One and Done - S. Briones Lim Page 0,63

this out and leave tomorrow.”

Chapter 25

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

“That’ll be sixty-eight dollars and seventy-five cents…hello? Hello? Mister, are you all right?”

Snapping out of my trance, I blinked quickly and saw the cashier waving his hands in front of my face.

“Dude, you okay?” The teenaged boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other and glanced down at his phone. “I can call 911 if you want…unless…are you high or something?”

Not high. More like low. I’m only leaving my sick mom and running away from the girl I love, but yeah, I’m fine.

I nodded dumbly and swiped my card into the reader. The boy looked at me funny before shrugging his shoulders. “Man, if this is what I have to look forward to when I get older then I don’t want it.”

I snorted and grabbed my groceries, placing about four bags on each arm. “Trust me, if I could be young forever, I would. Take it easy, my man.”

It was funny how something as mundane as grocery shopping could hold such a significant weight. As I drove home I found myself glancing back at the pile of plastic bags and feeling a bit guilty that my last act in Bethel Falls was nothing more than stocking the pantry of my old house. I mean, sure Mom had a nurse to take care of her and sure, we’d all just return to the lives we’ve known and loved for the past five years…yet a part of me still felt as if I should be doing something more significant for my last hurrah. Maybe buy out an ad in a newspaper to wish bon voyage to the people I loved…and hurt. Maybe I could have bought cakes for everyone and left them on their porches to be frozen by the freak snow of Bethel Falls. But nope, I was just stocking up the house with canned foods and fruit.

I turned into my cul-de-sac and almost screeched to a stop. Toward the opposite end of the street, right under a dying oak tree, there was a car that looked like the one Rocky drove.

“I must be seeing things,” I murmured with a shake of my head. “It’s just like those movies where the guy sees his girl’s face all over the place.”

Trudging up the steps to my house, I heard a feminine voice coming from inside. Figuring that Michelle had once again shown up early, I braced myself for a barrage of unsolicited advice when suddenly…

My mom’s raspy voice echoed through the empty hallway. “It’s because he was worried about dragging you down with him.”

“What?” I heard Rocky gasp and immediately felt my heart plummet.

“It was also because he was worried he’d be dragged back here—”

“Mom!” I ran into the den as fast as I could, vaguely aware that my bags of groceries were emptying their contents onto the floor.

“Jesse!” Rocky jumped to her feet, looking like a kid who had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, shooting a worried glance at my mother. What could she have said to her?

“I-I…”

“Looking for me?” My eyes closed. What else would she be doing here? Certainly not visiting with my mother. When I opened my eyes I found Rocky on the floor, anxiously grabbing groceries and putting them into piles by my ripped bags. I shook my head in disgust. Rocky should never be cleaning up after anyone. Especially not me. “What did she tell you?”

A flash of orange flew across my eyes. Rocky smiled sheepishly, holding a fruit in front of my face. I shook my head in exasperation and pushed the citrus away.

“Um, just that—”

“You were leaving her again,” Mom answered for her. There was no mistaking the glee in her tone. Even after five years apart she still loved to see me squirm.

“No, she didn’t tell me that.” Rocky’s voice dropped a few octaves. It was obvious she was lying.

“Well, she should have.” My annoyance with my mother won out over my innate need to sugarcoat things for Rocky.

“So it’s true?” she squeaked. She glanced toward my mother, a look of pity washing over her face. “You’re really going to leave her like this? How can you even look at yourself in the mirror?”

“How can she look at herself? I tried, I really did. I wanted to make things better between us and she’s just here calling me a failure and acting like the bad mom she always was.” I didn’t care if my mom