SWNOVELS Mother (Chapter 28)
Ivy:
Sean has been leading me through the city for what feels like an hour.
My hand is sweaty clasped in his, my feet sore from pounding on the cobblestone, and my stomach is turning from worry. My breath clouds the air in front of my face as I huff in breathlessness from our punishing pace.
We are no longer in the North-City District; I don’t know where we are really. But the stone mansions and spacious tree-lined boulevards have given way to multi-apartment buildings and narrow curving streets. There are barely any streetlamps here and for that, I am almost thankful, I saw something scurrying away under the last one. There are puddles in the potholes and between the broken cobblestones, but I don’t remember the last time it rained.
Sean pulls me close in front of a wooden door. A soft yellow light floats out from a nearby window illuminating some of the dirty peeling paint on the building. He raps once, twice, and I can hear the hollow knock reverberate through the night air.
The knob twitches and then the door squeaks, before the wood groans and the door opens. On the other side is a small round woman with pinned up white hair. She is maybe in her mid-50s and she looks shocked to see us.
“Mom, can we come inside?”
Mom? This small woman birthed the mammoth standing next to me? I look at Sean in disbelief, but he is focused on his mother.
“Yes, quickly,” she says in a soft voice as she steps outside looking around the street.
We scurry through the door into the warm room as Sean’s mother shuts the door behind us. It’s small and cozy with blue wallpaper and wood floors. On the left side, there is a solid round wooden table with six or so chairs with a large candle in the center illuminating the room. At the back of the room is a staircase leading up to the second story. There is a closed plain wooden door leading to the back of the house next to the stairs and an open door leading to some sort of living room on the right.
It’s to this room that his mother gestures, “Come, take off your things and then go into the sitting room.”
“I can’t-“
“Thank you-“
Sean and I both speak at the same time.
“I can’t, Mom. I have to go to the square and look for the Senator”
She frowns, deeply, “I’m sure-“
“Whose here, Mom?”
I hear a commotion on the staircase as two young boys of about 10 race down it. The boys, Sean’s brothers I guess, look nothing like him with their dark blond hair and fair coloring.
“No running!” She calls without even turning around.
The boys, twins, stop on the stairs and peer down.
“I’m sure the Senator can spare you,” She says looking Sean up and down. I notice what she sees, we are a mess. Sean has grass stains and mud splatters around the bottom of his light brown pants, his short hair glistens with sweat, and he has a leaf stuck to the side of his coat.
I do him the favor of plucking off the leaf as if that would somehow make him more presentable to his mother. I then realize I have nowhere to put it. I look around embarrassed for a garbage can but see nothing so I slip it into my pocket.
Sean just shakes his head, “Can Mrs. Senator stay here?
She purses her lips and glares up at him.
“Please, Mom” he whines and I look back at him to see a grown man beg his mother, “she just needs a place to stay until the riot is over”
She huffs and I think she is going to turn us away, “Of course, she can stay here, what do you think I am? A monster? I just don’t like you risking your life for that Hertilz boy”
I bite my lip, I love that Hertilz boy. I – wait, what? Yeah, I love him. And he is out there; facing god knows what, risking it all to help the women in this city. And I haven’t told him I love him.
“Why don’t you just see what is going on? Don’t get too close if it looks dangerous and then come back and report to us?” I suggest to Sean.
Sean looks at me with relief to be having some support, while his mother glares at me. Note to self: one way to get on a woman’s bad side is to send her son into a potentially dangerous situation.
“Good idea” Sean nods to me and then kisses his mother on the cheek, “It’ll be fine, Mom. I won’t get too close”
“You better not, Seanie! You have an obligation to your family and Mrs. Senator here”
He backs away from us towards the door, as he opens it he says “I’ll be careful, don’t worry” and then he slips out into the darkness of the night closing the door behind him.
Sean’s mother huffs, “Well, then. You can take off your things and put them over there” she points towards a row of coats handing on pegs next to the door I hadn’t noticed with a pile of shoes under neither it.
“I hope you don’t have dirty shoes, every time you Hertilz’s come you mess up my clean floors”
Crap, I can’t even begin to imagine what is on the bottom of my shoes. I try to discretely take them off as she turns to her sons.
“Boys, can you put some tea on and bring some biscuits to the sitting room?”
“Mom” one of the boys whines and I can almost hear the other boy’s eye-rolling from here.
Whatever look she gives them must work because I hear no more complaints but lots of movement on the stairs. The door next to the stairs creeks open and the boys file through it.
I shrug off my coat and hang it on an empty peg.
“I’m Ivy by the way”
“Oh, I know sweetie.” She replies before she calls out “Boys, also bring out the chocolates!”
She turns back to me “I’m Johanna Garrett”
*****
I can’t believe it- but we are almost at the end of the story! Thank you so much for reading it!
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