Damaged Souls (Broken Man) - By Christopher Scott Page 0,7
thinking,” Delaney thought of how to handle her subject. “I just get the feeling that his mother isn’t doing well.”
“What makes you say that Delaney. Has he said anything to you.”
“Not yet,” she replied, knowing that he wouldn’t. “But, I can just tell he is worried about something.”
“Do you want me to talk to him,” Amanda offered her help as she took a sip of wine. “My door is always open to him or to his mother for that matter.”
“No, that’s okay,” Delaney tried to figure out how to handle the situation. “I don’t think he is going talk to you or me about it. Do you think maybe Jack could talk to him.”
“That might be a good idea, I will talk to him about it,” Amanda understood where Delaney was going. “Is anything else bothering you Delaney. You just don’t seem yourself.”
“No, I’m okay,” she was too embarrassed to talk about the the other things she was feeling for Greg. “How about you. Did you have a good time today.”
“I had a great time. I was just thinking that I can’t believe Logan is already four years old. Time does move quickly.”
“He had a big time today,” Delaney replied as she thought of Logan. “He loved the party and he loved the movie Greg and I took him to.”
“Yeah, he couldn’t stop talking about it all night. Thanks for doing that by the way. I love that little boy, but he wears me out sometimes. That nap today was a godsend.”
“But did you get any sleep,” Delaney teased Amanda about her so called nap.
“Delaney, I am shocked,” she laughed about her not so secret sex life. “But, yes, we did manage to get a little sleep, at least for a few minutes.”
“God, you guys are just like teenagers,” Delaney pretended to be grossed out as she rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever get sick of each other.”
“We haven’t yet,” Amanda responded as she seemed to relive her afternoon with Jack. “That man is something else.”
“Oh, gross,” Delaney laughed at Amanda’s bedroom eyes and enjoyed the always informal nature of their conversations as she stood up from her chair. “I better get to bed, sounds like you could use some time alone.”
“Very funny, Delaney,” she chuckled before taking on a more serious tone. “But if you need to talk, you know about anything, I’m always here.”
“Thanks, Amanda, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay, sleep well.”
* * *
Greg couldn’t concentrate on his homework as he sat at the kitchen table and thought about his mother as midnight approached. Maybe Delaney is still up, he thought to himself as he pulled out his phone and sent her a text. She’ll help take my mind off of her.
No response. Not even a hint or one of those thought bubbles. Is that what they’re called, Greg wondered as he got up and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. She must be sleeping, he concluded as he sat down and tried again to focus.
It had been almost seven years since his father’s death, Greg realized as he took a sip of beer and opened his Trig book. She should be over it by now, he thought to himself as the equations made no sense in his distracted state. But instead, she had actually regressed during the past year.
What is going on with her, Greg wondered as he again tried to turn his attention to the work in front of him. She had actually gotten better for a few years, finding a steady job and limiting her drinking to the weekends. They even settled into a somewhat steady routine and she seemed to be getting better by the year.
But, the last six months had been a disaster. It all started in September with a DUI. Greg remembered picking her up at the police station and the sickening feeling that this was the start of something that wasn’t going to end well. Fortunately, Jack helped him get a good lawyer, and his mother had been lucky to only receive a fine, probation, and a suspended license instead of jail time.
However, what should have been a wakeup call instead turned into her surrender. Rather than finding a bottom and fighting to turn it around, his mother chose to give up. Instead of accepting his offer to drive her to work and pick her up every day, she opted just to quit.
She even turned down Amanda’s generous offer of free counseling, instead choosing the easier alternative, heavy doses of