Free Heaven or Hell by Roni Teson Page A

clueless about reading his text code.
    Teresa leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Memories she’d spent a lifetime repressing were beginning to come to the surface. She recalled her father and mother whispering late at night—or what a little girl might have thought was late. Her entire being wanted to believe they loved each other, but in the hushed tones after she and Angela went to bed she’d sensed something was amiss. This had been years ago, and now she suspected it was around the period Aunt Jessie had said her father and mother’d split for a short time. Try as Teresa might, other details didn’t come to her.
    Although, she did remember clearly that she was her mama’s girl and Angela was her daddy’s child. The fact wasn’t a secret, and it was also evident daily.
    As far as the affairs of the family were concerned, her mother was in charge. Her dad did everything and anything her mother asked—not begrudgingly either, since he was madly in love with her.
    A rap on the driver’s side window startled her. JJ stood beside the car, his hair a mess and his backpack slung on one side.
    “Mom, can we take Seth home? Dude needs a ride.”
    “Dude?”
    “Yeah, open up.” JJ bent over, his lanky frame having shot up so high this year he appeared about six feet tall. Her son grabbed at the door handle, and it flicked out of his hand. He grabbed again at the handle making the car shake.
    “Slow down! Watch smudges.” Teresa unlocked the car, exhaling as she let the outside world in.
    “Hi, Seth. How are you?” Teresa turned toward the back seat where Seth had entered the car.
    “Excellent, and you?” JJ’s long-time pal responded.
    The atmosphere Teresa had created seemed to leave the car as the boys entered with a teenage testosterone energy that only a refrigerator full of food could fuel—a force Teresa didn’t want to deal with today. But Seth had always been a good friend to JJ.
    “I’m good. How’s your mother?” A wrench seemed to tighten around her skull as she strained to smile at the boys.
    “Great.” JJ reached over and slapped Seth hard on the head. Seth immediately returned the blow.
    “All right, okay … Stop it, please. It’s library time.”
    “Sorry, Mrs. Reynolds.” Seth folded his arms and subtly gestured to JJ. Both boys laughed.
    “Okay, come on now, or it’s going to be nappy time for both of you.” Teresa placed her fingers on her temple and rubbed.
    “Nappy time?” JJ held back his laughter with a snort. He then proceeded to discuss a lunchroom incident with Seth jumping in during the milliseconds when JJ stopped to breathe.
    The drive to Seth’s house felt to Teresa like a month of Sundays, but after they all had said their good-byes, JJ dropped the facade of his cool ‘dude lingo’ and became serious.
    “Okay, Mom, what’s going on?”
    “Wow, what’s going on with you? Who are you? And what did you do with my son?” Teresa was finally able to let out a small laugh.
    “Come on, you rarely pick me up and you seem … preoccupied.”
    “Yeah, well, I want to talk to you.” They drove in silence for a few moments as she maneuvered through side streets. “Did I ever talk to you about my dad?”
    “Yeah, a little.”
    “What do you know?”
    “Well, he drank too much, and he disappeared when you were eighteen. Right?”
    “Close to being right, yes,” Teresa answered. “Are you ready for this? He’s back and he wants to see me. He’s dying.”
    JJ exhaled a slight whistle.
    “I know, it’s heavy.”
    “You should see him. We should see him.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, once he’s gone this time, he’ll be gone for good.”
    Teresa let the quiet fill her veins. It was nice to just focus on the road and not think about anything else for a second.
    JJ was so sensible sometimes. A solution such as this, put in such simple terms, made sense. Teresa had been arguing with Aunt Jessie all day. Fighting in her mind with the ‘do-gooders’ at the