Be Back Later, Mother

Be Back Later, Mother

by Shane Benavides

Brian stood on the steps leading up to his house, looking at the multiple windows that stared outward, waiting to greet whoever happened to come up the drive. Not that anyone other than the servants ever showed up. He looked at the surrounding landscape that decorated the front, knowing his Mother had paid an exorbitant amount of money to make her yard look better than any other on the block. She wanted people to know she was rich.

He glanced back at the doorway but quickly turned away. His mind flashed back to his Father, lying in a bed in a room at the back of the house. He remembered how his Mother had treated him like a burden. He was the reason they were so wealthy and, now that he couldn't earn her any more money, she avoided him as much as possible. She had nurses on staff to tend to him 24 hours a day and only showed interest in him when it was absolutely needed. She had considered him dead before they officially found out his cancer was terminal.

Brian thought about this and a small smile formed at the edges of his mouth.

Another flashback took him to the last time he had a friend over. His Mother had gotten violent and smacked around his friend Eli and him for being too loud. It was only 6pm but she had told them to shut up and go to bed. Eli's parents had found out and tried to press charges but all his Mother had to do was throw some money at them and they stopped. That was her solution to everything, just throw some money at it and it'll all work out. He thought about how Eli and his other friends stopped coming around. None of them wanted to be around him while he was at home and his Mother always wanted him home.

He thought about how alone he had felt and it made the smile grow a little wider.

He thought about his first and only girlfriend, Tina. He had stayed late after class several times to hang out with her, knowing how much it angered his Mother. He couldn't chance taking her home but didn't want to just leave her right after school got out. All it took was one too many times and she showed up at his school, tracked them down to the nearby park, and another scene had ensued. She had even grabbed Tina by the hair and threw her to the ground. His Mother had seen them kissing, and it had pushed her even further over the edge. Teenager or not, she would not allow him to be involved in any kind of relationship. That incident had cost him Tina and left him an even bigger outcast, a complete loner. Nobody wanted to hang out with the kid whose Mother could pop out of nowhere and attack them at any moment. He became nothing but a joke.

Thinking of how his Mother's actions had made him such a loser almost made him giggle.

He pulled out his wallet and quickly counted how much money there was. He was about ten short of $300. He glanced back at the house, at the front door, at the note taped there. He then looked around, nobody ever noticed him so he was sure nobody had seen him arrive home.

He snuck around the back and left his neighborhood, heading for downtown. He was going to have fun tonight while he could and wouldn't worry about the note or what it said. Let one of the maids or other servants find it.

Someone else could be the one to find out that whoever wrote it had abducted his Mother. That they knew about all of her bank accounts and how much she was really worth. They could read through the usual stuff you'd think to find in a ransom note. They wanted money, didn't want to involve the police, and - assuming it all went well - they'd return his Mother safely and unharmed.

He thought about what it said but all he got from it was that tonight he was free. This made him genuinely happy, something he hadn't been in a really long time.

Maybe he'll worry about it tomorrow but, for tonight, he had no responsibility. He'd go by the little grocery store where Tina worked and, if she would give him another chance, he would finally take her out on a proper date.

He looked back towards the house and couldn't resist a small wave and then whispered, "Be back later, Mother...you might not be, though." Then he happily walked away, a bounce in his step that had been absent since before his father had passed away.