Fire Always Burns - By Krista Lakes Page 0,9

would back out yet again and send him off at the last minute; Audrey had been furious. She had screamed that she was the parent and how dare he do his father's duties. The memory made him cringe.

“Ok Mom. I'll be on the computer if you need me,” he replied, turning to head for his room.

“I thought I would make chicken pot pie for dinner tonight. It was your father's favorite,” she called out after him.

“Sounds good, Mom. The veggies are in the freezer,” Andrew yelled back as he opened the door to his room. He could hear his mother rooting around in the kitchen for the various pans and supplies as she started dinner. He sighed again as he sat down at his computer desk and turned on his laptop. The fan whirred to life as he waited for it to boot, feeling beaten yet again by groceries.

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“The groceries are just part of it. A symptom of the whole disease. She just can't get past this and she refuses to get help. I made her an appointment at a therapist, and she refused to go because she said, and I quote, 'I'm not sick Andrew! Nothing is wrong!' I think she lives in this world where Dad is just missing and will come home any day now,” Andrew said into the dark, his voice full of anger and pain. I sat and listened to him vent about his mom, listening quietly as I thought about how his mom got to this point.

It had been almost two years since his dad died. Two days after high school graduation, Andrew's dad had gone to replace a power transformer and never came home. The last memory of his dad was talking to him that morning, his mouth full of cereal as they discussed his plans for college. Andrew had a scholarship to Colorado State University and plans to go on to medical school after that. Mr. Miller had been so proud of him. He had told everyone in town that his son was going to be a big fancy doctor someday, the biggest grin on his face.

Andrew was at my graduation party when a police officer arrived to get him and his mom. I can still see the haunted look on his face as the police cruiser took them away to the morgue. He told me later the coroner said his dad never felt anything, the electric shock was so strong. Andrew could never decide if that was true or if the coroner was just trying to comfort a grieving kid.

Charles Miller had been a good man. I remembered him working long hours, but always coming home to tuck Andrew in at night as a kid, even if he left right after to get back to work. He had loved Andrew more than anything in the world. Andrew had known that things between Charlie and his mother weren't perfect, but growing up he had always had two loving parents. His parents had a happy relationship, but even as a teenager, I had noticed that they were more friends than lovers.

Andrew's mom took Charlie's death really hard. I remembered her laying in bed for months after the accident, barely moving and refusing to eat. Andrew spent a lot of time at my house that summer, his own house too full of pain. Andrew had been incredibly grateful when my dad had helped him arrange the funeral, as his mother was in no condition to do it. Andrew had no idea if he wanted to be cremated or buried, and no concept of how to arrange any of it. When he had to sign the papers to release his father's body, he went with my dad. When my dad came home, his shoulder was damp with tears and he had tear marks on his own face. I never said anything about it, but I was glad someone had been there for him.

We were supposed to leave for college together, but when the water was turned off because Audrey forgot to pay it, he canceled his plans to go to college and took over. His father's life insurance paid off most of the mortgage, and Charlie had saved up enough to keep the lights on for a while. It had taken a lot of time, patience, and help from my dad, but Andrew had finally gotten his father's affairs in order and the bills sorted out.

When money started to get low, he told his mom