Playing the 'Son' Card (13 page)

I didn’t mind that at all, as I knew
I had just a short time left, and if it was going to be just a
little easier and better because of my diving, that was
great.

I met Stacy a few times when she
needed the car and was driving. She was Elliot’s twin, and treated
me really nicely, too. I was pleased that I’d finally made friends,
and felt kind of pleased that it was my diving that had made it
happen. I knew that my Dad would be pleased about that kind of
thing.

I did okay living on my own for the
next few weeks. I finished up the back fence, cleaned out the house
of some extra stuff and furniture by selling as much as I could in
an online auction, and ‘staged’ the house for a betting
showing.

When the listing agent from my mom’s
old office came by to check it out before an open house, she was
stunned with how different it looked and how much better it was
going to show.

She wanted to know how I’d got it
looking so good. It was then that I gave her one of my cards, and
told her that I’d learned this stuff from my work with the
Bellingham office. She’d known that I was still in school, and the
fact that I’d done all the work on my own while still going to
school amazed her.

At that point, she spoke up and said
that professional courtesy demanded that she split the selling
commission with me. I initially demurred, but eventually agreed to
split it with her 80/20 instead of 50/50. I said that she was going
to be doing all the advertising and showing, and that it was really
her sale. I could tell that I’d made her really happy with my
attitude, and knew I’d made a friend for the future.

There was one more connection with
school that made me really happy, although it gave me a brief worry
about my professional standing.

The listing agent stopped by one
day, to drop off some feature sheets, and she had her son with her.
I knew who he was.

His eyes bugged out as his mom
introduced me as a real estate agent from Bellingham who was
selling his home to head out to the coast. I stuck out my hand, and
gave him a friendlier hello than he deserved as he’d been one of my
worst tormentors in the months previously.

I was a little worried about how his
mom would think of me if she knew I was a classmate of her son, but
there was nothing I could do to put that genie back in the bottle.
I said it was nice to see him again, and mentioned that we were
classmates. However, I refrained from mentioning some of the really
mean things that he’d done.

Maybe she already knew my real age,
or at least my school grade assumed age, because it did not appear
to affect our professional relationship.

It did help at school, though. I
went one step up. Now I was not only a person, but I was treated
with a bit of respect. As I completed the last few weeks of school,
I wished it had been this nice all the way through, but at least I
was going out the right way.

My high school friend and I headed
out to the coast for the second session. This one was four days,
and we had to miss two days of school. We ended up taking the bus,
after I mentioned that it was a lot cheaper and I had done it
before on my own.

This time, I was the leader as we
got on the bus, and took advantage of the rest breaks and had
something to eat at Snoqualmie Pass. When we got to Seattle, I got
us on a bus over to the UW campus and we arrived at the pool in
time for a good breakfast at the student cafeteria before the day’s
activities started. I really felt big that weekend, and I realized
just how far I’d come in the last two months.

I got a text message from my mom
while on the bus on the way home. The listing agent had an open
house, and a conditional sale.

I got involved in making sure the
paperwork was done, and I found that they wanted me to vacate the
house within two weeks as part of the deal. I agreed to that after
making alternate arrangements for myself.

At this point, I could head out to
the coast earlier than planned, or find a place to stay in Spokane
to finish up the school year. My school principal had already
agreed that I could leave two weeks early and I would be considered
completed 8th grade. I didn’t really want to mess that up, so that
meant I needed a place to stay for about a month.

I phoned up Elliot, and asked if I
could come over and talk to him after supper, telling him what I
was looking to ask, as long as it was okay with him. He said yes,
of course. By this time, I’d been to his place a few times, and had
been well received by his parents and Stacy.

I rode my bike the short distance to
their place, arriving just as they were finishing up their
meal.

I put my case simply. I explained
about the house being sold, and how I needed just four more weeks
to finish the school year.

Stacy was the most positive and
welcoming. “I think it would be great if Troy stayed with us, don’t
you, Mom and Dad?”

“Please, Mom and Dad?” Elliot added.
“He can stay in my room, and we’ll take turns using the camping
mattress and bed.”

By this time, the parents knew me as
a nice kid who was friends with their son, and with their daughter
all for it, they said yes. I maturely thanked them very much, and
we talked a little about logistics and timing.

I mentioned that I had my car, and
it could be used to bring my stuff over. I pointed out that I would
send most of my stuff out to our new place, so what I would bring
to their place was minimal.

We all agreed on how things would
work, and I headed off home, happy to have that issue dealt with. I
phoned my mother, and then the local real estate agent, telling
them that the house could be vacant as desired by the
buyers.

Over the next few days, I got all my
stuff packed and shipped off to Bellingham. After getting Mom’s
agreement, I put most of the furniture for sale in second hand
stores, and shipped only a couple of things out to the
coast.

I moved my Mom’s car out of the
garage, and got it loaded with the things I was taking over to
Elliot’s place. I spent a bit of time just walking around the house
and yard, thinking about my life in this house, and reflected on
how full of life it had been when my Dad was alive. Strangely,
perhaps, I shed no tears, but felt just a bit of
melancholy.

Finally, on the last day, I got
ready to go. Elliot’s mother dropped him off at the house just an
hour before the agent was due to drop by and pick up the keys. With
my new friend in tow, I had a last look around the house. It was no
longer the home that my father had been in. That place was now
secure in my heart.

The agent showed up, and I
introduced my friend and gave her the keys. We walked out to mom’s
car. Elliot went to get in the passenger side, and I stopped
him.

“No,” I explained, “I need you to
drive my car.”

He looked confused until I told him
I didn’t have a license.

I guess up to that point he hadn’t
really thought about the fact that I was not 16, and I certainly
didn’t tell him how old I really was.

We headed over to his place, and I
was warmly welcomed. I was going to have a good month with them,
better than I would have thought possible. I now had a nice family
to live with and I got along really well with both Stacy and
Elliot. In fact, we started to talk about how the three of us could
get together in the future.

With this great home life and with
the better treatment I was getting at school, things looked a lot
better.

Things looked so much better, in
fact, that I even had thoughts of staying on in Spokane. However,
as much as I now had some reasons to stay, I also had very good
reasons to go. I had my new, larger family waiting for
me.

I thought about how difficult it was
going to be to say good-bye to Stacy. I’d known her for less than
two months, but in that time I’d become quite close to her. She
treated me like I was really somebody, and I thought of her as my
first girlfriend.

I became more and more determined to
find ways to see Stacy in the future, along with her
brother.

As the time neared to leave Spokane,
I asked my friends’ parents if their son and daughter could drive
my car out to the coast with me. I’d initially thought of just
asking Elliot, but I’d developed such a good relationship with
Stacy that I really wanted her along as well. Somehow, I wasn’t
sure if they’d like the idea of their daughter going along, but I
knew I’d regret not asking.

They agreed that both of them could
go. The parents didn’t know that it was just their kids who would
be doing the driving, but the twins were really good about keeping
quiet with that.

We stayed overnight right up at
Snoqualmie Pass. We agreed that meeting to go skiing there the
following winter would be just one of the ways I could get together
with them in the future.

I made sure we stayed in a nice
hotel, and we ate in nice restaurants. I think they were impressed
that I could easily pay for everything, and Elliot noted how
self-assured I was around adults. It was nice to have that
feedback.

We arrived in Bellingham early the
next afternoon, and went right to the office for a bit, to check in
and say a quick hello to my mom. Then we headed over to Jack and
Sally’s place where I found a warm welcome from Trevor and Jesse. I
was treated like a long lost friend, or a conquering hero, or
both.

I finally felt as if I’d
arrived.

I was pleased that everyone was
really welcoming of Stacy and Elliot, who were treated quite nicely
by all of the adults and kids.

I had to get my friends back to
Spokane, so later in the afternoon I called a taxi and went with
them to the airport. I said my thank yous, we said our good byes,
and I got one more really nice kiss from Stacy. Once more, we
promised each other that we’d keep up the friendship that we’d
started.

I waited until they got on the
plane, and then I headed out to the front entrance of the airport
to make my way home.

Before I could look for a taxi, I
found that ‘home’ had come to me.

I spotted two familiar looking faces
standing ready to direct me to a familiar looking vehicle. Jack and
the boys were waiting.

With two heartfelt hugs, I was ready
to join my new family.

###

About the Author

Wilson James was born and raised in
the Pacific Northwest and currently lives on the coast in northern
California. He is a sailor, has worked in, on, and around the
water, and loves to travel. He hopes that you have enjoyed PLAYING
THE ‘SON’ CARD and might be interested in discovering some of the
other stories that he has written. For details of the print edition
of this book (ISBN 978-0-557-18157-5), along with information on
some of his other novels, please see author’s webpage at
http://wilsonjamesauthor.blogspot.com

OTHER FICTION TITLES BY WILSON
JAMES

SONS and BROTHERS in
SEATTLE

Cameron Connors is a young father
trying to deal with a mother who likes the idea of children, but
otherwise appears not to like her own. Cameron has managed to get
his own two young sons away from his mother, but now he needs to
rescue Brendan, his younger brother. As Cameron has learned over
the years, his mother can be quite two-faced, and heaven help
anyone who crosses Mrs. Rachael Connors. Cameron and his mother are
currently in a state of cease-fire, but that could change
dramatically based on what Cameron has planned for the next few
weeks in order to challenge his parents for custody of Brendan.
Will Cameron succeed in creating a new family of four, or will he
lose? The stakes are high, and Cameron stands to lose custody of
his own two sons if he is not careful. Follow the saga of Cameron
as he struggles to do what he knows he must do, and what is
right.

PLAYING THE BASEBALL CARD

You are almost 14 years old. Your
mother died six years ago, and you help look after your younger
brother while you father works. He is a pitcher for a minor league
baseball team, and he is trying to make it into the major leagues.
Just when it seems that things are looking better, tragedy strikes
again. Now, it’s all up to you. You have your own dreams, and you
desperately care about your small family. Will you be able to make
it work? The story of Devin Robinson as the kid pitcher for the San
Francisco Giants becomes well known, but what was never told is the
story of Devin and Jordan’s early years. They have long since
reached adult age, and they have decided that the time is now right
to put the journey of their beginning part of their lives into
print. This is a story for baseball fans and anyone else who wants
to read about personal courage and determination.

ROBERT’S RIDE

Born in a small town in south-west
Georgia, orphaned at five and finally adopted at seven. Those were
the bare bones words to describe Robert’s first years. Finally one
of the lucky ones to be picked out at his foster home, he struggles
to make sure his new adoptive mother likes him and wants to keep
him, in spite of the fact that she really has no idea what to do
with a child. She is well meaning, but rather emotionless. Robert
desperately tries to figure out to read her and please her. Some of
his adventures are dramatic, but some of his experiences are simply
the more normal adventures of dealing with a new home, a new
school, and new friends. This first story, ROBERT’S RIDE, will be
followed by others in the series.