Page 105 of Now and Forever

“I don’t remember my mom.”

His sadness moves me.

“That’s normal, Flyn. You were very little when she passed away.”

“I would’ve liked to know her.”

“I think you can get to know her through the eyes of the people who loved her, like Grandma Sonia, Aunt Marta, and Eric. Talking to them about your mom would be a way to remember her and learn things about her. I’m sure your grandma would love to tell you hundreds of things about your mom.”

“Sonia?”

“Yes.”

“She’s always too busy,” the boy protests.

“But you keep her at a distance. If you don’t let her take care of you and fuss over you, she won’t know you want that connection. Like why do you call her ‘Sonia’ and not ‘Grandma’?”

He shrugs his shoulders and seems to think about his answer for a moment.

“I don’t know. I guess because her name is Sonia.”

“Wouldn’t you like to call her ‘Grandma’? I’m sure she would love that. Call her on the phone someday and go have a snack, lunch, or dinner with her. Ask her to tell you things about your mom, and you’ll see how important you are to her and to your aunt Marta.”

The boy nods. Silence.

“I shook up the Coke so it would spray in your face the other day,” he suddenly confesses.

“I thought so.”

“You thought so?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything to Uncle Eric?”

“Because I’m not a tattletale, Flyn.” And, seeing how he looks at me, I touch his dark hair. “But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that, from now on, we’ll try to get along and be friends. Does that sound like a good idea to you?”

He nods. He puts his thumb in front of me, and we do our high five again. I smile.

His eyes flit curiously around the room, and I see them pause constantly on something to his right. I surreptitiously look over and see he’s spotted my skateboard and roller skates.

“You’d like to learn to skate or skateboard, right?” Flyn doesn’t answer. “It’ll just be between you and me. Your uncle has no need to know for now. But sooner or later, just so he doesn’t kill us, we’ll have to tell him, OK? You want me to teach you?”

His face changes, and he accepts.

I knew Flyn wanted to learn new things. We quickly get up from the floor. I grab the skateboard and put it on the floor. I get on it and show him I know how to use it.

“Can I do that too?”

I stop and get off.

“Of course.” I wink at him. “I’ll teach you to do some tricks that blonde girl from your school won’t be able to look away from.”

Flyn blushes.

“What’s her name?” I ask knowingly.

“Laura.”

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