Chapter 10: A Mother's Worry

Dillon whipped his head around and saw his mom outside with a smile. She waved to Tony. It drove him nuts when his mom would do this. The few times he made a new friend, his mom accosted them with questions about their life's story when she met them. Luckily, Dillon didn't think she would do that this time, since it had started to get late and she had to be up for church tomorrow. Naturally, she looked pretty tired. Her job had her in front of a computer screen all day or on dull conference calls, on top of rehearsals for the praise and worship band at their church. Annoyed, he rolled the window down and gave his mom a subdued look of 'please don't say some dumb shit?' She probably didn't even notice. His mom was unapologetically herself, which Dillon usually liked. She liked to have a little fun and mess with her kid now and then.

  "Hey ma, told you I'd be back in time! O-oh, this is Tony! We met at the tech school like I said."

  "Yup! I remember! How are you Tony? I'm Tracey. Yer the mechanic at Vinnie's, right?"

  "Yes, ma'am! Rolled in from Pittsburgh last year," Tony said with a thousand watt smile. 

  Man, this dude was charismatic. Did he really have so few friends? It's not like Dillon can really judge, since he could turn on the charm when it was called for too. Besides, he didn't know Tony's past or what he's been through. Just because he had a nice smile doesn't mean life was easy for him. Either way, he was good at introductions. Dillon was relieved Tony had put up with his mother's random appearance so well. After they had talked for a few minutes with Dillon uncomfortably stuck in between them, the conversation finally came to a close.

  "Yer a nice guy Tony. Thanks for seein' my idiot son home in one piece," she said as she grinned and cocked an eyebrow at Dillon.

  "Of course, Dill's a good kid. Whip sharp. Good friend, too."

  "Alrighty Dillon, time to wrap things up 'till next time."

  "Ok. A'ight Tony, peace." Dillon shook his hand. "We gotta chill again, that was awesome. We get on so well! Hit me up whenever, you know where to find me." Dillon smiled broadly at him.

  "Count on it, brother. I'll take you up on that. Even though yer a shitty brat, I guess I can spare a text every blue moon." Tony shot him a peace sign.

  Dillon gave him one last wave as he rolled his window up and pulled away. When his mom and he went inside, Dillon dropped his bags at the top of the steps and yawned loudly. He was content. It had been an action packed day. That morning, he had popped in on Tony at the shop to say hi before the bus. After, he had a kick ass day in the kitchen, although he did spill almost three dozen raw pre-cracked eggs all over the floor. It's not fun to clean up egg. It was still enjoyable as a whole though. Then on the bus ride home, he had broken new ground with his friendship with Kat, and she now knew and accepted him for that. Once Dillon got home from school, he met up with Tony again, and they had a blast the rest of the day. It was the best day Dillon had had in a long time. Perhaps things would finally look up for him.

  Too tired to even think anymore, he flopped down on the couch and sighed. Thank heavens he had off tomorrow and could sleep in. Right as he sat down, his mom came in from the kitchen and leaned on the wall with her arms crossed. She didn't say anything, she just looked at him with the ghost of a smile. Dillon knew exactly what would happen next. She would grill him for info, and wring every detail out about how they met and all. It wasn't like she did it to suffocate him, she only did it out of curiosity. A mother like his was hard to come by. One that is there for her kid and at least tried to keep up to date with his life. There are many kids out there that never get to experience that. Dillon confused himself sometimes. He flip-flopped between affection, anger, and insecurity towards his parents. Part of adolescence, he supposed.

  "What? Do I have food on my face?" Dillon said shortly. Mom smiled wider.

  "Oh, nothin'. I'm just happy to see you makin' friends. Tony's very nice. I'm guessin' he's a classmate of yers?"

  "N-no, actually uh… crap... he turned twenty last month. Sometimes he uses the shop at the school for work projects," he replied nervously. His tongue wouldn't allow him to lie, so he just crossed his fingers that mom wouldn't freak out.

  "T-twenty, huh? I... uh, I have my concerns, but if yer tech school lets him in, he must be alright. He doesn't have the appearance of a hoodrat."

  "He's really cool. He's twenty yea, but we've been hangin' out and talkin' for a month now, though I met him a bit before then."

  "No drugs and or human sex trafficking, right?" Mom narrowed her eyes.

  "Really, mom? No, we just hang. We went to the mall that's all. When have I ever been a troublemaker?" Dillon groaned. He knew it was her job to ask, but still. Dillon sat on the edge of the couch about to get up.

  "Ok, ok, just wanna make sure you ain't fallin' into a bad crowd." She walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Hey, I'm happy yer makin' friends. Just... be careful, and know I'm here if you ever need me. You can tell us anything. We'd never stop lovin' you."

"... Yea. I'll keep that in mind... Thanks," Dillon replied softly. "Where's dad? How was you's guys' day?" 

  "You know yer old man. He's watchin' the Eagles highlights from this past season that he didn't get to watch 'cause of work. And he is not happy with their performance," She responded.

  "Heheh, well it was a bloodbath. Tell him I said g'night. It's been a good day, but a long one, so I'm gonna go pass out now. Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow! Don't get me up 'till like ten earliest?" Dillon asked excitedly.

  "Yea yea, no later than eleven, though. You gotta take yer insulin and eat." Mom hugged him. "Night kiddo. Love ya."

  "Right back at'cha," he said quietly.

  Mom went back to bed while Dillon went into the kitchen to put his insulin in the fridge. He took his Eagles themed insulin case out of his bag and stuck it in the door. With that, he went downstairs to his room. As he entered, he saw that Mom had put all the animals to bed for him. She must have figured he'd be tired as hell when he got home, even though she herself was exhausted. Mom had her awesome moments. It was a little thing, but it was big to Dillon. 

  After the day he had, he didn't care how tired he was, he wanted a shower first. Life as a chef can be a dirty one and he had to clean up a ton of eggs earlier that day. His room was like a den, and had a full bathroom that was on an elevated platform opposite to the entrance. He sat on the bed, and rubbed his face with his hands a few times. Like he told his mom earlier, it was a good day, but a long one both physically and mentally. It felt like he had experienced every emotion in existence in one day. He'd been excited, sad, scared, angry, envious, happy, and the rest. It was a lot for him to absorb while he also battled school, his stupid attraction to Tony, and the lies he spread to everyone. Yet again, his current emotional state and mood changed without notice. Dillon felt his eyes start to sting as he got undressed for his shower. Why did he have to be cursed with that? It tainted his friendships, and made everything so complicated. How long could he keep this up for? How long could he lie to himself and everyone else for? Not forever, that was a given. Would he ever find another Dominic? Will he ever find a person that would go beyond what Dom and he had? Would he be alone forever, stuck with the curse of solitude, even when in a room full of people? When would it END?!