Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 23:21:02 -0400 From: Jeff Wilson Subject: W.A.R. Chapter 3 Your word of warning: If you're a teenager or pre-teen reading this story it may ruin your life forever and ever. There are characters in the story who will do things that you may have done in your own life, and that scares a lot of people. Enjoy! W.A.R. Part One: Black Summer Chapter Three -- The Day Begins "William Aaron Roberts get your butt out of bed this instant!" Morning was here, and with it the problems of the day. I still felt good inside after my talk with my dad, but my mom was not privy to that little conversation. She was home and in a bad mood, which meant that I would be in a bad mood too, if I didn't do what she said. I kicked off the covers and laid there on my bed, trying to gain my bearings. I looked at my clock, 10:15. Crap! I was supposed to go to my grandma's at 9:00. No wonder mom was ticked. I forgot to set my alarm! I pulled off my underwear from last night and was walking to my dresser to get my clothes for the day when my door burst open. "Mom, I'm naked!" "What the hell have you been doing?" "I forgot to set my alarm, I was asleep!" I was trying desperately to cover up my privates, but not doing a very good job. She had walked in front of my dresser, and I didn't dare try to get past her. So I had to stand there, naked as the day I was born, and take what was coming. Even though I was an inch taller than her, she sure seemed bigger than me. "I really don't have time to deal with you Billy, I really don't. You can't go around screwing things up!" "I know..." My face felt unbearably hot. I stood there with my hands covering my privates. "This is a very tough time for me, for all of us. I need you to be dependable. When you tell me you are going to do something you need to do it." "I know..." I couldn't believe how ashamed I felt. Why couldn't I be responsible? "If I can't depend on you, then there won't be any baseball. And no friends coming over, either. You don't want that and I don't want that. Do you understand me?" "I'm sorry, mom." She was becoming blurry. "I'm sorry too. Sorry that I can't rely on my own son at a time when I really need him. Now get dressed and get your butt across the street. Mom has had her breakfast, all you have to do is sit with her. I really need to get some sleep. Are you crying?" I breathed in deep and sniffled. "No. I'm really sorry mom." My mom walked over to me and kissed me on my forehead and wiped away a tear that had gotten away. It was so strange standing there, naked and crying. I was thirteen going on three. She could have spanked my naked butt as far as I knew. But instead, she had compassion on her no-good rotten son. "You're growing up so fast... And your dad and I can't be here for you every time you need us. With me taking care of mom, and your dad working so hard. But we love you. It may not seem like it all of the time, but we do. And I do need you to be reliable. I know you're upset about Grandma, but I need you to be strong for me. We all do. Can you be strong for us, Billy?" "I'll try mom." "You're such a good boy! Now, I'm sorry I barged in on you. Nothing I haven't seen before anyway. I swear, you're looking more like your father every day. Get dressed and get over to Grandma's. She's alone over there and you know how that scares me. I'll come over to give her lunch." She left and closed the door behind her. I exhaled a shaky breath and got dressed. I wiped my eyes but more tears were there. I was more mad at myself than my mom was. How could I have been so stupid? I always set my alarm. Always. Why hadn't I set it last night? Then I remembered. Brett. I had been so angry with myself for being such a jerk that I had gone straight to bed, without setting the alarm. And then when I woke up during the night, my dad had me feeling so happy about myself that I completely forgot about it. Oh well, too late now. It was strange to have gone from feeling so good to feeling so awful. Life is like that, I guess. Like my dad said, one minute you're up, the next minute life kicks you right in the balls. I hurried over to Grandma's house and walked into the living room where she sat looking at the TV. "Hi, Grandma!" I gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down on the couch. Grandma looked at me and then looked back to the TV. She didn't look too sick today. Her gray hair had been neatly combed by my mom. Her body was slumped over a little to the right. But her eyes were clear behind her glasses. I could tell that she recognized me today. That was an improvement over yesterday. "Are you feeling okay today?" She didn't answer, but I think she smiled a little. I smiled back. I really didn't mind sitting with her watching tv. It was the other things that I missed. Ever since she had the stroke back in March, she's been paralyzed. My mom took a leave of absence from her job as a nurse to take care of her. Dad's been working longer hours and I almost never see him anymore. Last night was the first conversation we'd had in a week. It's really starting to get to me, having everything screwed up. I sat down to watch TV with grandma. Maybe later we would play cards again. We used to play War all the time. She can turn over the cards, but nothing else. She used to help me with the numbers, now I practically play the game by myself. Maury Povich was on the tv. It was one of those paternity test episodes. Maury had just said, "Gary, you ARE the father!" And then the woman jumped out of her chair and started yelling, "I TOLD YOU!! I TOLD YOU!!" This was so stupid. My tastes in TV had really changed over the last few months. I wanted something with a little more... I don't know... but it wasn't this crap! "Grandma! Why are we watching this garbage? Isn't there something else on?" I started looking around for the remote. It was nowhere to be found. Another man came out on the show. He told the audience to shut up and called the woman a slut. That was real classy. Grandma didn't seem to mind, but this junk was killing brain cells for both of us. My search for the remote turned desperate. Then there was a knock on the door. I gave up my search and opened the door. "Brett!" I was shocked. After I'd told him off yesterday, I thought he wouldn't be around for a while. He wasn't smiling like usual though. Bret was almost always smiling, so I knew something was wrong. I figured that I was in for it, and I deserved it. "Hi dude, your mom told me you were here. I came to tell you I'm sorry for..." "You're sorry? Whoa, hold on. I'm the one who should be sorry. I was being a real asshole... Sorry Grandma... a real jerk yesterday. I never should have yelled at you like that." "No, you don't need to apologize. I mean... I was mad at you after that. But I talked to my mom and she told me how rough it must be for you to have to lose most of your summer helping to take care of your grandmother. She said you needed your friends to be a "support system." Well, you know how she talks." Brett's mom was a child psychologist, and a good one at that. She always seemed to know what we were up to, sometimes before we did. "Thanks buddy." "That's okay. Oh, you're watching Maury, I love this show! Can I watch it with you? Hi, Mrs. Daniels!" He didn't wait for an answer. He just plopped down on the couch. "Sure, have a seat." Oh good grief! Now I was going to have to watch this garbage. Brett is an interesting person. He lives in a very nice house with his mom. She makes a lot of money, which Brett says is because there are a lot of screwed up kids. Brett has always had a great sense of humor, it's one of his best traits. No one knows who Brett's dad is. Well, I guess Brett's mom knows, but she's not telling anyone. Sometimes Brett gets called a bastard at school. He tries to pretend it doesn't bother him, but I can tell that it does. The problem with that is that he's only about a hundred pounds soaking wet, and about six inches shorter than me. So there's not a lot that he could do about it if he wanted to. What's funny is that some of the boys who make fun of Bret don't even know who their own fathers are. They just know that it bothers him, so they pick on him. Aren't kids great people? Brett didn't talk much during the Maury show. Something was still bothering him, I could tell. Usually we would have been ripping this show to shreds together. Maybe he had picked the wrong day to watch the Maury Show, what with it being paternity test day and all. I had to know what was bothering him. "Brett, what's wrong? You seem down." "Nothing. I'm fine. I'm just interested in the show." "Okay, now you're lying to me. This show sucks. I can tell something is wrong. Are you still mad at me for telling you off yesterday?" "No. I told you that it's alright. I'm not mad at you. " "Then who are you mad at?" "Nobody! Let it go, alright!" Oops. Now if I kept it up, I would be the one that he was mad at. I had to find something to change the subject, so I decided to embarrass myself a bit. "Hey, guess what? My mom walked in on me naked this morning." "What?" He laughed. "I said she saw me naked. I was late waking up today. So I had just yanked down my underwear to change when she walked in." "Oh wow! She barged right in? Ha ha... Wow! Did she see anything?" "Oh man! She got the whole show, dude!" "Oh my gosh! You mean she saw your dick and everything?" "If she did, she didn't see it for long. I covered it up with my hands." "Wow, that's embarrassing! What about your balls? Did she see them too?" "Brett! Don't talk about my balls in front of my grandma!" "Oh yeah! Sorry Mrs. Daniels! I didn't mean to talk about your grandson's nuts in front of you!" "Brett!!! Shut up, man!!" I can't believe he said that. I know she was an invalid, but still! She's my grandma for Pete's sake! "Dude, she doesn't care! And I remember her before the stroke! She wouldn't have cared then either! I mean she used to bathe you. She knows you've got testicles." "Brett!!!" I was mortified! There are certain things you just do not talk about in front of your grandmother, even if she doesn't understand what you're saying. Testicles would probably be on top of the list. "Let's change the subject... So, do you want to come to my game today?" I really wanted to change the subject again. I hoped that he would forget about my earlier predicament and answer the question. Luckily, he did. "You know I don't like baseball, dude. It's boring! I know you have like, a zillion home runs and all, but jeesh. It's just not my sport. I'm a bowler. Now that's a sport." "Oh... yeah. Knocking down pins is not a sport. It's a skill. I like being on the team. It's fun to bat and hang out. It sure beats throwing a big ball at little pins." "You only make fun of it because you suck at it! How many gutter balls did you roll last time we went? Eight? Nine?" "Well I'd like to see you hit a baseball out of the park!" "I told you, it's boring! I wouldn't want to play it, and I don't want to watch it." I wonder if he hated baseball because of the reasons he said, or if it was other reasons. Maybe because the boys made fun of his size. I just wish that he would come to watch me. No one ever came to watch me play. My mom was too busy taking care of grandma to watch me. Brett hated the game. My dad would tell me that he would come, then he wouldn't show up. He'd rather work than come to see me play. What fun is it to be good at something if no one that you care about is there to see it? About 12:30, my mom came in. She looked much more relaxed than she had earlier. I could tell that she was in a better mood. She still looked very tired, but her little naps were the only thing keeping her going. "Hi boys! Brett, your mother called. She says that she's going to be out until 8:00 tonight with a client. She said you know what to do, but feel free to come eat with us." "Thanks Mrs. Roberts! I might do that, but don't do anything special because I might not." "That's okay, Brett. It's never a problem to take care of you. So, what have you boys been up to?" Brett looked at me with a devilish grin. Uh oh! I could tell he was up to something. "Why we were talking about Billy's testic..." I quickly grabbed Brett and covered his mouth. "Tests! Those tests... that I have to have... on my... Um... Braces! Yeah! On my braces!" Brett was laughing hysterically. He was holding on to his belly because it was hurting to laugh so hard. What kind of friend is he!?! "What tests? Did the orthodontist tell you something last time?" "You know... Um... How the rubber bands work, why magnets don't stick to them, and things like that." "What are you boys up to?" "Nothing!" We both answered a little too quickly. My mom gave us a suspicious look. We ate lunch together in grandma's kitchen. I had had many meals in that kitchen. I just wish that grandma was the one doing the cooking. She was a great cook! She could have made anything! After we ate, I gave my mom and grandma kisses on the cheek and Bret did the same. He really is a good guy! It was a shame that I had to slug him in the arm for the testicle remark after we left! That's the end of Chapter 3. We're getting into the heart of Part One now. Next week comes Chapter 4 - Looking For Treasure, which (I'm warning you now) contains some of the stuff that little boys do when no one's watching. Got comments? Great! Send 'em to vicioussquirrel@hotmail.com Oh yeah, this story belongs to you, but don't steal it because that's illegal!