then notices the time on his watch, “Sure. I gotta go too. Bye.”
Finishing my jog to Olivia’s school I make sure Drew isn’t still following me after he drives the opposite way. Olivia is already waiting outside for me by herself on the swings in the school yard. She takes her hair out of her ponytail and lets her long hair sweep over her shoulders. Her feet kick the rocks beneath her swing, and her hands fold limp to her side.
“Mommy!” Her little legs run as quickly as they can as soon as she sees me. Her fragile arms wrap themselves as far as they can tightly around my waist.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” My fingers brush her bangs out of her eyes. I can sense something isn’t right.
She answers proudly; Olivia looks up at me with puppy dog eyes, “I love you, and I missed you so much that I made you something today!” I love her surprises!
My daughter pulls out a picture from her purple backpack that she be-dazzled and customized with drawings all by herself. Her tiny fingers point to each character, “Look, mommy, that’s you, and that’s Sebastian! And this is the black puppy that I want named Charlie. He’s eating rainbow treats!”
My mind was made up about having a puppy, but I couldn’t help but smile. I’m not going to rain on her parade, and maybe a puppy will be good for her. A puppy will finally be one good thing she’ll have in this crazy life. It’s a little surprising that she drew a picture of Sebastian though because she just met him. She did take an instant liking to him though, and it shows. Sebastian leaving now would break her big heart.
I notice that she used a red crayon for me and a blue one for Sebastian, our favorite colors. “Red and blue go good together, don’t you think?” I wink then kiss her head and hug her back, “I missed you too today, of course, all day too!” We chuckle together.
“Oh mommy, you’re so silly!”
“Of course! That’s where you get it from!”
She smiles then asks if we can stop at The Duck Park on the way home, the park that I passed on my way here. “Sure can, but first let’s pick up grandma. She is going to have dinner with us tonight. Want to help me make it? We are having lasagna!”
“Yes, but only if Sebastian can come too!”
“It won’t be the same without him, will it?.”
My mother’s house isn’t the place to take a six-year-old, but we are already nearby, and the park will be a great place to spend some grandma-time before dinner. It'll also give her and I some space to talk while Olivia feeds the ducks with the seeds from the quarter machines there. She will be occupied forever! Maybe we can rebuild the mother-daughter relationship we used to have when I was a kid, or better, like the one I try to have with my own daughter. After all, you only ever have one mother.
FIVE
Olivia’s hand firmly grips mine as we walk past my mother’s beat up fence and up to her door. “Can I knock, Mommy?”
“You sure can!” No one comes to the door. She knocks a little harder before I try. There is still no answer.
“Mom!” I call out and then knock again. The door opens easily when I fidget with the handle. “Mom!” I yell again.
“Come here, Olivia,” I whisper then pick her up into my arms keeping her close then carry her the rest of the way.
“Mom, where the fuck are you?” I murmur through the hall.
Rustling noises stir from the other hallway. The light from the bathroom shines through the crack of the slightly opened door. I walk quietly towards my mother’s TV stand and quietly reach inside one of the drawers to grab her handgun.
Pushing down on the lever at top, rear of the gun, I disengage the safety. “Olivia, run to the kitchen and stay there until I tell you to come out!” She runs quickly.
My hand pulls back the slide on top of the barrel to load the bullet into the firing chamber, then I quietly sneak back towards the bathroom door holding the gun out in front of me, hunting the poor
Finishing my jog to Olivia’s school I make sure Drew isn’t still following me after he drives the opposite way. Olivia is already waiting outside for me by herself on the swings in the school yard. She takes her hair out of her ponytail and lets her long hair sweep over her shoulders. Her feet kick the rocks beneath her swing, and her hands fold limp to her side.
“Mommy!” Her little legs run as quickly as they can as soon as she sees me. Her fragile arms wrap themselves as far as they can tightly around my waist.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie?” My fingers brush her bangs out of her eyes. I can sense something isn’t right.
She answers proudly; Olivia looks up at me with puppy dog eyes, “I love you, and I missed you so much that I made you something today!” I love her surprises!
My daughter pulls out a picture from her purple backpack that she be-dazzled and customized with drawings all by herself. Her tiny fingers point to each character, “Look, mommy, that’s you, and that’s Sebastian! And this is the black puppy that I want named Charlie. He’s eating rainbow treats!”
My mind was made up about having a puppy, but I couldn’t help but smile. I’m not going to rain on her parade, and maybe a puppy will be good for her. A puppy will finally be one good thing she’ll have in this crazy life. It’s a little surprising that she drew a picture of Sebastian though because she just met him. She did take an instant liking to him though, and it shows. Sebastian leaving now would break her big heart.
I notice that she used a red crayon for me and a blue one for Sebastian, our favorite colors. “Red and blue go good together, don’t you think?” I wink then kiss her head and hug her back, “I missed you too today, of course, all day too!” We chuckle together.
“Oh mommy, you’re so silly!”
“Of course! That’s where you get it from!”
She smiles then asks if we can stop at The Duck Park on the way home, the park that I passed on my way here. “Sure can, but first let’s pick up grandma. She is going to have dinner with us tonight. Want to help me make it? We are having lasagna!”
“Yes, but only if Sebastian can come too!”
“It won’t be the same without him, will it?.”
My mother’s house isn’t the place to take a six-year-old, but we are already nearby, and the park will be a great place to spend some grandma-time before dinner. It'll also give her and I some space to talk while Olivia feeds the ducks with the seeds from the quarter machines there. She will be occupied forever! Maybe we can rebuild the mother-daughter relationship we used to have when I was a kid, or better, like the one I try to have with my own daughter. After all, you only ever have one mother.
FIVE
Olivia’s hand firmly grips mine as we walk past my mother’s beat up fence and up to her door. “Can I knock, Mommy?”
“You sure can!” No one comes to the door. She knocks a little harder before I try. There is still no answer.
“Mom!” I call out and then knock again. The door opens easily when I fidget with the handle. “Mom!” I yell again.
“Come here, Olivia,” I whisper then pick her up into my arms keeping her close then carry her the rest of the way.
“Mom, where the fuck are you?” I murmur through the hall.
Rustling noises stir from the other hallway. The light from the bathroom shines through the crack of the slightly opened door. I walk quietly towards my mother’s TV stand and quietly reach inside one of the drawers to grab her handgun.
Pushing down on the lever at top, rear of the gun, I disengage the safety. “Olivia, run to the kitchen and stay there until I tell you to come out!” She runs quickly.
My hand pulls back the slide on top of the barrel to load the bullet into the firing chamber, then I quietly sneak back towards the bathroom door holding the gun out in front of me, hunting the poor
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