Curtis bounded down the stairs fully dressed and full of energy, with his book bag over his shoulder. “Morning,” he said cheerfully.
“Good morning,” Ruxs said first, Green just standing there staring unbelievably.
“Wow. That smells great. I’ll take mine to go,” Curtis said pulling the juice container out of the refrigerator.
Oh boy. Ruxs knew this wasn’t going to be good.
“Hey Dad. I see you’re in your ‘I’m about to take down some bad guys gear’.”
Ruxs ruffled Curtis’ hair when he went by him.
Green stopped flipping Curtis’ favorite bananas foster pancakes, and watched him flit around the kitchen like he couldn’t wait to get out the door. “Curtis. Where are you going?”
“School. Where else? It’s Friday. I’ve already missed one day.”
“I know. But I called your school and told them you needed some time off.”
Curtis slammed the juice carton down. “Why’d you do that? I didn’t ask you to do that!”
Green looked at his son sadly. “Curtis it’s okay. It’s excused. You can go back next week. Just a few days, okay. I think you should stay home and —”
“Hell no! I’m going to school,” Curtis yelled. “Hey!” Ruxs barked, standing and glaring at Curtis.
Green put his hand up to stop him. “It’s okay, Mark. He’s right. I shouldn’t have assumed.” Green moved the pan to the back burner, turning off the stove. “Have a good day Curtis.”
Ruxs watched Green leave the kitchen and take the stairs two at a time. Ruxs turned and faced Curtis, his face heating with anger. Curtis looked like he was sad for upsetting Green like that, but Ruxs was going to make sure he was sad, apologetic, remorseful, and most of all, educated that he was to never hurt that man again.
He walked around the counter to face Curtis. “Now you listen and you listen good, because I’m not going to repeat this. Under no circumstance are you allowed to talk to him like that,” Ruxs hissed, yanking Curtis’ book bag off his shoulder.
Curtis looked defiantly at him. “You think you can stop me from going to school.”
“I think I can stop you from seeing eighteen.” Ruxs fumed. “Do you have any idea what that man – what we all went through the ten hours that you were gone? It hurt us all. But it almost killed him.” Ruxs pointed upstairs.
Curtis looked down at his brand new shoes. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be,” Ruxs said sternly, his voice hard. Ruxs put both hands on Curtis’ shoulders. “Look, buddy. No one is saying you have to sit in your room and cry for your mom all day. But staying busy isn’t going to make your situation disappear.”
Curtis sighed sadly. “I can’t believe I treated him like that.”
Ruxs patted Curtis on his slumped shoulders. “You’re upset, it’s understandable. But don’t push your only support away.”
“That’s the thing. I’m not upset.”
Ruxs pulled back and looked into those expressive blue eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t want to talk to anyone. I’m so… so. I’m so ashamed because the only thing I could think about when they took me to that group place was how sad I’d be to be away from you guys. I wasn’t sad about… about my mom just dying.”
Ruxs pulled Curtis over to the breakfast bar and sat him down. He went into the kitchen and made him a plate of pancakes and set it in front of him. Green’s mom always told him being served comfort food was like a hug from someone that loved you. Curtis grinned at him and dug into the food. He fixed himself another cup of coffee and sat beside him to listen.
“So you’re not upset about your mom dying and you were afraid to tell us.”
“No. I’m a little upset, but most of all I’m relieved. She’s been in so much pain. She was on dialysis for years, her body rejected transplant after transplant, and then she had to wait in a hospital to die slowly. She’s finally resting peacefully and she’s with her mom now. I know she’s with grandma, cause when I saw her body in the morgue…” Curtis paused looking off like he was bringing the image up in his mind. “Her mouth was curved in a little smile.”
Ruxs nodded his head that he understood.
“I think she was happy to go too. So many don’t get to say goodbye before someone passes. I did. She knew I’d be taken care of. She loved you guys ever since she met you. She knew I’d be with you all. So that’s what I’m saying. I don’t need to grieve. I want to celebrate. My mom is finally happy.”
Ruxs hugged Curtis to him. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong about that. And I understand.” Ruxs held Curtis at arm’s length, his gaze serious. “Someone else would understand that too.”
Curtis squeezed his eyes shut. “I can’t believe I yelled at him.”