Feathers, page 20
It was my mother.
Nineteen
When they say people can be frozen in shock, this is definitely true. It had been over ten months since I’d left my home in Florida and come up there to live with my father. I had not heard a thing from my mother or grandmother since. Yet now, she was sitting there in the high school office as if none of that had ever even occurred. She even looked very put together, which was something I had not seen in many years. Yet, there was something very unsettling about that too.
Beside me, Anna was looking too. “Mia, what’s wrong? Who is that?” she whispered.
“She’s… my mom.” I managed to whisper back.
By then, Ms. Haney was coming back to her desk. Mom noticed me as well. “There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you were in school today.” She said, smiling happily at me. She looked happier then I’d ever seen her look before. It felt strange to see.
“Your mother came in saying she’d like to pick you up today. Do you have all your things?” Ms. Haney asked. Of course she wouldn’t question this too much, considering there was no formal custody arrangement between Michael and my mother. And I was certain that Mom could’ve proved who she was, considering how well kept she looked.
“Uh, yeah.” I managed. I looked back over at Anna. “Can you let Raziel know about this? I’ll give you a call later.”
“Sure.” Anna said. She watched my mother for a moment longer before going back out. It was funny, but Anna actually looked a little wary herself. She didn’t know a lot about my mother, but I would’ve imagined that Raziel had told her enough to make her aware that something wasn’t really right here.
“So how did you get here Mom? Why are you here now?” I asked as the two of us walked out of the office. It felt like this was the safer time to ask.
“Well, your grandma passed away a couple weeks ago, and I decided to get myself back on my feet. Since I’m doing so much better, I thought it was only fair that I got to see my daughter again. After all, I’ve missed you so much.” Mom explained, still apparently very happy.
“Grand mom died?” I repeated, barely able to believe my own ears. She had always been very healthy from what I’d seen before. Could something have happened to her down there?
“Yes. She was very sick, and she passed away. I just couldn’t see staying down there all alone once I started getting better, so I came up here to find you.” Mom explained.
“Wait a minute.” I said, forcing us to stop as we stepped outside. “You’re not saying you’re getting ready to take me back to Miami.”
“Of course I am. You know as well as I do that you don’t belong up here.” Mom replied. Now she looked a bit surprised. Guess she never thought that I’d refuse.
“But I’m finishing high school here, and I have friends. I can’t just leave.” I said.
For a moment, Mom was quiet. But when she spoke, I could tell she was a bit sad now. “You’re really serious? But I came all this way just for you. I felt so terrible when I realized what happened. You really don’t want to be back with me now?” she asked softly.
“It’s not that. I just don’t want to leave everybody here. I really like it here Mom. And I can’t just leave Dad like that. He’s been really good to me in everything. And… things changed too.” I admitted softly.
“I see. So you got them too, huh?” Mom whispered, looking away for a moment. After apparently regaining herself again, she spoke again. “It still doesn’t change things. You’re still Mia. You’re still my daughter too. You don’t just belong to them.”
“I didn’t believe she belonged to anyone.” I heard Sean say. I looked over to see him walking over to us.
Mom watched him for a moment, her eyes a little wider now. At the time, I guessed she wasn’t expecting to see someone like him there. But then again, I think Sean could’ve stood out anywhere. “What are you doing out here?” I asked dumbly.
“I overheard Anna telling Raziel that your mom was here, so I had to see for myself. I have to say I’m surprised. I didn’t think this day would come.” Sean commented.
“A friend of yours?” Mom guessed, finally pulling out of her shock.
“Kind of. This is Sean Morrison.” I said. Somehow, I couldn’t make myself tell her yet that he was my boyfriend. Maybe I feared what might come out of it.
“You must be Missy Renaldi. Did you really just come up here to bring Mia back to Miami?” Sean asked.
“Of course I did. I want my daughter back now.” Mom said.
“But don’t you think it should be her choice if she wants to return there? Dropping this suddenly is hard enough, especially with no contact for nearly a year.” Sean reasoned.
Mom sighed. “You might be right. But I don’t want to leave without her either. I’ll call Michael later and discuss this with him.” She said.
I watched her walk to her car and get in. I couldn’t help but feel a little more then shaken. Something wasn’t right about any of this. Beside me, Sean sighed. “This is worse then I thought.” He muttered, watching the car drive away.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up at him. “Do you know something I don’t again?”
“It just seems too convenient now for her to get better and show up suddenly. There’s something else going on here.” Sean admitted.
By then, Raziel was coming out there as well. “I wouldn’t have believed that one if I hadn’t seen it.” He said. Apparently, he’d seen her from inside before she left.
“So that was really your mom Mia? She’s beautiful.” Anna commented from where she stood near him.
“Yeah, it was definitely her. But I’ve never seen her like that before. She actually looked… okay.” I admitted.
“Something’s definitely up. I put in a call to my dad, and he’s letting us bail for today.” Raziel said.
“Does Michael know yet?” Sean asked.
“I’m not sure. He didn’t say if he was with him at the office or not. Guess he’s gonna have to tell him.” Raziel answered.
I couldn’t help but wonder what Michael would think once he learned of all of this. Obviously, it was going to be hard. Michael and my mother had never formally divorced, so one could easily tell that feelings may still have been there. And Mom knew that I’d changed. She knew what happened with the Renaldis after all. Would she use that against Michael?
The ride back to the house was fairly quiet. Looking over at Sean, I once again wondered what he was thinking. I didn’t doubt that he knew something I didn’t with all of this. I may have sensed something was up with my mother suddenly appearing, but Sean was good at reading between the lines in just about any situation.
After what seemed like forever, he spoke again. By then, we were parked in the driveway of my house. “You know, we need to be careful that this. I’m not positive, but I’m fairly sure I smelled something different on her back there.” He admitted quietly.
“Like what?” I dared ask.
“I don’t know. It was old and faint, like it had been a while since whatever it was had around her. But her recovery puzzles me too with this. Something happened down there. And I don’t think it was natural.” Sean explained.
I could understand that one. I believed it too. “So what should we do? You know it’s not easy on us. Especially when Michael doesn’t know.” I said softly.
“I know. But I think he’ll figure it all out too. Your father’s a lot more insightful then most give him credit for. Trust me, I know.” Sean said, patting my head.
I couldn’t help but smile a little. “You certainly know how to put things sometimes.” I joked.
Sean smiled back. “It’s a talent.” He teased back.
Going into the house, we found Sara was there in the kitchen. She’d apparently been keeping herself busy by doing some baking. Of course, she didn’t look too surprised to see us. Sean picked up on that one right away. “I’ll take it you got a phone call too.” He noted.
“Of course. But I wasn’t expecting to hear what I did. You don’t think this has anything to do with him, do you?” Sara asked. She may have been speaking in a roundabout way, but I didn’t mistake who she was talking about.
“Don’t know. I smelled something, but the scent was too old to pinpoint.” Sean admitted, taking a seat by the bar.
“Did Dad talk to you about any of this?” I asked as I took my seat beside him.
Sara sighed. “A little bit. But he seemed pretty unhappy over it.” She admitted.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Mom’s never really made an effort to get along anyways. And if she really wants me back, she’s probably going to cause trouble to get what she wants.” I said.
“That’s what he thought too. But there has to be more to it. After what I was told about her, I wouldn’t think it would be natural for her to recover her senses so fast that she’d come up here by herself to bring you back.” Sara reasoned, taking a seat across from us.
I thought about it for a moment before speaking. In all honesty, the subject of my mother had always been something I really avoided before. Not only because I worried about maybe upsetting Michael, but because I didn’t want to face it myself. “It can’t be. Mom’s been sick for as long as I could remember. She tried to care for me, but she never could do it without turning on me in some way or another. And in Miami, she never even left the house most of the time because she didn’t want to. She’d stay up in her room for days sometimes with all the blinds drawn and refuse to come out. Grand mom did want to put her in the hospital, but she worried about what might happen with me and her family’s reputation because my mom was so young when she had me. So she just left her alone.” I admitted.
“It all seems too convenient now, doesn’t it?” Sean muttered. He seemed to be thinking it over very carefully. No doubt he was trying to figure out how to piece this one together.
I quietly stood up. “I’m sorry, but I should probably go and find Michael. I want to make sure he’s okay.” I said.
“Are you sure you’re okay doing this on your own?” Sara asked. She looked pretty surprised at my sudden announcement.
“It may be better if you went ahead and did that. Besides, I think you’ll be okay for now.” Sean said, giving me a slight smile.
I couldn’t help but smile back. “Thanks Sean. Hopefully we’ll be back in a little while.” I said.
I think I knew as I walked out of there and got into my car that Sean understood my feelings about all of this. I felt a little torn myself. I wanted to see my mother better, even if it was from bad means. But at the same time, I didn’t want to see Michael hurt. I found myself weighing it all in my head as I drove to his office. I think I knew the truth in the end to the matter. I wanted to remain with Michael. He’d always been more of the parent to me, though we were only able to see each other for years for only three months a year. And I could always call him in private before, even when he was working, if I needed advice or just someone to talk to. I never got that with my mother. I never blamed her for her condition, but I did not feel that closeness to her either, as sad as that was.
Pulling up to Michael’s office, I sat there for a moment and debated on what I was going to say. What could I really say? I was certain now that he knew all about what was going on. Still, I steeled myself and got out. I knew it would probably be better just to go on impulse. It was more honest that way, and a lot more comfortable then planning words.
To my surprise, it seemed that Raphael had left for the day. But Michael was still in his office, sitting at his desk and looking at something on his computer. I stood by the door for a moment before knocking. “Mind if I join you?” I said when he looked up.
Michael did seem surprised, but he still smiled. “Not at all. Though I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” He admitted as I walked over and took a seat by the desk.
“I know. But I didn’t feel like sitting at home either. I’d start thinking about things too much, and it would drive me crazy.” I admitted, resting my cheek on my hand.
“I could understand that one.” Michael lamented. He looked at his computer for another moment or so before speaking again. “So, was it really that different?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I’ve never seen her like that in my life. It was like day and night. But there was something weird about it too. And Sean kept on saying that he thought he smelled something on her. But it was too old for him to know what it was.” I explained.
“I see.” Michael said, sitting back and sighing himself. He seemed to be thinking it all over again.
“Do you really think something could influence her to act normal like that?” I dared ask.
“I’m not sure. From everything I came to know about Missy before, that seems unlikely. But I could be wrong too. Raphael knows more about those kinds of things then I do.” Michael admitted.
“Speaking of, where is he? I didn’t think he left this early.” I noted, looking around again.
“He’s taking care of something for me. Honestly, I had needed the time alone too. But I’m glad you stopped by. I admit that I’m concerned now. Something’s coming. It’s just gut instinct.” Michael explained.
“So, do you think that Sara’s right about this? She thinks that Flint’s involved somehow.” I said.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s possible. But I couldn’t put the timelines together on that one either. If he did do this, for his scent to be on her for so long that Sean couldn’t recognize it, it had to have been at least six or more months ago. I know that I’ve been told that foxes can detect lingering scents for long periods of times and are able to tell what they are on a person. But if that’s the case, why would he go to Missy so long before?” Michael said, obviously deep in thought again.
I couldn’t help but agree on that one. Just why would Flint target my mother that long ago if he did? It didn’t make any sense. Six months before, Sean had just asked me to the Prom. But there was no sign of Flint then either. Could he have somehow been spying then? But if so, how had he figured out about my mother?
I looked back over as Michael sighed and stood up. “Well, I suppose dwelling on it isn’t going to solve anything. Right now, I think the better thing for us to do would be to get back home and hope we can sort all of this out soon.” He said.
“You don’t think Mom could force me to go back to Miami, do you?” I dared ask.
“Of course not. After all, you’re sixteen years old, and you can speak for yourself when it comes down to it. So I wouldn’t worry too much about that part.” Michael reassured me.
“Yeah, you’re right. And I don’t want to go either. I’ve always wanted to be here, so this is where I want to stay.” I said, standing up myself.
“I’m glad. And I want to keep you here now. There’s no sense in ruining a good thing.” He said happily.
The evening passed by pretty quietly, and I think everyone relaxed at least a little bit. There was still no sign of Flint either. Anna admitted that she went back to our last class, but he hadn’t been there. No one really seemed to notice other then her though. It made me wonder just what he may have been up to. If he was planning on disappearing just as quickly from the school, then why bother to attend at all? I believed that foxes were tricky, like everyone said, but this behavior was just down right odd. If he was planning on challenging Sean like he said, then why all the run around?
Sitting in Raziel’s car the next afternoon, I couldn’t help but reflect on that one. Beside me, Raziel squirmed a little in his seat and fidgeted with the small paper in his hands. “I can’t believe he isn’t here yet.” He complained.
“Well, maybe he got caught up. It’s not like Manake has to abide by the same rules we do. And besides, I thought he’d rather talk to Michael or your dad instead of us here.” I reasoned.
The reason we were out there in the first place was because we were supposed to be waiting for Manake. Raziel had found a folded note on his car that afternoon at lunch with a request from him for us to meet. Of course, the request had involved Sean and our parents, but Raziel himself was tired of waiting around. So he kept the letter and decided to come there himself to see what Manake wanted.
Of course, I was questioning whether Manake would even speak to us. This entire thing had me a little on edge. It just seemed strange to me that he wouldn’t show up at the house to talk. Manake certainly wasn’t shy around my father or Raphael. He’d proven that. But as worried as I was for it, I was even more worried about Raziel trying to come out there alone. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to him and I did nothing to prevent it. So I convinced him to let me come.
“Maybe. But I’m getting tired of us not knowing anything.” Raziel replied.
“Don’t you think there might be something more to this? I really don’t think Manake’s that shy as to not to show up at the house. And you didn’t mention this to Sean either.” I said.
Raziel sighed, tapping the stirring wheel. “Yeah, I know. But that’s part of the reason I wanted to come here. I want to see what’s really going on.” He admitted.
“Are you serious? You know Flint could be setting up a trap for us!” I said. I really couldn’t believe him on this one. He couldn’t possibly have thought that we’d be enough to take on a full fox.
“Just calm down, will you? I don’t think he’s setting a trap. He wouldn’t try to lure out our dads like that. He knows they’d kill him if he attacked them.” Raziel reasoned.
Well, he had a point. But I still felt scared. “Raziel please, let’s just go home.” I begged.
“You can’t be that scared of a fox.” Raziel said.
“Look, I’ve seen enough things to last me a lifetime already since I came here. And I am not going to sit here like an idiot waiting for a fox that wants to kill my boyfriend just because of a family grudge!” I declared.
“Fine.” Raziel muttered, turning on the engine on again.
