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CHAPTER TWELVE

Tom

“Mom, there’s something I want to talk to you about.” Tom shuffled into the living room, shoulders sagging, head bowed.

“Of course, dear,” Alice said, motioning him to sit on the sofa. “What’s wrong? It’s not school, is it?”

“Not really although that’s a part of it, I guess,” Tom said. He spoke quietly, afraid he might cry or throw up; he couldn’t decide which. He’d finally decided to tell his mom about moving out. But as he sat, he realized this would be much more difficult than he’d imagined. He tried to keep Char’s words in his mind so that he would have talking points at the ready when his mom raised objections.

“You’re not failing anything, are you?” The look on Alice’s face was a mix of concern and anger that scared Tom just a little.

“No, Mom, I’m not failing any of my classes.”

“Well, then, what? You know you can tell me anything.”

“I, um, well … I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this, and I want to get a place of my own,” he blurted out, waiting for the reaction he knew would come.

“What? Why, Tom? We’ve talked about this,” Alice said. “There’s no rush for you to move. I like having you here. I think we need to talk about this before you make any rash decisions.” She spoke quickly as if hoping to avoid having Tom speak again.

“I know, Mom, but I really think it’s time.” Tom kept his voice calm and even. “After all, I’m twenty-four years old. I want to be on my own.”

“But what about school?” Alice asked. “You can’t afford to go to school and work and have time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, Tom.”

“First of all,” Tom began, “I’ve been saving, and I’ve got a good amount socked away at this point. Plus, I’ve decided to cut back on the number of classes I’m taking next semester so I can pick up some extra hours at the Whale.”

“Next semester? So … you wanna do this soon, huh? Why not wait until the summer? That will give you more time to save.”

“I don’t wanna wait any longer, Mom. I wanna do this now.” As he predicted, his mom was trying to talk him out of it, but the blowup he’d expected hadn’t happened. Yet.

“Wait.” His mom looked directly at him. “Does this have anything to do with that boy you’ve been seeing? I bet Will’s behind this. Trying to get you to move out so you two can shack up together or something.” Shaking her head, she said loudly, “Well, I won’t have it. Don’t even think about it, mister.”

And there it was. He’d expected that to surface a lot sooner. “Mom, it’s got nothing to do with Will. Sure, it would be nice to have a little bit of privacy now and then, I’m not denying that, but I started planning this long before I started seeing Will.”

“Have you talked with him about it, then? That might be just the thing to scare him off. You know it will never work out in the long term between you two. It never does.” Tom sighed, once again hearing the same tired arguments from his mom.

“Mom, Will’s not like that. I know what you think will happen, but just because it didn’t work out between you and Dad doesn’t mean all relationships are doomed to fail.” This was the first time Tom had actually stood up to his mom. And damn, it felt good even though he knew this was a really difficult conversation for them.

“So if it’s not Will, it’s Char, right? She put that bug in your ear,” Alice tried. It was clear she was grasping at straws now. “Now that she and Cee Cee are living together, she wants you to get an apartment too, right? Mark my words, they’ll eventually break up, and then where will she be? Alone, that’s where.”

“Mom,” Tom started, speaking as sincerely as he could. “I want, no, I need to do this. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, but nothing’s gonna change my mind.”

“Fine.” She laughed bitterly. “Leave me. I guess I should have expected this. It’s like I told you, everyone leaves. Now I guess it’s your turn.”

“Don’t say that, Mom. I’m not leaving you. Yes, I’m venturing out on my own, but you’ll still be a part of my life. I’ll come over for dinner, and we’ll still talk all the time.” He tried again. “This doesn’t mean that I love you any less, Mom. It just means that I need to spread my wings a little.”

“Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself, Tommy.” Alice stood, touched him briefly on the shoulder, and walked into the kitchen.

Tom shook his head. Yes, he had known this was gonna be bad. At some point, he’d need to solicit some advice from either Char or Will. Maybe they could help. But for now, he grabbed his jacket and went out. Hopefully a walk would clear his head.

Tom strolled through his neighborhood with no real destination in mind. It was a clear, crisp Sunday afternoon, and he was vacillating between restless and bored. Oh, and anxious. We can’t forget anxious. The conversation with his mom had gone pretty much the way he’d expected. But it had still left him a bit rattled. Why can’t she understand why I need to do this? I can’t live with her forever, dammit!

He pulled his phone from the front pocket of his jeans and began typing.

Hey. Got a minute?

Sure. What’s up?

Any chance you can meet me at Cuppa Joe’s?

CU in 10.

He turned at the next corner and headed into town.

Cuppa Joe’s was quiet, and after getting a cappuccino and cinnamon Danish at the counter, he grabbed an empty table along one side toward the back so they’d have a bit of privacy.

A few minutes later, Will walked in and waved. He got a coffee from one of the baristas, then sat across from Tom.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, concern coloring his words.

“Yeah, kinda.” Tom spoke quietly. “Thanks for meeting me. I hope you weren’t in the middle of anything important.”

“Just a little studying, nothing major. Your text gave me the feeling that something wasn’t quite right, so tell me what’s going on.”

“You know how I told you I was thinking about getting my own place?” Tom asked.

“Yeah. I told you it was a good idea. I want to do that at some point too, but I don’t think it’s the right time for me just yet.”

“I’ve been thinking about breaking the news to my mom. Char reminded me that I can’t wait much longer if I want to do it by next semester, but I was scared.”

“Because your mom isn’t gonna be understanding,” Will said, remembering their conversation in P-town.

“Not at all!” Tom almost shouted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get loud.” He blushed. “I think Mom’s biggest fear is being all alone. Remember how I told you that Mom’s always talking shit about relationships? I know it’s because Dad left when I was little, after cheating on her. That one bad experience has tainted everything in her life since.”

“Hmmm, you’d think she would want to meet someone else so that she wouldn’t be alone,” Will said.

“Right? But no, just the opposite. Her marriage didn’t work out, so all relationships must be bad, so she can never try again. That way she’s never again disappointed.” Tom shook his head.

“And you wanting to move out is just gonna make her feel alone again,” Will observed.

“Exactly. Well, I finally worked up the courage to talk to her this afternoon,” Tom admitted.

“I take it things didn’t go well.”

“Correct. It went much the way I expected,” Tom told him. “She tried every way to convince me to stay. In fact, she tried to blame you for convincing me to move so that we could be together if you catch my meaning. And when that didn’t work, she tried to blame Char.”

“Wow. I’m really sorry that you had to deal with that.” Tom could hear the sincerity in Will’s words.

“Thanks. Like I said, I completely expected it, but it still shook me up. I went for a walk, but what I really needed was a friend to talk to. That’s why I texted you.”

“I’m glad you did. And really, I’m a bit more than a friend, right?” Will smiled and reached over to take Tom’s hand. They’d been seeing each other for about a month and a half, and while they hadn’t really put a label on it, Tom had begun to think of Will as his boyfriend since he wasn’t interested in seeing anyone else.

“Yeah, you are,” Tom agreed. “I know we haven’t really talked much about it, but in my head, you’re my boyfriend. Is that okay?”

“It’s more than okay,” Will said. “I think of you as my boyfriend too.” His eyes brightened. “So I guess it’s official; we’re boyfriends now.”

“It looks that way.” Tom smiled in agreement.

“Are things gonna be okay between you and your mom?”

“Eventually. I told her she wasn’t gonna change my mind. I’ll try and talk with her again in a few days and see what happens,” Tom said. “In the meantime, I guess I should start looking for an apartment that I can afford. Wanna help?”

“Sure. You’ll need to give me some idea of your price range, and we’ll look together. Char may have some ideas too.”

“Oh, I’m sure she will!” Tom laughed. “She acts like my older and wiser sister most of the time even though we’re the same age.”

“Good to know,” Will said. “Just remember, I’ll help any way I can.”

“Thanks again for agreeing to meet me today.” Emotion filled Tom’s words. “Except for Char, I don’t really have anyone I can turn to at times like this.”

“Hey, what are boyfriends for?” Will squeezed the hand he still held.

An unexpected lightness filled Tom. He was so happy that he and Will were dating now. He was a good man even if his mom wouldn’t believe it.