Ryan was staring at his mother a little nonplussed, he knew she was going through a bad time, but he had had to go through it too. It was his dad that had been killed those five long years ago, even if it only seemed like yesterday.
It had happened, just after his 13th birthday, he was waiting for him to come home so he could go to football practice, only he hadn't arrived, Ryan went to meet him, he had all of his things, they could go when they met up. He walked into town, his dad was the best dad in the world, he loved him with a passion. He hung on every word he told him, he believed everything he told him too.
If he had a problem, no matter what it was, his dad would tell him a few things, and Ryan would see what he meant and was always satisfied with it, even if it hadn't been what he wanted to hear. "How do you know all these things dad?" he would ask. "I have to know these things Ryan," he would say, "so I can tell you, and so you can tell your children when they come along." His dad amazed him, he seemed to know everything.
Along the way he had passed some sort of accident, the ambulance was just pulling away and the police were there, he didn't stay to watch, he didn't like that sort of thing, so he carried on into town. But he never met his dad, he was really upset and angry with him because he was missing practice, he waited a time, then headed back home.
When he got there, there was police car in the drive. He of course had no idea why they were at his house, but suddenly he was pained. He raced in to see his mom sat on the sofa crying, a policewoman at her side, also near to tears. It was then the awful tragic truth came out, his dad, his beloved dad had been mown down by a hit and run driver, and he had died at the scene.
The weeks and months that followed were a blur to him, he would wake in the night and cry out for him, his mom would dash to him and try to comfort him, and he tried to comfort her. But gradually things settled down, life returned as far as it ever could to normal.
There was one saving grace, the insurance that his mom had wisely insisted on placing on her and her husband, "for Ryan's future," was her words. As it happened it took care of them both, they had lost their breadwinner. Jodi his mom, was a clever woman; she was a financial wizard and worked from home so she could work and care for her son.
Thus she had sought the best possible life insurances for her and Jerry, her now deceased husband. The work she did was a sort of part time thing, well paid though because she was much sought after. So Ryan, who was as brave as a boy could be, always had his mother to hold him when it got too much.
Jodi herself had her best friend, her one true confidant; it was she who helped keep Jodi together. Jodi also had to keep possible suitors at bay too, she had no interest in other men, no one would ever, could ever, replace Jerry. No one pestered or bothered her, but after 18 months or so she would get the odd invite for a date, a meal, or a day out. She always politely refused.
But she was lonely, her bed for 5 years had lain empty on one side, no matter where she lay, the other side was always empty. Jodi was a sensual sexy and utterly beautiful woman; it didn't surprise Sandra her best friend, when she received invites from other men.
Now at 39 years old, she pondered her future alone, she knew unequivocally there would never be another man in her life. It wasn't a decision she had made, it was just that way. She still turned heads wherever she went, her long auburn hair was still as lustrous as if she was still 20 years old, her complexion was flawless, high eye brows started her face with an eye popping arch.
Jodi's deep brown and hazel eyes drew people into them, her pert little nose, above full rounded, and heart shaped lips captured men's attentions. Her body was still good, it didn't sag, or hadn't gone south as Jerry would tease her, that one day it would.
Now he had just celebrated his 18th birthday, he lamented the fact that his dearly beloved dad wasn't there, he still talked to him, still asked his advice, and he did what he thought his dad would want him to do, and behaved the way he thought he would want him to, and to do as well as he could at school, everything Ryan did was for his mom and his dad. Though his heart still ached with a burn each and every day.
His mom had tried to create a normal life for him, but he also knew her heart had been irretrievably broken; she could never ever love another man. The three of them were the ultimate team. "No one can ever break the Forbes," his dad would shout, and laugh, but God had hadn't he? He hated god sometimes.
Ryan had been born after great difficulty, and no more babies would be conceived, lest her life was in great danger. Ryan of course knew nothing of this. He had his mom and dad, what more could any boy want than that.
Then his mom received another hammer blow from God, her best friend Sandra, had complained of feeling weird, she had gone to the doctors, he had referred her to hospital, and subsequently she had been diagnosed with and extreme and aggressive form of spinal cancer and had only weeks to live, she died within six weeks.
Ryan didn't know, he couldn't even guess how his mother would cope now. He stayed by her as much as he could, held her, talked to her, the way she had talked to him in his hour of need. Then Jodi started having a glass of wine, then another, and soon she was consuming 2 or 3 bottles a day.
Ryan couldn't blame her, it was an aid to help her forget, but he, at his age didn't know or understand the perils Jodi was drinking her way into. One day Ryan came home and found her slumped at the kitchen table, food on the stove was burning. And in her hand an empty glass of wine and next to that, an empty bottle. He called his girlfriend, who he was now having regular sex with unknown to his mother. He had asked his dad for advice in a dream, and he had told him it was okay, but to be careful.