Page 28 of Falling for the Unexpected

Chapter 8

Kyle

May flew by. Simone had served Brad with the divorce papers without incident and things seemed to be moving forward quickly.

From what we could tell, Brad had moved in with Tiffany, who Erik had fired immediately when he found out about the affair. Erik had kept Brad on at his shop, knowing that he would be forced to pay child support. Erik didn’t want to hurt Simone by firing him but it was clear that it was not going to last. Erik no longer hid his contempt for the bastard and Brad rarely even showed up for his shifts.

Simone and I had spent a majority of the last month focusing on what she wanted to ask for in regards to custody. We usually met in my office, or her apartment if she couldn’t get away because of Stella.

So far, Brad wasn’t asking for anything. Maybe he’d felt relieved that he no longer needed to go through the motions of pretending to be a husband and father. He probably thought he had held up his end of the bargain, and if Simone wanted a divorce, that was on her. For Simone’s sake, I hoped that things would continue to remain peaceful. However, knowing Brad the way I did, I wasn’t holding my breath.

By mid-June, Simone seemed more than comfortable with the idea of no longer being married to Brad. In fact, I could see she walked a little lighter and smiled more. Not to say it was smooth sailing or going to be. She still worried about Stella’s adjustment, but there seemed to be no obvious or outward damage done. Stella was perfectly content and never asked for Brad. That would change, as she got older, but we were all glad she was coping.

The true test would come when we all met next Monday to discuss the Marital Settlement Agreement. Brad was representing himself instead of hiring a lawyer. While I preferred to discuss this matter with another attorney and a mediator present, Brad had indicated he just wanted to get it done. I’d asked Jim to sit in on the meeting as a witness to the discussion and to act as a buffer in case things got heated.

As I was going over my calendar for the next few weeks, my eyes landed on tomorrow’s date. I had spent the entire week throwing myself into my work so it’d snuck up on me. While I normally took my work seriously and did a damn good job, I also knew how to balance it with other aspects of my life. I made time for the things that I enjoyed: working out, spending time with friends and family, and doing small things that helped me unwind and relax. But tomorrow was a day I dreaded every year.

June seventeenth always brought up horrible memories, things I would rather shove to the dark corners of my mind where I didn’t have to think about it or deal with them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only one with those memories and I knew Addie would want to talk about it. It was easy to ignore the day while she had been living in San Francisco. Sure, she called me and tried to talk, but I was able to distract myself with other things. I just needed to throw a couple “yeahs” and “okays” into the conversation till she was done. But now that she was here it was going to be harder to avoid.

But what was there really to say on the anniversary of your mother’s fatal overdose? I had been there. Hell, I was the one who had found her. Why did we need to talk about it? It was the final way for her to show us that she chose drugs over her own children. I stared out my office window reliving that moment…

We were staying with our mom for a couple days in the small, one-bedroom apartment she had recently moved into. Being a typical sixteen-year-old boy, I got bored quickly. That morning, I begged her to let Addie and me go to Trent’s house so we could go swimming. It was an unusually hot summer and a morning spent swimming in the Thompsons’ pool sounded like a lot of fun.

On our way home, Addie and I had decided to race each other for the last few blocks and I was a bit ahead of her. I pushed the door open and slammed it closed behind me.

“Hey, mom, we’re home,” I yelled in the direction of her bedroom. I was met with silence, which I thought was odd since I’d passed her car on the way in. “Mom?” I called out again as I walked down the small hallway toward her bedroom. I could hear a soap opera playing on the television in her room and I almost turned back around to go to the kitchen, but something on the floor caught my eye. My mom’s foot was poking out from beside her bed.

I heard the front door open, Addie finally making her way in. “One day, I’m going to beat you,” she shouted from the living room.

Her words didn’t register with me as I walked slowly to the other side of my mom’s bed. My legs felt like lead and I could hardly get one foot in front of the other. I knew what I was going to find but my body was rebelling against me, hindering my attempt to reach her. When I finally rounded the corner of her bed, I saw my mother, lying face down on the floor.

“Kyle? Where are you?” Addie shouted, still in the living room.

“Addie, call 9-1-1!” I instructed. I sounded totally calm but I was freaking out on the inside.

“What?! Why?!” she screamed and I could hear her footsteps coming down the hall.

“Don’t come in here! Just go call. Tell them Mom’s unconscious.”

“Oh, my God,” she whimpered.

“Do it now!” I had never yelled at Addie before, but I needed her to listen to me. I reached out to roll my mom onto her back but when my hands touched her body, she felt ice-cold. I knew in that moment we had lost her.She had promised me just the night before that she was clean and I’d believed her wholeheartedly. I was so stupid to have trusted her.

The next couple of hours were filled with law enforcement and the coroner coming and going from the apartment. Our grandmother had rushed right over to get us.

Grandma and Addie spent the rest of the night comforting each other. One having lost a mother, the other having lost a daughter. They were both so distraught. Me? I was pissed. How many times had we asked Mom to get some help? Every time we found her with drugs she would always have an excuse;they weren’t hers, it was just a one-time thing, she would get help.It went on and on.And now she was gone—

Unlike Addie, who wanted to reflect on the day, every year, by talking about it, I preferred to ignore it.

I turned back around and saw Addie standing in my office doorway, staring at me. It was like she knew what I had been thinking about. Her eyes looked sad. I didn’t want her pity. She could spend tomorrow doing whatever she wanted to memorialize our mom, but I was over it.

“What do you want, Addie?” I huffed not making any attempt to disguise my irritation. Not one to ever be deterred by my bad mood, she walked around my desk and planted herself on the corner, crossing her legs and arms.

“Hey, no need to be testy with me. I just wanted to invite you out for lunch tomorrow.” She tried to make her invitation sound innocent. I knew what she was up to, though.

“I have plans,” I stated dryly, and turned my attention back to my computer. I was determined to treat tomorrow like any other day.

“You know, pretending that Mom’s death didn’t have an impact on you doesn’t mean that it didn’t. You tell everyone you’re fine, but every year at this time you act like a surly asshole,” she stated.