Page 100 of August
“No, I won’t go away. We need to talk.”
“Mom, just go. I’m going back to Dad’s.”
Elisa pushed open the door and walked inside, closing it behind her.
“Archie, we need to talk about this.”
“You were…” He pointed.
“Yes, I was,” she replied, trying not to be embarrassed by the fact that her son had seen her afterglow. “I’m an adult, Archie.”
“You’re my mom,” he said.
“Yes. And how do you think you got here?” she asked.
“Gross, Mom. I don’t want to think about you and Dad having sex,” he said as he shoved his unfolded clothes into his duffel bag.
“What are you doing here, Archie? I thought you were at your dad’s.”
“So,that’swhat this is about? You’re mad atme?”
“I’m not mad at you, honey,” she replied.
“I interrupted you. You were obviously pretty busy and probably enjoying the fact that Adele and I wanted to be at Dad’s until school starts so you can do more of… that with the neighbor.”
“Hey, I know you’re upset, but you are an adult now. We are going to talk about this like two adults, and you’re not going to yell at me, AJ,” she stated. “Now, Myra and I are a couple. She’s not just our neighbor; we’re together. I should have told you about that, but with everything going on right now, I wanted to wait until it was official. We’ve decided that we’re together now, not just dating, and I would’ve told you the next time I saw you and your sister. As for you and your sister staying with your dad until school – no, I didn’t want that. I want you both here with me. I want you here on your school breaks. I’ve made that pretty clear, but I’ve also been pretty understanding of the fact that you and your sister want to spend time with your friends. I’ve not had a problem with you coming and going as you please or that you’re here right now, Arch. I just didn’t expect you to be back so soon. And yes, you caught me in a moment there with Myra because I didn’t know you were coming home. Had I known, I wouldn’t have had Myra stay over until you and I had a chance to talk.”
“I heard you yelling,” he said as he continued to pack. “You screamed, and I thought someone was hurting you.”
“Oh, baby,” she said and took a step toward him, but he wasn’t ready for that, so he took a few quick steps back. “I’m so sorry you got scared.”
“You were here alone, I thought, so I thought someone got in and was…”
Elisa swallowed hard and said, “I’m sorry you heard that.”
“Me too. Now, I knowwhatI heard, but still.”
She didn’t want to laugh, so she bit her lower lip because her son was blushing. This whole conversation wasn’t something she could’ve ever practiced for, and she silently prayed that she was handling it well and not causing him any permanent damage.
“Archie, what you heard was an expression of love,” she said. “It’s not anything to be embarrassed about.”
“Love? You just met her.”
“I know,” she said, sitting on his bed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you heard me and saw me with someone I really care about, someone who’s so good to me.”
“Mom!”
“I don’t mean like that,” she replied. “I mean in general. Myra is a good person, and I really care about her. I know we talked about me being gay when I left your father, but this is you seeing it. I know that that’s different.”
“And hearing it,” he added.
“Yes. I’m sorry that you saw andheardwhat you did, but I won’t apologize for being with Myra.”
“Mom, I don’t know. I don’t know if I can…”
“If you can, what?” she asked.
“Like see you with someone,” he replied.
