Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Rome went ahead first and greeted my mother. Their quiet voices barely trailed to our ears inside the apartment.
I walked back to Jackson and stood beside him. “You can do it, man.”
“I haven’t seen her in…years.”
“I know.” Jackson was one of the few people in the world where I could let my guard down. He said a lot of stupid things to piss me off and did even stupider things to make me angry. But all of that didn’t matter because he was still my brother. “It’ll be okay. You don’t have to say anything.”
“I’m not sure if I could even if I wanted to…”
I wanted to tell him it got easier as time went on, but it never did. Seeing my mother so weak and helpless was always heartbreaking. She used to be strong, the kind of woman that didn’t put up with anything. She spent her time gardening, getting her hands dirty in the soil, and the house was always spotless. If I came home from school and trailed mud into the house, she would make me mop and vacuum the entire house just to teach me a lesson. I thought she was a hard-ass at the time, but now I understood she made me into a strong man rather than an arrogant asshole. “It’ll be alright. She’s a delight to talk to.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded then patted him on the back. “Come on.”
I walked onto the balcony next, watching Rome and my mother chat about the new flowers that had just been planted in the garden over the balcony. I held the book under my arm and greeted her with a smile. “You must be Theresa. I’m Calloway.” I extended my hand.
She eyed it before she shook it.
It was strange to shake hands with my mother. It never got easier.
“You’re a very handsome young man.” She usually blurted that out at some point during the conversation.
“Thank you. You’re a very pretty lady.”
She immediately smiled at the compliment. “That’s very nice of you to say.”
I moved aside so Jackson could greet her.
He stepped closer then eyed her blankly, at a loss of words now that he was face-to-face with our mom. It’d been at least five years since he last saw her face.
Mom stared at him blankly, obviously uneasy about the odd way he was looking at her.
Suddenly, Jackson kneeled down and hugged her. He wrapped his large arms around her and held her. “I’m Jackson…”
My expression softened when I saw Jackson wear his heart on his sleeve. He acted like a tough guy all the time, but he was just a man underneath that rough exterior.
Mom returned the embrace, and a small smile crept on to her lips. “You’re a very sweet young man. It’s nice to meet you.”
Rome blinked her eyes quickly to rid her tears.
Jackson finally pulled away, looking just ghostly as he did before. “Thanks…” He rose to his feet again then stood beside me like he didn’t know what else to do.
We took our seats in the lounge chairs, looking at my mother with the partially completed scarf on her lap. Her short hair was curled and framed around her face. She wore a blue collared shirt with a white gold necklace around her throat. Her eyes were alive with brightness now that she had company to share the afternoon with. I could see so many of my own features, my eyes as well as my facial structure. I’d inherited my father’s rugged masculinity, as had Jackson. But the few soft expressions I possessed came from her. “We thought we could read to you today. How does that sound?”
“That’s very sweet, but no thanks. I would much rather enjoy a conversation with you.” My mother’s reaction to us was always different, and that was interesting to both Rome and me. Sometimes she wasn’t in the mood to talk. All she wanted was to listen to a good story. And other times, she wanted to chitchat. Her moods couldn’t be attributed to any specific event. That was just how she felt when she woke up first thing in the morning.
She eyed Jackson and me, her gaze switching back and forth between us. “Are you two brothers? You have the same eyes…”
Jackson was still incapacitated. Words didn’t form on his tongue, and he didn’t open his mouth to speak.
So I took over. “Yes, we are. I’m the older one.”
“That’s sweet,” she said. “You guys are close?”
That was a complicated question. “We see each other pretty often.” We didn’t exactly go out and get a beer together, but we seemed to be in each other’s business a lot.
She nodded. “That’s lovely.” She turned to Rome. “Are you seeing either one of them?”
Rome placed her hand on mine. “Calloway and I have been seeing each other for almost a year.”