Chapter 6: Mother's Love
George ran to the house in a panic. A million worst-case scenarios flashed through his mind, visions of blood, chalk-lines, his mother, dead. He burst through the open threshold expecting to see a scene out of a bloody cop drama. Instead he could hear is mother's distraught voice tearfully giving someone a description of George. He followed the voice to the kitchen where she was listing off George's physical attributes to a young patrolman while another was examining the pile of smashed dishes on the floor next to the breakfast table.
As he came into view Jessica gasped, leapt from her chair, and smothered him in a motherly embrace.
Sobbing, she cried, "Thank God, oh thank God!"
George was relieved but confused. A moment before he had been imaging the worst and now, while relieved, he wondered what could have happened to put his mother in such a state. Had they been robbed? Were his sisters alright?
In any case, his mother's tight hug was making him uncomfortable and he disengaged from her as gently as he could. "What happened?" he asked.
She wiped her bleary eyes as she answered, "Someone... someone broke in. I thought... I came home...." she visibly took hold of herself and with forced calm said, "I walked in and saw all this and called for you. When you didn't answer I feared the worst."
Burglarized? He had only been gone a couple of hours, three tops. He scanned his surroundings for signs that the house had been ransacked, but the only damage had come from his earlier romps with Dawn.
Then it hit him. That was what she was referring too, he and Dawn had left the house to go shopping without cleaning up the disaster left behind after their last escapade in the kitchen. The pantry had been almost completely emptied, the sink was filled with dirty pots, and even though the perishables had been put away, most of the food he bought was sitting around the kitchen in flimsy grocery bags.
"W-what did they steal?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Just a few of your father's clothes. I don't understand what someone would want with them though. They must be over ten years..." Jessica paused as she realized what George was wearing, "George, where did you get those clothes?"
"I, uh, borrowed them from your closet," he replied sheepishly. There was no use in being coy, she would put the two and two together on her own, but George couldn't help it. He knew this wasn't going to end well.
Her expression began to change as she started to get a glimmer of what had really happened. Her lips stiffened into a thin frown, her soft brown eyes narrowed, and her face went from hot anger to hurt to disappointment. Despite her obvious disapproval she asked calmly, "George, please tell me why you would..." she stopped.
George felt Dawn's gentle hands wind their way around his arm. She looked at Jessica square, not flinching or embarrassed, merely making her presence known. She exuded a quiet bravery, at peace with the fact that this could not be avoided. George was in trouble and she was putting herself in the line of fire. George was sure that if she only knew how terrifying his mother could become when she was truly angry, she'd be shaking in her booty shorts. However, he noticed that Dawn had traded in her much too short shorts for a pair of capris, along with a bra. She was definitely the smarter of the two of them, he thought.
"I see. Officers," she said quietly, "you can go now. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
"Ma'am, are you sure this is your son?" asked the officer who had been taking down George's description. He stared at his notepad, then back up to George with a confused look on his face.
She merely scowled at him.
Not needing to be told twice, the two men headed for the door. One of them put a hand on George's shoulder and whispered, "Good luck." The sentiment didn't make him feel any better.
Jessica moved to the stove, where a kettle of water was beginning to steam. "Would you like some tea?" she asked quietly.
George was too petrified to answer, but Dawn immediately stepped forward. He screamed in his head Don't take the tea! She's going to tear us a new asshole! Don't take the tea!
"Yes, thank you, I would love some," said Dawn. George cringed.
Jessica's hands were shaking as she reached for two mugs from a nearby cupboard. "How do you take it?" she asked.
"Um, however you take it. I have not had much tea."
Jessica began to pour, but the heavy kettle slipped and splashed boiling water on her hand. She dropped the mug and it smashed to the floor with a sharp ceramic shatter. "Goddamnit!" cursed Jessica as she nursed her scalded hand. She knelt down to pick up the pieces.
Dawn immediately threw her purse on the table and moved to help with the cleanup. George was tempted to help as well, but he knew from experience that when his mother was this pissed he should keep his distance and wait for her to tell him what to do. He noticed that some of the contents of Dawn's purse had spilled across the table. There was a half-used Chapstick, a few dollars with some change, and a few crumpled gum wrappers. There were all typical things George knew would be in a woman's purse. But what truly surprised him was the book that Dawn had stashed inside earlier. It was a collection of stories by H. P. Lovecraft. He thought it was an odd selection for her first read, but figured she was probably mislead by the author's name.
The women finished cleaning up the mess in silence, until Jessica added a very curt, "Thank you." She went back to making the tea and Dawn quietly moved to the kitchen table and sat down. George sat next to her as far from his mom as he could get.
"So, I'm George's mother, Jessica. And you are?" she said as she finished making the tea and placed a mug in front of Dawn. Her anger over the situation was barely hidden behind a thin veneer of civility.
"It is very nice to finally meet you Mrs. Everhart. My name is Dawn," she said as she noticed the contents of her purse spewed across the table. She scrambled to cram everything back inside.
"Dawn, what?" asked Jessica as she sat down.
Dawn's face turned ghostly white as she struggled to come up with a satisfactory answer. George's mind went into overdrive as his eye's darted around the room for a something to remind him of a name. Suddenly, he caught sight of the book Dawn had been trying to push back into her purse. He just blurted out, "Lovecraft! Dawn Lovecraft." He regretted it as soon as he said it. How cliché could you get? But it was out there now, and there was no explainable way of taking it back. Under the table, Dawn's hand crawled into his. She didn't look directly at him, but he could tell that she approved.
"That's an... interesting name," said Jessica as she sipped her tea. "Well, George, I guess if I'm going to really understand why you decided to freak me out like this, you'd better start from the beginning."
George sighed heavily as he searched his thoughts for a place to begin. As he hesitated, Dawn started to explain, "Well, you see, I was..."
Jessica cut across her, "Thank you Miss Lovecraft, but if you don't mind I would like to hear his explanation first."
Dawn deflated in her chair and squeezed George's hand tightly. She was beginning to understand what George already knew, his mom was nobody to bullshit. He entwined his fingers with hers and gave her a gentle squeeze. You're worth even this, he thought.
"I was at work," he started, "I was having a really shitty day. I was late, Rocko punched me in the face, and Linda made me stay for the late shift."
"Wait, Rocko punched you? Why?" said Jessica, a look of concern momentarily breaking through her anger.
"Why does Rocko do anything? Because he's a fucking jerk, that's why." The memories of that day aroused a fury inside of George that he had forgotten about since Dawn's emergence, but he hadn't meant to test the limits of his mother's understanding at the moment. Jessica wasn't fazed by his harsh language. Instead she cursed something under her breath.
"Anyway, I was sitting by myself, just like I always do, thinking about how much I hated my life. I thought about quiting. I... I thought about... lots of things, when Dawn walked in."
Dawn stayed quiet as this was the first time she had heard George speak of the events leading up to the discovery of her vessel. She hung her head low and locked her eyes on their joined hands. She caressed his index finger with her own.
"She didn't work there or go to school there, but all she wanted was a swim, and I needed some company. So, I let her in. We talked for a while. She told me about herself. She's from Phoenix, she just graduated high school, she was looking into colleges, and... she liked me." Dawn's hand squeezed his like she would never let go. Jessica listened intently and said nothing.
"I like her," he glanced over at Dawn and made a quick, meaningful, eye contact. "She's new in town and needs a place to stay. So I let her stay here. And, I don't want her to leave."
"I see," said Jessica as she reached an understanding. She turned to Dawn, "So is that your scam then? You find someone vulnerable, then get a few nights under a roof, steal everything of value and move on?"
"N-no that is not..." cried Dawn. George stopped her. Now he was angry, and he didn't care if it was his mother who said it or Adolf Hitler. She had no right.
"Mom, I know I fucked up. And I'm sorry for that. You can yell at me, punish me, ground me till the end of time, but don't talk to her that way." It was all he could do not to scream at her, but Dawn's touch kept him grounded and prevented him from saying something he would probably regret later. "If you have any faith in me at all, you'll trust me that she isn't like that."
"And you know this, how?" she asked incredulously. "I love you, but we both know that you aren't very experienced when it comes to this. For all you know she could be on the run, or worse!"
"So far, all she's done is be polite to you! You're always telling me to see the good in people, to give them the benefit of the doubt. Why is it any different when I finally bring a girl home?"
"Oh c'mon, George! Who goes across the country, by themselves, without some plan as to where they are going to stay? I suppose she doesn't have any money either. I taught you to be smarter than that."
"First of all, she has no family, she grew up in an orphanage. Secondly, I don't have any money either. Only what you gave me, and she hasn't so much as looked at it!" He took a sharp breath to calm himself. "I understand why you are upset with me, but why are you taking it out on her?
