,” he says, adding, “Most of the time.”

“But not always,” I point out. “Your mother isn’t your responsibility. You’re a kid. A smart kid with the right intentions, but you’re in over your head with this. Your mother needs help. It’s not the kind of help you can give her. She needs professional medical treatment. That also isn’t your responsibility.”

“But—”

“No buts. Your father is being called, and he needs to step up and be the husband he needs to be for his wife. In the meantime, you should be with people who care about you,” I say.

“He’s coming home with me,” Josh jumps in.

“Your dad might not like that very much. He doesn’t even want us hanging around together,” Calvin says sadly.

“That’s because you wouldn’t let me tell him the truth,” Josh counters.

“Your parents won’t want you hanging around a fucked-up family. What if I have what Mom has? You think your parents will want me around, then?” Calvin asks.

“That’s bullshit,” I tell them. “Your mother is sick and isn’t getting the help she needs. If she were, this wouldn’t be an issue. Colleen is sick, not crazy. Mental health issues are an illness, just like cancer or any other illness. The treatment might be different, but that doesn’t mean we stick people in a room and forget about them. We search and find the right treatment and give them a chance to lead a happy life.”

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