Chapter Eight
Ally
Once Sam and I were inside with the door locked tightly and my weight leaning against it, I bent over at the waist with my hands on my knees feeling lightheaded and just prayed silently. My sweet boy hadn’t meant to slip with the hero comment and maybe Jonah would think nothing of it. Knowing Jonah though, the wheels were already turning with questions spinning around and around. Dammit. It had been such an innocent comment from a lonely boy who had been through so much. Sam needed a father. He needed a good man in his life as a role model. Jonah Bradford was starting to measure up in ways I had not expected. Going out of his way to follow me home from the store the other day had been an awesome thing for him to do. Maybe it had been him giving me the feeling of being watched. But something niggled in the back of mind telling me that was not the case.
“Mom? You ok?” Sam asked me as he walked over and knelt to look up at me through the curtain of my hair hanging down.
“Yeah, buddy, I’m fine.” Right then, my stomach growled so loudly it almost echoed in our tiny living room.
Sam got tickled and said, “Geesh, Mom, it sounds like you’re starving. Didn’t you eat today?”
Now, that he mentioned it, “As a matter of fact, I am starving!” I laughed out loud. “Did you eat at Frannie’s?”
“Yep! Frank did too. He ate enough for three people, Mom!” Sam sounded so amazed at the notion that one person could eat so much at one sitting.
“Honey, I am so hungry right now, I could eat you!” And that was it!
The chase was on! Running around our little place, from room to room only catching him for a second here or there, making chomp, chomp and yum, yum sounds at him was the best stress reliever anyone could ever ask for. Finally, I gave up and told Sam that he won and I was going to go attack the refrigerator for something that had actual meat on its bones. Of course, that declaration set off a new round of laughter.
“Hey Sam, is all of your homework done seeing as it is getting super late and already past your bedtime?” I asked around a bite of leftover chicken.
“Of course, Mom. Frannie and Frank helped me study my spelling words for the test tomorrow, too. It’s gonna be a slam dunk. I know all the words by heart. They were super hard words this week, too,” he proudly exclaimed to me.
“Awesome baby! Go wash up and make sure to brush your teeth. I will be in to read another chapter of The Littles as soon as I finish this chicken and wash up,” I mumbled around a mouth full of cold, but yummy fried chicken. Why did leftover fried chicken always taste like a little bit of heaven? I threw the picked clean bone in the trash and washed the oily crumbs from my hands.
Sam said his nightly prayers, as I listened quietly just beyond the door of his room,
“Dear God, thank you for our food, friends, and our super health. I want to give a big thank you for giving me Grandma Frannie and Grandpa Frank. It’s like we have a big family again, well almost. But, God, I kind of think you sent us our hero we have been asking for every night, finally. Thank you so much! He moves like The Flash and that was super cool! One more thing God, please help Mommy to like our hero. We really need him. Amen.”
Standing there listening to my baby say all those things brought tears to my eyes and woke up the ever-present ache in my heart but made me smile at the same time. Young ones knew and understood so much more than a lot of people gave them credit for. I didn’t make a big deal of everything he said, as he spoke his truth straight from his heart. There was one thing I did want to mention though, the fact he called Frank, Grandpa Frank. That was the first time he ever called him that. It didn’t totally surprise me. I couldn’t wait until I got to work tomorrow and hug that old coot for all he was worth, which was a hell of a lot.
“I noticed you called Frank, Grandpa, buddy, is that something you would like to do from now on?” I asked softly as I tucked him into bed.
“He said I could, Mom. Said he would feel right proud if I did. From now on I am calling him Grandpa Frank. By the way I caught Grandma Frannie kissing Grandpa Frank! It was so gross I almost puked, Mom. Disgusting! He took a long break from work to eat dinner with us.” he told me and while making a funny face.
I laughed out loud and said a Thank you to the heavens. This was my family now. But how long would we be able to keep them?
Those little eyes were closed tight before the end of chapter six this time. I kissed him lightly on the cheek and tiptoed out the door, closing it softly. That one prayer had given me much to think about.
I didn’t really have to think about the newest development with Frank and Frannie. I knew it was inevitable with them. They were just meant to be and needed a little nudge. Seemed like the cookies for dessert turned out to be the perfect way for them to come together.
Praying before bed was something we did every single night without fail. And every night since we ran away, we asked for God to send us a protector and hero. Faith is something learned and believed in with your entire being and my little boy seemed to have enough faith for the both of us. I smacked my forehead recalling how he asked Jonah if he would be our hero. Out of the mouths of babes.
It was still early spring here in the Mid-West and the temperatures from day to day varied. Mother nature was fickle most of the time so the evenings sometimes you needed a light sweater or the other extreme a heavy coat. The afternoons were beautiful though with the trees budding, the flowers blooming and the birds all nesting. Tonight, I could feel the draft from the old windows that told me tomorrow would be different, and we would need our heavy coats for the morning.
I was so tired. Exhausted to the point of just wanting to sit down and cry. And for what? We were ok. Food in our bellies, a roof over our heads, even a few good people to call family. The tires were the problem right this minute. Couple that with the guy at the grocery store and this seemed more than just happenstance. It is time to call my underground contact and I knew it. My gut told me to do it now. We would lose everything that we had built here. Our home, our friends. Our lives would be turned upside down again because of my past mistakes. I couldn’t afford to make another one so I went to the laundry room, pulled out the step stool and moved all the boxes from the top shelf above the washer. Proceeding to feel with my fingertips, cautiously as to not end up with a splinter from the ancient dried up wood, I finally felt it with my pointer finger. Sighing in relief I retrieved the emergency cell phone, opened it and grabbed the little piece of paper with the pass phrase typed on it. That phone was to be used one time to call in and then destroyed. I sat on the stool before I turned on the phone. If I used the phone now I could only keep it on for forty-eight hours’ tops. There was one more way to contact another guardian but that was to be used only if we were in dire circumstances. Should I call? God? I looked up at the ceiling with my eyes closed. Please tell me what to do. I’m scared. I don’t want to lose everything again.
I am not sure how long I sat there but eventually I chose to put the phone back where it had sat on the shelf. The choice was finally clear, at least for now. I was not ready to uproot Sam or myself yet, we loved Frannie and Frank. Then there was Mr. Dreamy Eyes. Was Jonah Bradford our hero like Sam hoped? I did know he was a good man, better yet a good person. A decorated Navy SEAL with battle scars to prove it.
Butterflies fluttered around my tummy just thinking of what he said tonight. Did he really care about me that much? Did I owe it to him to give this a shot? Maybe it was me that I owed, for a damn change. There was only one way to find out and that was to stay and stick it out for now. I only hoped that I wouldn’t regret this decision. Mr. Back Breaker had called my name shortly after that and with Jonah Bradford on my mind my eyes closed even before my head it the pillow.