2 Eyes in the dark

     The smell of grandmother and cigarettes filled the car. The tires hummed against the mixture of ice and asphalt. Despite it being springtime in Alberta, thick flakes of fluffy white snow splattered against the windshield before they turned into droplets of water, brushed away by the windshield wipers. Uncomfortable silence ruled the car with an iron fist.

      Several times Melanie looked over at Warren, with her mouth open ready to speak. Words eluded her. How do you talk about the unexplained? Did the events of the arena happen? How real was the dream in the darkness? In a world gone crazy easy answers were in short supply.

     “Mom just spits it out already,” Warren said after she stared and said nothing for the hundredth time. “I am not going to up and disappear on you.”

      Melanie tousled Warren’s sandy blond hair and then gave him a light slap on the cheek, “How could you let that thing touch you? Haven’t I taught you anything? If you don’t know what it is, stay away from it.”

     “I don’t think either of us had a choice in the matter…” Warren started to say.

    “Nine hours of excruciating pain brought you into this world, and you were prepared to throw it all away at the first opportunity.” Melanie Vandal’s voice trembled with worry.

    “Why are you breaking out the mother speech?” annoyance took over Warrens's Voice, “I’m fine.” He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, “I promise.”

    Melanie sighed and leveled her eyes on her son's. Her mouth went agape in horror, “Warren why are your eyes yellow?” 

      A hint of panic touched Warrior's mind. He craned his neck and peered into the rearview mirror. Once upon a time, his eyes were a soft hazel color, now replaced by fierce predator yellow, like an eagle. “Well, I got tired of the old color…” He trailed off at the sight of a long white streak in his hair.

     “We are going to the nearest emergency room. There has to be some explanation for what’s happening to you,” A finality pervaded Melanie's tone, and Warren knew better than to argue with the woman who gave him life. 

      “If you say so.”

      “You don’t believe me?”

   Warren leaned his head against the window and watched for wildlife in the deep snow-covered ditches. “What happened in the arena was unavoidable.”

    Angry red sparks flew against the car as Melanie threw her cigarette butt out the window. She reached for the pack and Warren tried to block her hand. She flashed him the mother stare, and he relented. “I bet it was an attack from one of those terrorist groups.”

    “Do you hear yourself?” Warren resumed his vigil over his side of the car.

   The old cigarette lighter popped out, and wisps of smoke filled the car, “I don’t hear any ideas coming from you,” A large noxious cloud came from Melanie's mouth

    “There is little point in explaining the unexplainable. Nightmare aside, we are still alive and breathing. I’d call that a win.”

    Melanie sighed in defeat, “Maybe you are right,” She kept her eyes on the road signs. “I need you to be okay with something,” Her face smiled weakly back to her molars. Warren took it as a sign she had something serious to talk about. 

       “Okay, what’s going on?”

      “I am seeing someone,” Melanie winced while she delivered her words.

     “Is that why you started taking care of yourself again?” Warren smiled while Melanie nodded, “You don’t need my permission to be happy.”

     “It’s a little more complicated. I am seeing a woman,” Once more,  Melanie shrank back from her words and waited for Warren’s potentially angry response. 

     Warren thought back to the last six months since his father left. Melanie drank heavily, laid in bed in scruffy sweatpants, and eating fried chicken by the bucket. “Is it anyone we know?”

     “Do you remember Nerea Vasquez?”

    Warren squinted his eyes in thought, “Dad’s old boss?”

    “Yes. I didn’t know I liked women until I met Nerea. She’d been out of the closet since her teens,” Melanie relaxed and threw the half-finished cigarette out.

    “How long have you two been seeing each other?” Warren cared very little about his mother's love life unless it affected them in the long run. 

   “A few weeks. We are talking about moving in together. She insisted you be okay with it.”

  “Are you happy?” A simple question came from Warren’s side of the car. 

  Melanie giggled and sighed, “Happier than I can ever remember being.”

  Warren thought back to his first meeting with Nerea. George Vandal left him with her, while he took his overweight secretary out for a drink. Nerea had every opportunity to turn Warren against his lecherous parent, but instead told him, “Being an adult is more complicated than you think.”

   “Nerea is a good person. She better treat you right or I will make life difficult for her.”

   “Your friends…”

  Warren silenced his mother with a slash of his hand, “Mom, you are family, my friends can show respect to you, or they can get out of my life.”

   A tear formed in the corner of Melanie’s eyes and she sat up a little straighter, “Thank you Warren. Maybe I’m doing alright with this parenting thing.”

  A soft snicker came from Warren, “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Melanie stiffened up, “We’ll stop at the next rest area, I have to tinkle.”

“Mom nobody says that anymore, except kindergarten teachers.”

Melanie rolled her eyes, and then flashed a sly grin, “Yo dude, my bladder is wicked full. Can we stop somewhere so I can leak my lizard?”

 In comics writers often make street talk look ridiculous, Melanie Vandal took it to new lofty heights. One could argue she went further than everyone else. “I recall a conversation where you promised not to do that anymore.”

   “Nobody else is around to see.”

   “Once I let you do it in the car you’re going to think it’s okay to do it in public,” Warren sounded like a parent. 

  “Fine,” Melanie Vandal said in mock anger. “I could sing.”

   “No, you can’t. I don’t want to hear a fractured song,” the smartphone flew from Warren's hand and he chose a video of his mother singing. “This got ten thousand views on Youtube,” Warren cleared his throat and read some of the comments, “Is your mom a comedian, if so I would pay to hear that act again. She knows the words right? My favorite is Chip the baby one more time.”

   Melanie Scowled, “Those people have no idea what good sounds like.”

“Because good sounds like two cats screeching, while getting the words wrong?”

The gas-guzzling station wagon pulled into a dimly lit area next to a stand of trees. Melanie left the engine running. “This conversation isn’t over young man.”

Warren started at the tree line and swore he saw a multitude of glowing eyes watching them, “Maybe you should wait until we get to a town or something. This place feels off.”

Melanie scoffed, “Well this car might feel a little off if I piss myself.”

Warren looked back at the thick trees and the eyes appeared to have multiplied, “Please wait until the next town. Don’t you see the eyes in the trees?”

“Warren, I am not afraid of your overactive imagination.”

“But, the trees.” Warren pointed like a six-year-old at the leafless underbrush.

“I don’t want to hear another word, I will relieve myself, and then we will stop in the next town for a quick bite. We are behind schedule as it is,” Melanie stepped out of the vehicle and peeked her head back in, “I appreciate the concern though.”

All Warren could do is watch her pad her way across the wet ground toward the sparsely lit public bathrooms. He turned back to the treeline and the eyes were moving toward her. A warning bell went off in his head. He disembarked and shouted, “Mom Look Out.”