How a Star Falls by Amber Stokes

Author:Amber Stokes [Stokes, Amber]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Seasons of a Story
Published: 2014-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

For the first time since he’d graduated from college nearly three years ago, Derrick stayed at his parents’ house for two nights in a row. When he wandered out to the kitchen that Saturday morning, only his mom was there to greet him.

His mom gave him a curious look over the spoonful of milk and cereal she held to her lips. “The girls must still be asleep. Thought you would be, too.” After a moment or two of crunching, she asked, “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Derrick leaned against the counter and gazed out the kitchen window at the empty flower box. “Nothing’s going on, Mom.”

When she remained silent, he glanced back at her and hefted a world-weary sigh. “Fine. So I met Brielle a couple of days ago. She needed a place to stay, so I offered her the couch.”

He waited, banging his knee against the cabinets, but his mom offered no protest so far, so he forged ahead. “Scott was his usual jerky self—times ten—so I thought it was safer for her here.”

The spoon clanked, and she scooted the bowl across the counter in the direction of the sink. “What did Scott do?”

“Nothing. But he might have, if I hadn’t woken up.”

She folded her hands in front of her on the counter. He could feel her steady stare, but he didn’t want to meet her eyes. Eventually, her words crossed the counter. “And you haven’t been back to the apartment.” She tapped her fingernails on the Formica. “So what are you going to do? And what about Brielle?”

She was being awfully patient with him. He turned and caught her gaze just as she began, “You know, you really ought to...”

“Mom, please.” He pushed away from the counter. “Stop trying to solve my problems for me. I’m a grown man.” And why did simply saying that make him feel like he was eight years old again? He wiped his palms on his jeans—too frustrated to stop the nervous habit.

His mom’s voice lowered. “I told you rooming with Scott would be a mistake.”

He spun on his heel and headed for the dining room, sick of the perfect gleam of the kitchen and all the obvious ways he didn’t belong in it.

He sensed his mom behind him as he stopped and faced the front door. The ocean peered at him through the blinds over the nearest window, and he wished he was on the other side—walking down the street toward the Hammond Trail, only music in his ears.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just know that there’s something better for you than this.”

“Than what, Mom?” His hand fisted over the top rung of the nearest chair. “Better than honest work? Better than supporting myself and saving money by living with a friend?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

Before his mom could explain further, Chloe came rushing into the room with Lulu. “Hey, Derr! Can’t believe you’re still here.”

He hid his anger with a smirk and bent down to pet the Husky.

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