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After saying goodbye to my mother, I rushed out the door and across the street to Blake’s house. I knocked on the door, and as I waited, I wished I had brought a jacket. It was freezing out here. When there was no answer, I knocked again, only for Blake to whip the door open and stare at me with surprise on his face before it morphed into realization.
“Something came up. I can’t come over tonight.”
“So, you didn’t text me?” I asked before I shoved my way inside. “I’m freezing my nuts off out there.”
Blake pressed his lips together. “It’s not a good time, Tommy. I’m sorry.” His brows dipped before he looked over his shoulder. “You can’t be here right now,” he murmured.
“I can’t... What’s wrong?” I gripped his chin to force him to look at me. “Bug, talk to me. We’ve been friends for years.”
Tears filled his olive-colored eyes. “Please, I need you to go home. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? We can hang out after band practice.” He started to move away from me, but I wouldn’t let him. “Don’t.”
“Blakey, who’s here? Is it Tom? Invite him in, honey. I haven’t seen him in a long time,” Monica Duncan called out to her son, her words slurred. She mumbled something incoherent under her breath as Blake tried to push me away.
I shouldered past him. “I should at least say hello to your mom, Bug. It would be rude not to.” But I wished that I had listened to Blake when he told me to leave.
Monica was lying on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her small frame. I hadn’t seen her in months, and she looked like half the woman I remembered. Her blonde hair was pulled back, her green eyes sunken into her skeletal face. Her skin had taken on a yellowish color that I didn’t think was healthy. Scattered around the floor were bottles of booze, water, and a bucket that I was afraid to even look at.
“Tom, it’s wonderful to see you.” She smiled at me with dry, cracked lips. “I feel like you haven’t come to visit Blakey in forever.”
Blake huffed. “Mom, I see him every day.”
“Well, not here. It’s like you’re embarrassed of me or something.” She winked at her son before she reached for a napkin and wiped her mouth. “You boys don’t have to babysit me. I’m fine, Blakey, I promise. Go upstairs. Play some video games. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
Blake started to protest, but I cut him off. “Sure thing, Mrs. Duncan. It’s wonderful to see you.”
“It’s Monica!” she called as I nearly carried my best friend up the stairs to his room.
I glared down at Blake the moment the door was shut behind us. “She’s sick,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “Like really sick.”
“She’s an alcoholic, Tommy.”
“I can see that, Blake. How long has this been going on?”
He dropped his eyes to his feet. “Uh, my entire life.” Blake dragged his toe across the carpet before he glanced back up at me with tears in his eyes. “It’s why my parents divorced. Why we moved here. I had the choice of which parent to stay with, and I picked my mother because she needed someone to take care of her.”
“Why am I just learning about this now?” I growled before I shoved at Blake’s chest. “Huh? Why now? I’m your best friend, Bug. I could help you. We can get her help. Is this why you never want to hang out here? Why we’re always going to my place?”
He nodded.
“Jesus Christ.”
Blake grabbed my arm. “Why are you so mad? It’s not like you have to live with this. You’re not scared she’s going to choke on her vomit or lose another job. Or worried about how the mortgage is going to get paid or if your mother remembered to buy groceries or that the electricity might get shut off. That’s me, Tommy, that’s all my shit.”
“I could help you!” I exclaimed. “She could go to AA or one of those things.”
He shook his head. “Nope, tried that. We’ve tried everything. Dad went with her before the divorce. She’d stop drinking for a little while, and things would be okay, but then she’d start again.”
“What about rehab?”
“We can’t afford that. Mom can’t even keep a job long enough to get health insurance. It’s why I’m on my father’s.”
I wrapped my arms around Blake and yanked him against me. “I’m your best friend.”
I felt him take a deep breath, and when he let it out, his entire body shuddered.
“She’s right.” He leaned his head on my chest to look up at me. “I’m embarrassed. I didn’t want you to see this, what I have to live with. It’s a lot.” Tears slipped down his face, and he buried his face in my neck.
“You have me now, Bug,” I promised as I rubbed his back. “You’re not alone anymore.”
