Whispers of Home Read Free Page B

mother’s hands gripped a mug, probably full of coffee. Jaron thought he was meeting Brian but apparently Brian had other plans. Brian always did think he knew best, the bastard. Jaron was fully aware his oldest friend had set this up, probably getting in touch with Gloria McAllister right after Jaron had called the first time, telling her when Jaron would be here. Brian had never understood that the relationship Jaron and Gloria had wasn’t like the relationship Brian had with his own father.
    Looking at his mom through the glass was like watching a movie of her. He had never felt the connection with his mom that he thought he should, even as a small child. Maybe that had been his fault. That he wasn’t quite what she wanted in a son and therefore kept just enough distance to make it seem like miles. Which was why he was confused she had come instead of Brian.
    When he was eighteen years old he had thought he left because of a burning desire to fit in somewhere, because he certainly hadn’t fit in very well in Pickleville. He needed that connection to another human being, that knowing he was so important to another human being they just couldn’t live without him. Ironically, it was a five year old boy he felt unconditionally connected too. Now that he knew the unconditional love a parent felt for their child, he wondered at his mother’s parental instincts.
    He stood on the sidewalk in front of what used to be a place called the Hobbyist’s Dream but was now an Asian market. He noticed the place was empty when he had arrived but his back was turned now, his complete attention on the woman in the window. He thought the Asian place probably wouldn’t have lasted long back in the day. Who knows now? The diner was the only one in town, or was until they put in a McDonald’s by the highway. Jaron hadn’t realized that things in this town could change until the bus passed by the fast food restaurant. Somehow he expected everything to be the same, as if time would stand still just because he didn’t feel any different now that he was here.
    Standing here, he felt that maybe he left to put the physical miles between himself and the only parent he had ever known. He had never fit in with her either.
    He felt a tug on his hand and looked down at sweet blue eyes. This small boy was as dependent on the next few minutes and the woman in the window as he was. “I’m thirsty,” Bobby said, around the thumb in his mouth.
    “Me too. Let’s go.” Jaron stepped off the curb and onto the street, gripping onto Bobby’s hand just a little tighter, pausing for a car, then continuing until he came within inches of his mother, the glass the only barrier now. She looked directly at him, showing more emotion in those few seconds than he had ever seen from her during his entire childhood. He looked away and walked through the door of the restaurant.
    Gloria McAllister was never a big talker. It was how he grew up. Silence in the house was all too normal. It had been almost a culture shock when he met Tracy. Tracy had been five months along with Bobby when they had first met. Even when the baby was born and trying to sleep she still didn’t know how to be quiet. At first it was fun, she talked with some intelligence and knew things that kept the one-sided conversation interesting for Jaron to listen too. It wasn’t until she started getting high again that the conversation turned too confusing for Jaron to follow. Eventually they lost their commonality and Jaron lost what little trust he had built up in her.
    Tears formed in Jaron’s eyes thinking about Tracy. He still saw her body on that bloody bed every time he closed his eyes. He forced the thought away so that he wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of the entire diner, including his mother. He entered the diner and made his way over to his mother. He allowed Bobby to sit down in the bench seat across from Gloria before he slid in after him.
    Jaron wasn’t a big talker