When the doorbell rang at 6PM, Larry, my 18 year old son, hollered, "I got it," and went flying to the door. That was fine with me since I wasn't expecting anyone and assumed it was for Larry or his sister, Beth.
I looked up to see Brian, Larry's friend and team mate.
"Mom, me and Brian are gonna be in my room, okay?"
"Sure, just don't make a mess or play any violent video games," I replied as they trudged on by. "Hello, Brian," I added when he seemed to ignore me.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. King. Sorry, forgot my manners." He seemed confused and upset, but that's not unusual with teens, so I brushed it off.
An hour later, I yelled to Larry, "Dinner's going to be soon. Is Brian staying?" Meals were often crashed by one or more of their friends, so an extra plate wasn't rare. After a minute, Larry said, "No Mom, he's leaving."
When they came down, Brian still looked dazed. It wasn't like him not to be hungry. Both boys towered over me at 5'4. Each was 6 feet, with Larry the more muscular. They were outfielders for the high school team and were constantly working out.
"Bye, Brian," I shouted and he gave me a perfunctory wave and was gone. This was not like him at all. He was always pleasant and polite, much like his parents who we knew socially.
We sat down for dinner, just the three of us, myself, Larry and Beth. Their father was at a conference out of town. Since kids never give up any information without prodding, I asked, "So, what's up with Brian? Girl problems?" With both being jocks, they had plenty of attention from the ladies.
"Brian? Hah!" Beth chimed in. The guy's got girls lined up. If he wasn't your friend, Larry, I'd be after him, too."
Larry gave her a smirk, then said, "No, just some school stuff. Is anybody gonna finish that meatloaf?" He was already reaching for the plate.
I gave up and went back to minding my own business but later that night, Larry came in as I watched a cooking show.
"Hi, Honey, what's up?" I asked.
"Mom, do you know if Dad is hiring?"
"Your father? He's always looking for good workers. Why?"
"Well, it's Brian. His Mom got laid off and you know that Mr. Riley left them last month, right?"
"What?" This was the first I'd heard of this. "What happened?"
Larry said that Brian didn't say much, just that his parents had fought quite a bit lately, and now his father had moved out.
"I'm so sorry, Larry. That explains why he was so down in the dumps. But, your father has all the office help he needs, so he'd have nothing for Brian's Mom."