My mother was home and with some guy.
I heard my mother fixing drinks in the kitchen and then I fell back asleep.
When I awoke, my mother was sitting on my bed.
“Lincoln,” she said. “I want you to meet Mommy’s friend.”
“I don’t want to,” I said.
“Well, he sure wants to meet you,” she said and laughed in her wheezy, smoke-ridden way and then coughed and choked.
I knew what was up.
“C’mon,” she said. “Do it for Mama. I’ll buy you something extra.”
Just then her “friend” appeared in the doorway.
“Hi, Lincoln,” he said. “I’m Luke.”
He was a cowboy type with the hat and all. He started unbuttoning his denim snap shirt.
I sat up in bed and looked from him to my mother.
“Go fix me another drink, Candy,” Luke said. “The least you could do is serve me as your guest. That crystal ain’t gonna pay for itself.”
“Alright, baby,” she said, and went back out into the kitchen.
“C’mon, Lincoln,” Luke said. “It’s just a game. We’ll all have fun.”
By then Luke’s shirt was off and he rubbed his hairy pecs up and down.
“We gonna have some fun, you and me, boy,” he said
He grabbed my hand and rubbed his chest with it.
“That sure feels good,” he said in a low breathy way.
I pulled my hand away.
“That’s not how this game is gonna be played, little boy!” he said and stood up.
“Fuck you!” I screamed.
Luke pinned me down and laughed.
“You ain’t got the strength, you little jerk!” he said. “You know you want me!”
I struggled and struggled but he pinned me down with his left forearm. But then I reached up with my arm and punched him, hard. He was right in front of me and I bit his dick through the pants he was wearing, even harder.
“Oww!” he screamed and snapped up. “You little bitch!”
I ran out the bedroom door in only my pajamas.
I guess that was when my fighting career really started. That night, I was determined to fight off anyone who tried to hurt me, and I did.
I heard scuffling and yells from behind me. I grabbed the cordless phone from its base and ran outside.
I knew I had only a certain distance, but I called my grandmother and told her to come get me.
I threw the cordless phone into a dumpster and ran toward my grandmother’s.
The car pulled up and stopped. My grandmother rolled down the back window, opened the door, and let me in.
“We’re going home,” she said.
After that, I tried not to speak to my mom again. Sure, there were a few times she popped back into my life, claiming she wanted to hang with her son, but it turned out to be because she needed money. As soon as she had some, she’d be back on the streets, ignoring me.
So I tried not to see her. And going to where she lived in Texas sounded like the worst place in the world to go to me. Even though I wanted to go wherever Amanda was.
Chapter 18
Lincoln
That was the end of my story. When I finish telling it, Amanda’s mouth is hanging open.
“Okay, well now I can totally see why you don’t want to go back to Texas,” she says. “I’m really sorry for trying to push you to go there.”
“It’s fine,” I tell her. “I know you just wanted me to spend Christmas and New Year’s with you and meet your family. And that’s pretty sweet.”
“Yeah, and when I said all families have problems, well, in mine, my dad always falls asleep when we try to watch movies, and my brother and mother bicker over what they should watch once he does. I feel bad for accidentally trivializing your issues. We don’t have to go to Odessa. We could just stay here for Christmas and New Year’s.”
I like the way she says “we.” I feel as if I’d been fighting within myself for a long time. Should I go to Odessa with her or not? Should I spend Christmas with her or not? Should I continue my fighting career or not? Should I follow all the recommendations for my knee and eyes or not?
Now I realize I’m tired of fighting. I just want to give in and have a nice relaxing time with my girl.
She is my girl, I realize, whether we have made it official or not. Come to think of it, I should get on that.
I look at her, say nothing, and stand up.
She stands up too and then leads me into her bedroom. She has a big canopy bed with lots of white lace and pink drapery.
She can be such a girly girl. And I like it.
We enter her room and get onto her bed.
“I want you,” I say and stare at her.
“Are you sure?” she asks.
“Yes. I want everything that entails. Your pink canopy bed, and going with you to meet your family in Texas. We’ll just, like, maybe not go to mine. I don’t know if my mom is even still alive but if she is, I assume she’s always on drugs. It’s better to just leave the past in the past and stop fighting it. So that we can look forward to the future together. And enjoy the present. And right now, I want to fuck you.”