Chapter 2
No Signs

 

“So, do you think you’re going to get asked out any time soon?” Lauren asked, looking at Eric over the rim of her glass with a conspiratorial look in her eyes. 

“First off,” Eric said, “Mom!” He was cradling his own glass, which was now full of water. After a glass and a half of grape juice he’d called it quits. “Second, I have no idea what you’re talking about. And finally, who are you even talking about?”

Lauren shrugged as she leaned backward against the sofa. “Dunno. Pick one. They both seem pretty taken with you,” she said. Eric felt his ears go red. This wasn’t stuff he talked about with anyone, let alone his mom. On the other hand, if you can’t talk to your mom about crushes, who can you talk about it with?

“You’re a terrible influence,” Eric mumbled. “And I don’t know. They’re just my friends.”

“Mo-om,” Lauren said in a high-pitched voice, “I think Serena likes me and I like her and I held her hand once, but then I got a hug from Tony yesterday and now I want to hug him all the time, what do I doooo?”

Eric tried to hide inside of a pillow cover. “Are you ever going to let me live that down?”

“Not for a good few decades, no,” his mom said. “It was precious, though. I wish you’d have stayed a baby forever.”

“I was twelve!”

“Baby,” Lauren said, patting him on the head. “Forever.”

“I just like them both,” he groaned, flopping backwards into the pillow fort, his mom yoinking the glass out of his hands at the last second. “And they’re both friends and I’m really glad they’re my friends, but…”

“But you also want to hold hands and hug a lot,” Lauren finished for him. “I get that. But no new developments, huh?” Eric shook his head. 

“No,” he said. “We’re all busy with college and sure, we’ll be ‘just’ thirty minutes apart, but with classes, new friends, and commuting… and Serena doesn’t even have a college picked out yet, and—”

“And you’re worried and scared and you want to fix it right now, but you’re also scared that if you try anything it’ll ruin everything forever for sure, so you’re going to do nothing and let the moment quietly pass and live with regrets forever?”

Eric shoved a pillow into his own face. “I can’t believe my mom tried to kill me in my own home,” he said, his voice muffled. “And yes. I mean no. I mean I don’t know.”

“My advice,” Lauren said, “is that sometimes it’s better to regret doing something, because, contrary to what you might think, if you’re honest with yourself and with others, there’s not a lot of situations you can’t un-fuck.”

“Mom! Language!” Eric pulled the pillow away in shock.

“Oh, fine. There’s not a lot of situations you can’t ‘untangle.’ Is that better?” She smirked at him. “But my point stands. Communicate openly and honestly. It’s better than saying nothing and wondering what could have been for the rest of your life.”

“Like you and Dad?” he asked, propping himself up and drinking some more water.

“Something like that,” Lauren said. “But your dad was… kind of the safe choice.” Eric raised his eyebrows. This was the first he’d ever heard of that. Based on everything he’d ever heard from his dad’s friends at the precinct, he’d been something of a bad boy, after all. “Oh, sure,” Lauren said. “He was cool and adventurous and dangerous, but at the end of the day, he was still very much a pillar of the community, just like his dad.”

“Do you… regret it, ever?” Eric asked, studying his mom’s face. She didn’t talk about Dad often. He saw her face fall a bit, and a horrible feeling lurched in his stomach. “... me?”

Her expression softened, and then she switched to an expression of mock anger. “Honey, no. Don’t you dare. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.” She patted him on the head again and smiled. “Just… There were things I wanted to do, and T.J… didn’t. He was too embedded in the community. Always more to do.” Eric sighed a little in relief and nodded.

“So then what? Did you want to get in, like, a VW bus and drive around the country, shore to shore guitar-playing?” he asked. 

Lauren laughed. “Something like that,” she said. “There were things I gave up for your father. But I think I’m pretty happy with where I ended up. Where we ended up.” She raised her glass to him. “Even if you’re going to spread your wings soon to fly with your… boyfriend? Girlfriend? Who even knows at this point.”

“You’re the worst.”

“Love you, Donut.”

“I love you too, Mom. Don’t call me Donut.”

“Don’t be sweet and I’ll think about it.”

They sat in relative silence for a while. After the credits had run out, they’d turned the television down, but it was still playing gently in the background. At the moment, some news segment or other was playing, showing footage from the previous year’s parade. 

“Do I have to go?” Eric asked, looking at the screen. The fire trucks driving in a line, one brave soul juggling pulaskis. The floats. The soundless sirens. All the flags. “It just… It’s a lot, Mom.”

“You don’t have to be in the parade, Eric,” Lauren said. “But I don’t think you can afford to not show up. Besides, I could use the support.” She gave him the most pathetic doe-eyes pleading look he’d ever seen. 

“Ughhhh, fine,” he said. “Do you think the Penumbra will show?”

“That creature? I don’t know.” She chewed on her lip for a moment. ”It’s a bit scary but also…”

You are reading story Penumbra: Redshift at novel35.com

“Cool?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, it hasn’t hurt anyone, right? Or she? They? Has it ever made, like, a public appearance?” Eric asked, pretending like he didn’t hungrily soak up every bit of information about the city’s superhero every chance he got.

“Not that I know of,” his mom said. “But everyone that talks to them says they’re nice. Not that they’re likely to show up at the actual parade, I don’t think. There’s too many people that don’t trust them. You, however…” 

“Fiiine,” Eric said. “But I’m getting hot dogs. The ones at the downtown precinct.”

“Agreed. Your dad’s old friends will appreciate seeing you, too,” Lauren said.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we saw them,” Eric said. “I mean, it makes sense, but still.” The guys from the precinct had come by a lot at first, but over the years their visits had become less frequent. 

“I mean, they’ll be around soon enough again for the sign,” his mom said with a sigh. 

“Any ideas on who’s been tearing it down, by the way?” he asked. The thin-blue-line flag that had been in their front yard for years kept getting ripped off of its stake, and nobody ever saw who did it. Not that it mattered, every time it happened, it wasn’t long before a squad car rolled up with a new one. They were always happy to do it, and Mom seemed grateful she didn’t have to. 

“None,” Lauren said. “Whoever does it, does so at night, and without a car either. So probably someone from the neighborhood. You know, T.J.’s old partner Mike actually offered to stake it out, once?”

“Why didn’t he?” Eric asked. He’d been wondering about the midnight vandal, too. His window didn’t offer a decent view of the spot of the yard where the sign was put up, but whoever was doing it, also didn’t ever destroy everything else. It was a very strange and specific attack, and nobody or nothing else ever got hurt or damaged. 

“Two things,” his mom said. “One, I don’t want someone sitting in a car outside my house. I don’t think I’d sleep very well if I knew there was, I don’t know, someone with a camera or something. And two,” she held up two fingers, “I’d sleep worse if someone was outside my kid’s house at night.”

“Y-yeah,” Eric said, “that’s fair. Feels a bit… Big Brother.”

“Exactly. So for now, no cameras or anything. As long as the mystery bandit sticks to assaulting plywood, I’m comfortable just putting the sign back up once in a while.”

“Or letting the boys in blue do it for you?” Eric offered.

“Exactly. So, all of that said, I think it’s time for bed.” She turned the TV off and got up slightly unsteadily. Eric couldn’t tell if it was the wine or the fact that she was probably not used to standing on top of mattresses. “The Parade starts at nine proper, and we should be there at eight. Some of the other wives made sandwiches and cold drinks. I’m helping out.”

Eric hoisted his own mattress upright, ready to drag it to his room. “Do you still have to?” he asked as his mom picked up his blankets and pillow. “I mean, how long has it been?”

“It’s more for the girls than anything,” she said. “Those are my friends. And I’m not driving back here to come pick you up.” Together, they cleaned up the living room as they talked, taking their time. “And I can see what you’re thinking. No, you can’t come into town by bus. With how congested the city is going to be, there’s no way you’ll be getting there before noon, and you won’t want to be sitting in a bus in that heat anyway.”

“I could—”

“And if I leave you here alone, you’re not showing up at all,” his mom cut him off. “I’ve decided, you’re coming with me. Besides, that way you can help me make some sandwiches in the morning.” 

“Mo-om…”

“I’ll set an extra alarm in the morning just for you, so you don’t miss anything,” Lauren said with a fiendish smile as they put his mattress back on his bed, and she tossed the blanket on there. 

His room was pretty nice, all things considered. A few years after Dad had passed away, Lauren had needed some change, so she’d offered him a choice. She wanted to sleep in a different room, and he could pick any of the others. His dad’s hobby room had been the choice he’d landed on, and his parents’ old room had become the guest-and-game room. Sometimes, he imagined he still faintly smelled the gun oil and cleaning products of his dad’s little makeshift workshop. 

“On one condition,” Eric said. 

“Oh? Making conditions? I wasn’t aware this was a negotiation, Eric McCoy,” Lauren said with her hands on her hips. “I was already going to give you a bit of spending money for tomorrow, but if you want to haggle I’m pretty sure I can drive the price down.”

“Oh, I meant, like… coffee,” Eric said sheepishly. 

“You w— Honey, you’re eighteen, I think you’re allowed to have coffee now.” She looked like she was trying to hold in either a laugh or a frog. 

“I meant you making coffee, Mom!” 

Laughing as she left the room, she waved over her shoulder. “Deal! I’ll wake you up at seven. Dressed at seven fifteen or you’re getting a cold glass of ice water to get you out of bed instead.”

“Good night, Mom!” Eric said, chuckling as he crawled under the covers. 

“Night, Donut!” The door closed behind her, and Eric took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling. He’d had a good day. Sure, any time spent with his friends was always a delight, but he did like hanging out with his mom. Not even waterboarding would have gotten that out of him, of course. He wasn’t that mature. 

But tomorrow would be… a lot. Not that he particularly minded crowds. He wasn’t a fan of large groups of people, but if he was with his friends he knew how to enjoy himself. And besides, maybe he’d catch a glimpse of the city’s newest first responder…