Bear, Otter, & the Kid 03 - The Art of Breathing (52 page)

She’s never going to be what you need.

The kite!
my mother had once said.
Ty, look how high the kite is!

“I don’t have money,” Julie says. Her voice is still flat.

I laugh—I can’t help it. It comes out as harsh as I’ve ever heard it. It grates in my ears. “I don’t need money,” I say. “Especially from you. You think I came here for the twenty bucks you probably still keep in the flour tin in the back of the pantry?”

Recognition flickers across her face. “Old habits die hard.”

That much is obvious. “Anything left?” I ask.

“What?”

“The money you got for trying to break up my family.”

Careful
, I warn myself.
Careful.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says.

“Okay, Julie.”

“What do you want, Kid?”

Kid. Kid. Kid.

I shrug, trying to keep my anger in check. “You know, I thought I knew. I really did.”

“But?”

“There’s nothing here.”

“Not for you,” she says.

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why everything? Why did it happen the way it did?”

“Ask your brother.”

I see red. “I’m asking you.”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because,” I tell her. “Because it’s in my head and it won’t leave.”

“Then you’ll leave?”

“Yes.”

“I thought it’d be better,” she says. “For you. For Derrick.” I know this. I’ve heard this.

Leave, leave, leave.

But I don’t. “You thought it’d be better for you,” I say.

She nods. “That too.”

“Was it?”

Behind the façade, I see the first shimmer in her eyes. “For a time.”

“And after?”

“I thought about you both. A lot.”

Leave, leave, leave.

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you think about?”

“If you were doing okay. If you grew up to be what I thought you’d grow up to be.”

“And what was that?”

She laughs wetly. “I don’t know. Doctor. Astronaut. Bug scientist. All those things you said you wanted to be.”

“He doesn’t like bugs,” Izzie says.

“He used to,” Julie says, and it’s the most surreal moment of my life. “He used to play with the little sand crabs on the beach for hours. He’d cry every time we had to leave.”

“Crabs aren’t bugs,” Izzie and I say at the same time. She smiles at me, but it fades too quickly.

Julie says nothing.

“I didn’t become any of those things,” I say. “Not yet.”

“Why?” I don’t know if there’s any real interest. It doesn’t matter.

“Because I thought I was broken. Lost and broken. For the longest time.”

“Are you?”

“Maybe I was. But not anymore. I think I’ve found my way back.”

“I know—” she starts but then stops. She turns her head and looks out the window. It’s a perfectly lovely day, not too hot. There’s a pretty tree outside the window, and the leaves dance in the wind. “I think I’ve been there.” And I think she’s still there. I don’t think she’s ever known anything else.

“You could have stayed,” I say sadly. Any anger I may have felt is gone now. I just feel pity. For her. For what could have been.

“I don’t think I could have,” she says, her voice cracking. “You don’t know what it was like.”

“I did. I do. I was there.”

She shakes her head. “Not that. You don’t know what it was like. In my head. There were times when I thought everything was closing in on me. When it was easier to just stay in bed instead of getting up. I stayed there, sometimes, for days.” She looks back at me, then averts her eyes. “It was just easier.”

“You couldn’t breathe,” I say, thunderstruck. I expected to feel anger when I came here. I expected confusion. I never expected understanding.

She nods. “Those were the worst days. Like I didn’t have lungs anymore.”

“And so you ran.”
Oh, Dom.

“Yeah.”

“Running doesn’t help.”

“It gets you farther away. For a time.”

“But it always comes back.”

“I know,” she says. “I know that every day.”

“Where’s Frank? Or Joe? Or whoever?”

She snorts. “It’s just me and Izzie. They left. Everyone leaves.”

“Oh how unfair.” I can’t keep the sarcasm from my voice.

Julie laughs, but there’s no humor in it. “I suppose it’s what I deserve.”

“I suppose there’s always that rough guy at the diner, huh?”

“It is what it is. I’ve accepted that.”

“Have you?”

“It’s who I am.”

“How fatalistic of you.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know what that means.”

“That’s not what family does,” I say slowly. “They don’t leave when things get hard.” The words are hard to get out because I know how hypocritical they sound coming from me.

The defiant look comes back. “I know.”

“Do you?”
Do I?

“I was never meant to be a mother.”

“Buy condoms next time.”

“Are you done?” she asks, eyes flashing. “You come here, into
my
house, and—”

“I did the same thing,” I tell her. “I ran.”

She stops. Stares. Rubs her mouth with her free hand. Wipes her eyes. “From Bear?”

“Not physically. But yes. From him. From Otter.”

“They still together?”

“Do you care?” I ask.

She doesn’t respond.

“Yes,” I say. “They are. They’ve been married for a long time. Legally married. They’re going to have kids.”

“Wicked,” Izzie says.

A weird look comes over Julie’s face. “I’m going to be a grandm—”

“No,” I cut in. “You’re not. You don’t get to say that.”

She glares at me.

“I ran,” I tell my mother who is not my mom. “I ran because things got tough. Life got hard. I ran because it was easier than facing it head-on. And I almost lost….” I shake my head. It’s none of her business. Not about Dom. None of it. “I almost lost everything. And I thought it was all because of you. I thought I couldn’t breathe because of you. I thought it was all on you. But it’s not. This is about me. And despite you—maybe even
because
of you—I’m going to find my way back.” I think of Dom. And Otter. Most of all, I think of my brother. I owe him everything. “And I think I might have already started.”

“Good for you,” she says bitterly. “Anything else? Or do you want to throw more back in my face?”

“That’s how you see it?”

“That’s how it is.”

“You’re not my mother.”

“I gave birth to you.”

“You did,” I agree. “And there were times I can even remember being happy with you. Do you remember the kite?”

She starts to shake her head but then stops. I think she’s going to ignore it, but then she whispers, “It flew so high,” and a tear slides down her cheek. Just one.

“It did,” I say. “But you’re not my mother. My mother died when I was nine years old, and I let her go into the ocean because that’s what she wanted. That’s what she asked of me, and for her, I would have done anything. And she taught me… well. She taught me that family’s not always defined by blood. It’s those who make us whole. Those who make us who we are.”

“Who was she?” Izzie asks.

I smile at my little sister. “A kick-ass old lady named Mrs. Paquinn, who thought Bigfoot was real, drove an oversized Caddy the color of shit, and loved us all with everything she had.”

“She sounds epic,” Izzie says.

“The most epic there ever was.” I look back at my mother. “She’s smart,” I say, nodding at Isabelle.

“Reminds me of you.”

“Thought so. Why?”

She knows what I’m asking. “I had nothing left that was mine,” she says. She holds Izzie tighter. “She’s all that’s left.”

“Would you let her see me again? Us?”

The fear returns. “You can’t have her!”

“And I’m not going to take her. She deserves to know where she comes from. You owe her that.”

“Get out,” Julie says.

“She’s—”

“Get
out
!”

“It’s okay, Tyson,” Izzie says. “I’ve got your address and—”

Ah, kid. You should’ve kept your mouth shut.

She holds up the scrap of paper. Julie takes it from her. Looks down at it. Lets Izzie go. Tears the paper. It falls to the floor. “If you ever try to contact my daughter,” she says, voice low, “I will make sure the police know you broke into my house and tried to take her from me. You came here when I wasn’t home. For all I know, you touched her in a way no little girl should be touched.”

“Mom!” Izzie cries, sounding shocked. “That’s not—”

“Not now, Isabelle. Go to your room. Now.”

She looks at me. I shake my head as I struggle to keep my rage in check.

“
Now
!”

Izzie looks like she’s going to say something,
anything
, but then a look of such defeat comes over her that I almost can’t stand it. Her shoulders slump and tears fill her eyes, angry tears. She wipes at them furiously and walks toward me. She walks toward me and then stops at my side. Tugs on my hand. Gently. Playing with my fingers, really. Just like… like….

Before Julie can say anything, I scoop Izzie up and hug her tight. Her little arms go up and her little hands go into my hair and her face is in my neck. She’s breathing heavily, and I know she’s trying not to lose control in front of her mother. In front of me. Julie looks like she’s about to speak, but the look I shoot her makes her subside. For once.

“It’ll be okay,” I tell Izzie quietly. “One day.”

“You promise?” she whispers, her voice muffled.

My heart breaks. “I promise, kid.”

“It hurts,” she says. “Can’t breathe.”

“With me, okay?”

She nods, her hands digging into my back.

“In. Okay? Breathe in. Just breathe.”

She does.

“Good. Hold.”

She does.

“One,” I whisper to her. “Two. Three. Exhale.”

She does.

“Hold. One. Two. Three.”

She takes another breath, and it’s easier this time. “It’s a secret,” I tell her. “This art of breathing. It’s yours now. Keep it safe.”

“Don’t forget me, okay?” she asks, voice breaking. “Don’t forget me.”

My eyes burn. “Never. Never in your life.”

She nods against me. We stay that way. For a time. Eventually, it can go no further.

I set her down. And then she’s gone. I hear the door slam down the hall.

I’m still looking after her when I say, “Any harm comes to her, I’ll know. Anything happens to her, I’ll know. And I can promise you that you’ll never see her again.”

“I’ve never touched her,” my mother says, sounding horrified. “I would
never
do that!”

I turn back to her. “There’s more than one way to hurt a kid,” I say, my voice hard. “Abuse doesn’t have to be physical. You have a chance, here. A real chance.”

“It’s none of your business.”

I smile, but it takes all I have. “You’re wrong about that. Remember what I said. You can still make a difference. It’s too late for us. I know that now. But not for her. Remember that before she’s gone too. Good-bye, Julie.”

And I leave my mother there, standing in that kitchen: The smell of smoke untouched by the breeze from the window. The faded linoleum. The mug of Jack, ice cubes melted. I leave it all behind. The photos of faraway places along the wall. This place. I leave it all behind.

But not Izzie. Never Izzie.

I close the front door behind me.

I breathe in. Hold for three. Out. Hold for three. It works. It works. I know it works.

I take a step and the ground shakes beneath me. All my strength is leaving. I need to get out of here before it breaks.

But still I stop. When I reach the fence, I stop. One last look back.

My mother’s at the window. She watches me. Our eyes lock and there we stay. I don’t know how long. Eventually, she backs away slowly until I can’t see her anymore.

I turn to leave as I struggle to breathe.

It should be over.

What is this?

I’ve done what I came to do.

Why is the ground shaking?

Why can’t I breathe?

I need….

This is
over
. This should all be
over
.

I
need
—

“Fuck,” I croak as I bend over. “Ah, God. Ah shit.”

I need you
, I think.
I need you with me. I need you here. I need you so bad.

And then I think I must be magic, I must be so much magic, because big hands wrap themselves around me and pull me close. I hear a rumble that sounds like thunder from above, but I know that sound as it says my name. I know that broken voice.

“Tyson,” he says.

“How?” I gasp. The panic in my head and chest rises, clawing me, pulling me down. It hurts. Everything hurts.

“Cab,” Dom says. “I couldn’t let you be here alone.”

“I c-c-can’t
b-breathe
—”

“Hush,” he says. “Listen.”

I hush. I listen.

“Breathe.”

I shake my head. Doesn’t he understand?

“You can.”

I can’t.

“You can,” he says. “Just breathe.”

My throat closes off.

“For me,” he says. “Breathe for me.”

For him. Breathe. For him?

Everything I do is for you
, I think.

I close my eyes.

And breathe.

Where Tyson Touches upon the Inevitable

I
OPEN
my eyes. I’m lying on my side on a hard surface. Heat behind me, pressing me up against a chilled white wall. I should feel cramped, but I don’t. But then it hits me where I’m at and I start to shake.

In the bathtub, again. Because of the earthquakes.

“Shhh,” Dom says from behind me against my ear. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.” He pulls me close.

“I’m not fixed,” I mumble. Tears threaten to fall, and I try to hold them back as my throat works. “How come I’m not fixed?”

“It’s going to take time,” he says. “One day.”

“I hate this,” I say. The dam breaks and I weep bitterly. “I hate this.”