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The Tessarae Inn |
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The
Son Also Rises
CHAPTER 7 “And his name is Sean Mahoney. He’s from England. Susie thinks he’s cool but I showed her what a lame cow he is. Why is he staying with Aunt Viki?” “I don’t know, Sweetheart. What did you do to Sean?” “Nothing really.” Blair felt a rush of guilt. She had been so busy with Moon Jumping in the last couple of weeks that although she meant to go back and check on Sean, she hadn’t. When she heard that Viki was sending him to school and admitting that his stay was more long-term than she originally indicated, Blair just assumed that Sean’s life had settled down. Assumed? You know what they say about assuming things. And now there was something about the sheer gleefulness in Starr’s voice that was unnerving her. She loved Starr without measure but she had no delusions about what her child was capable of. “What did you do, Starr?” “Nothing, like I said.” “Nothing? Starr, tell me what you did.” Starr made a swooshing sound then laughed. “I threw Max on him.” “Max?” “The snake. I named him.” “You threw a snake on Sean?” “Yep, but don’t worry, Max is okay. I got him really quick and put him back in the terrarium. Mrs. Richey didn’t even see that he was out.” “Was Sean frightened?” “He peed in his pants.” Starr held her stomach and laughed loudly. “I mean it, Mommy. He really peed in his pants. It was so-o-o-o-o-o-o embarrassing. It was messy and smelly. Everybody was talking about it.” Blair felt a memory slap her in the face. How many years ago was it? If it was so long ago why did that memory like the rest of the memories still hurt so much? She could still remember the ratty dress she was wearing and ugly smiles on the children's faces. The laughter and the pointing and Mrs. Smith staring at her with thinly veiled disgust... Starr’s laughter echoed in Blair’s brain until it merged with that long lost memory and the edges of the images became sharp and scraped the surface of her heart. She forced herself to return to the present. That was a long time ago and none of that had a thing to do with Starr. She made sure of that. Starr had a different life. Different? Or, in the end, had she just made sure her daughter was on a different side? She pulled the car over to the side of the road and cut it off the engine. “What did this child ever do to you, Starr?” Starr narrowed her eyes and her lips curled. “Nothing.” “Talk to me, Starr. Why do you dislike him so much?” “I just do.” “So because you dislike him you humiliate him in front of your whole class.” “He shouldn’t have messed with me. I asked him who his father was and he said I didn’t need to know. I told him how great Daddy is and he said someone told him he wasn’t a very nice man.” Blair felt her breath catch in her throat. She exhaled slowly. Starr had her own set of baggage to drag through life. “I am sorry, Sweetheart, but you’ll hear lots of stories about your father and about me, too. We have both done some things we are not proud of. The stories will not always be true but people do talk. You have to remember how much your father and I love you.” “I know you love me. I wanted Sean to know it and he tried to act like he didn’t care.” “He’s a little boy who lost his mother and he’s alone in a strange country.” “Why?” “What?” “Why is he here?” Okay, that was a good question but she suspected that Starr wasn't really interested in the answer and was just using distraction to shift the direction of the conversation. Even so, answering the question might ease some of the troubled water. “I get the impression that he is here to protect him for a while. Your Aunt Viki hasn’t told me the whole story but I think his family is afraid for him over there so he is here for the time being.” “Whatever." Starr tapped the window. "From what I know, he may not be here for much longer." "Why did he have to end up in my class? Everyone knows he’s staying at Llanfair and they think we should be best friends or something and I don’t want to be anywhere near him.” “You don’t have to be friends with him but I want you to treat him with a little basic kindness. And respect, Starr. All of your classmates deserve that.” "Yeah, right." Starr stuck out her lips then turned her head away and stared out of the car window. Blair tried not to let her irritation show. She lowered her voice and spoke carefully. “I know when you think about what I've said you will be sorry so we're going to go over to Llanfair right now and you can apologize to him for what happened.” Starr whipped her head around. “No.” “Excuse me. Did you just say, no? You listen to me, young lady,…” Starr contorted her face into a gargoyle sneer. “I’m not going to do it,” she hissed. “You’ll have to drag me in there and I still won’t say it. And, if you make me say it, I’ll just tell him tomorrow that I was lying. I am NOT sorry.” “You will apologize or…” “Or what?” Enough of this behavior. She hated to punish Starr because it always hurt her as much as Starr, sometimes more, but she wasn’t doing Starr any favors if she let her believe there were no limits in this world. “I will keep you from watching TV or going to the movies or talking to your friends on the phone for a month…” “I don’t care.” “And I’ll take the iguanas away for a month, too.” “Take Ichebob away for GOOD. I don’t care-e-e-e-e-e-e. I’m not going to apologize to Sean Baloney Mahoney.” She stared at Starr. Something was not right here. What in the hell was wrong with her child? =================== Blair knocked on the door softly but there was no answer. She knocked again and pushed the door open. Under any other circumstances, she would have respected his decision not to respond but not now. This was too important. And it really irritated her to find out that Viki was out of town for a few weeks and Todd knew about it but never bothered to tell her. Sean had been alone for at least a week now. Then after today… He was sitting in the middle of the large double bed in the guest room staring straight ahead. She called to him and he slowly turned his head toward her. She hadn’t seen him since the first glimpse several weeks ago but she could tell that he had gained some weight since then and his hair was growing back in. Still he looked small and his eyes appeared to be a cloudy blue-gray, although she remembered from before that they were hazel. He was dressed in khaki pants, a blue oxford shirt and penny loafers. She moaned at the sight of him. What was Viki thinking dressing him like that? “Sean, can I come in?” He stared at her for a moment then nodded. She walked into the room slowly then sat down on the edge of the bed. “Do you remember me?” “You’re Starr’s mother.” “Yes, I am. I want to tell you I’m sorry about what happened to you today.” He looked away. “You didn’t do anything to me.” “No, I didn’t but someone I love did. I can’t apologize for her. She will have to do that herself but I want you to know how I feel.” He turned his head slowly back toward her. “Are you mad at her? Do you still love her even though she’s mean?” She knew this was a minefield. He was looking at her with such intensity that she suspected that a deep well of rage was just below the deceptively placid surface. She lowered her voice and spoke carefully. “I am upset about her behavior and I don’t want her to ever do anything like that again but I love her." She leaned forward and touched his hand. "I will always love her. That’s what mothers do.” Tears sprang into his eyes. She instinctively covered her mouth with her hand and then cursed herself for not thinking before she spoke. "I'm sorry, Sean. I know it hurts to think about losing your mother." He turned away but she moved next to him then put her arms around him. She slowly pulled his close to her then cradled him as he cried. His whole body shook from the intensity of the sobs and she held on tight. He was a little boy--a scared little boy lost.
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The Son Also Rises FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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