Chapter Eight

Mom succumbs to love

THE NEXT MORNING Mom was reading the news on her tablet when I came down to the breakfast room.

“Where’s your twin?”

“Barn’s with Austin doing training for the League.”

“Ah,” Mom said. She stirred her coffee. “You look really tired, Elijah.”

“Naw, I’m good.”

Mom searched my face.

Was she reading my mind? I am super energized.

“I guess you are,” Mom said, confirming my suspicion.

“I won’t be home for dinner.”

“No surprise, Mom,” I said, buttering some toast. “Where to? Tokyo? São Paulo for some big dinner?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I already think that.”

“Little shit,” Mom said. “No, actually, Sean and I are going to dinner.”

“Oh.” Was that supposed to be ground-breaking news to me?

“Yes, Elijah, it’s a big deal.”

“Stop reading my mind!”

“Look. I thought about what Arnulfo said. And you know I like Sean a lot, and, well, we were spending time together last night.”

“Ew, TMI, Mom.”

“Shut it,” Mom said. “We were watching The Whale in the theatre room, perv.”

“So, what happened? He propose? You said no, right?”

“We decided to date.”

I choked on my toast. “Houtáillar? To date? Not the fruit from palm trees, right?”

“Yes, houtáillar! Date, be exclusive.”

“Mom, I’m really confused.”

Mom reached over for a butter croissant, spreading jam on it. “He’s a good guy, Elijah, and you know what? Arnulfo set me straight. I mean, I can keep spinning or I can stop and get off the roller coaster and just see what happens.”

My stomach soured.

“Are you okay, Elijah?”

“I just—I mean, Mom, do you know what you’re doing?”

Mom frowned. “Yes, Elijah as a matter of fact I do. And, well, you know, I thought you would be happy.”

I wiped my hands on my jeans. “I am, Mom.” I relented. “I am. I mean, you guys have been together for a while.”

“Yeah, and you know I enjoy his company. And he mine. And frankly I’m ready to move on. I’m tired of being alone.”

The clock on the mantel chimed the quarter hour. I glanced at the clock: 7:15 AM.

“I think that’s great, Mom.”

“You know I talked to your dad.”

I sat down again. “Yeah?” Did I tell her about seeing him?

“Yes, I went to his apartment in Glendale. Florence was there. I said my piece. I think he understood. To leave you alone.”

“That’s great,” I lied. I didn’t want to diminish Mom’s accomplishment. “I doubt I’ll see him.”

He had acted so strange last week. Asking for money. From me, the poorest rich boy in all of America.

“Have a good day at school, darling,” Mom said, returning to her tablet.

“Yeah, have fun on your date tonight. There are condoms in the storage closet across from Barn’s room.”

Mom turned red. “I don’t want to know why.”

“Aunt Christine said she has enough children. And George also laid down the law with Barn. He doesn’t want to be a grandfather while he’s in his late thirties.”

“Fine,” Mom said. “Anyway, I’m not that easy. No matter what you think.”

“I think you are like Queen Elizabeth I, married to your job.”

Mom rolled her eyes. “That was old me. New me is different.”

“Yeah, she’s dating. For real.”

“Yup,” Mom said. “Don’t wait up.”

“Whatever, Mom.”

*

I RAN AS fast as I could, arms and legs pumping, the wind at my back. Julio watched me from a bend in the track with his stopwatch and nodded in encouragement.

“Puedes hacerlo!”

A smile stretched across my face. I was close to beating my all-time best time. I was going to win the Burbank 5K if I kept this up. And why wouldn’t I? The pieces were falling into place. Amanda was certain I’d win the All Valley swim competition. We had done several rounds of super quizzes in Aca Deca, and I got high scores in my subjects. And, best of all, things were good with Austin. We were in a groove. Having fun together at the Dáu Xhà, after school studying at my place or in his room, listening to music on vinyl, and going to the movies together. And no matter what Zid’dra said, nothing was going to keep Elijah Delomary from succeeding.

A drop of rain splatted on the red track, followed by another and another. I glanced at the sky. Clouds had smothered the Valley in the last ten minutes. Shit, I hated running in the rain. I pushed myself. Might as well run faster, maybe I could beat the rain.

Julio did a little dance as I crossed the finish line. He glanced at his stopwatch. Then, we both ducked out of the rain.

“Buen trabajo, wey,” he said. “Tan estupendo! I’m so proud of you!”

He pulled me into a quick hug. “I hated when you gave up weightlifting, but you are good as a runner.”

“Thanks, Julio.”

“You’re gonna blow everyone else away, mijo.”

“Hah, yeah, they won’t know what hit them.”

Julio stood back, hands on his hips, smiling at me. “You’ve come a long way, mijo. From the scrawny kid who couldn’t run a few feet to this.” He glowed with pride. At me. I basked in his joy for a moment. I was happy.

I went into the locker room, sitting down on a bench and pulling my shirt off. I wiped the sweat off my face with a towel, then tossed it into a receptacle for dirty laundry. Things were looking up for Ol’ Elijah Delomary!

I noticed water running in the showers nearby. That was odd. No one was using the track except for me and Julio today. I preferred to shower at home, so I went to turn off the water.

All the stalls were empty in the shower room. A window stood open nearby, rain pouring inside and down the wheat-colored tile wall.

Something was off with the water… What were those? Red dots? Polka dots in water?

The water rushed to the drain in the center, the red dots spinning around and around, staring at me. I shuddered involuntarily, exited the shower room, grabbed my gym bag off the bench, and ran back to the mansion.

*

A FEW NIGHTS later, as Sean circled to clear the large earthenware plates from the farm table, which stood in the center of his dining room, he said, “I hope you liked the chicken. It was my Mama’s recipe from growing up in Texas.”

“I loved it,” Mom said, lifting her wine glass in salute to him. He smiled.

“I don’t have professional chefs here at my little house in Beverly Hills.”

Sean lived in a white stucco Spanish Colonial-style mansion set among ancient oak trees a few blocks south of the Beverly Hilton. Some little house. Sheesh.

“At least you can cook,” Mom said. “I can’t remember the last time I cooked.”

“You make a mean piece of toast, Mom,” I replied to boost her ego. She had been a nervous wreck the whole afternoon before we headed to dinner. Worried about me. How I’d act being around Sean. Worry, worry, worry. The Delomary neuroses.

“This is our first official date as a family,” Mom had said as we both hopped in the back of the tank-like black SUV for the ride over the 405 to the West Side. Mom was too nervous to drive, so she let Sunny give us a lift.

Don’t mess it up, I told myself. For Mom. She had cried about the turmoil of her own love. The love that had birthed our little family and that had shriveled up and destroyed us in the process. Mom, Tory and me. Maybe the divorce ruined Dad too? Could it…?

Be better today, I had told myself after showering. I stared at myself in the mirror. You can do this Elijah. For Mom.

One of the lightbulbs in the chandelier overhead flickered. Darkness leapt from the corners near the shower and toilet. I caught my breath. The rasping, wheezy breathing. Ignore it, Elijah. For Mom…

Three golden retrievers tumbled out the front door of the mansion when we pulled into the driveway, followed by Sean, a smile stretched across his face. He was dressed casually in chinos and a light-blue button-up shirt and flip-flops. What a change. I had only seen him wearing a suit. I turned to Mom, her hair not shellacked under a helmet of hairspray or bound up in a tight ponytail, but rather falling softly around her shoulders. She wore a light blue dress, the flowy kind she used to wear in our little olive green ranch house in Reseda all those years ago. What was going on with Mom and Sean?

Sunny opened the door for me. I stepped out onto the gravel driveway and was knocked over onto the front lawn by the dogs.

“Malcolm, Harriet, Rosa come back here… Oh, I am sorry, Elijah. They are quite affectionate!”

I sprawled out on the grass in front of the rambling mansion, giggling uncontrollably while three rough tongues licked my face.

“I think the dogs like him, huh, Lin?”

Lin? Who was Lin?

Sean whistled. The tongues disappeared off my face. I sat up and leaned on my hands.

“Who’s Lin?”

Mom blushed. Sean tossed a neon-green tennis ball to a far corner of the front yard, and the dogs hurtled themselves after it, bouncing off each other in the process.

“A pet name,” Sean said. “I think you have one for Austin?”

Mom watched me intently.

This could go two ways. This night depends on you, Elijah.

A helicopter soared overhead. Sunny hollered to text him when we were ready, followed by tires crunching on the white gravel driveway.

Malcom tackled me, knocking me onto the grass, dropping a ball on my chest. I giggled again. Malcom was the mirror image of Boxey. My heart thumped. Boxey would tell me to breathe and let everything go…be in the moment.

“Yeah,” I said taking the ball and rubbing Malcom’s furry head, “Kangy, and he calls me Eli.”

Mom relaxed.

“That’s adorable,” Sean said. “Why don’t we go in and get settled? There’s a fire going in the living room. And Chardonnay for the lady.”

Mom curtsied for some ridiculous reason. I almost convinced myself I saw a crown of flowers in her hair.

“I have Shirley Temples for you, Elijah.”

“Shit,” I stammered. “I love Shirley Temples!”

“God, watch your language!”

“Sorry, Mom.”

Sean’s house was the opposite of our house; casual, contemporary, with the sense that the rooms opened all the way to the night sky and the Milky Way beyond. We sat around the fire, Mom and Sean stiff like boards while the dogs were on the floor chewing on dog toys.

I excused myself so they could catch their breath. I wandered upstairs to the guest bathroom where I splashed water on my face and breathed in and out ten times to calm my own jitters. Malcom pushed his way into the room.

“Hi, Malcom!” I said, squatting on the floor gently rubbing his head.

“Sean likes you!” Malcom said. I squealed and fell back.

“You talk?”

“I’m his familiar!”

“Of course, you are,” I said. “He’s an Encantreino?”

“Of course!” Malcolm said. “They really like each other.”

“Yeah?”

“Of course.”

“Do you always say ‘of course,’ Malcom?”

“Of course!”

I burst out laughing.

“You okay up there, Elijah?” Mom called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Yeah, sorry, yes.”

“Dinner in twenty.”

“Sure, Mom.”

“Come with me, Elijah,” Malcolm said. “I want to show you my favorite spot in the house.”

I walked beside Malcolm as he padded down the hallway to a door at the end. Malcom growled softly and the door swung open, revealing stairs.. He padded into a room with arched windows on all sides.

I stepped onto the hardwood floor, my eyes taking in the panoramic view of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Hollywood, the Santa Monica Mountains, and the vast stretch of South LA.

“Wow, this view is incredible!”

“I love it,” Malcom said, sitting on his haunches.

“The sun is setting so you can see the lights of the Pacific Design Center! I love how they change colors.”

My eyes followed the grid interrupted by red-tiled roofs, palm trees, high-rises, and jacaranda trees until my gaze fell on the semi-pyramidal glass building in the distance.

The LGBT center was a few blocks west. My mind drifted back to session. To Arnulfo. He was becoming my Gray Wizard with his staff lighting the darkness in my mind.

“This world is filled with fear and anger and darkness. And each one of you are points of light in that world. A beacon to the others and, when each of you shine, eventually the darkness gives way to the brilliance. They tell you to be afraid, but that’s because they are afraid. Not all monsters come from the Gloom. Sometimes they masquerade as everyday folks.”

“Yeah, right on, Arnulfo!” Stylo said. “I heard that.”

“Embrace the light; lean into the good things in your life.”

Austin, Barn, my friends. Mom, shit was I admitting that? I laughed. Malcolm barked. I leaned down to pet his warm, furry head.

“Come join me!”

“Sure,” I said, then sat on the floor cross-legged next to him. We sat side by side as the sun faded and the night sky rose behind the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Design Center glowed like a jewel in the center of WeHo.

*

“ANY IDEA WHAT that black gooey thing is floating above my pool?” Sean asked, hand raised, the muscles in his arms tensing as the blob pulsed over the blue waters. He used magic to keep the blob from moving.

“Ugh,” Mom said, on her third glass of wine—she was over her limit. “Is it one of those things I’ve heard about made of fat and wet wipes in the sewer?”

The blob growled.

“Oh,” Mom said. “I guess not.”

“Elijah?”

“Well, you know—” I squatted next to Malcolm rubbing his fur. “—Mom, I think Zid’dra might be haunting me.”

“What?” Mom shouted and tossed her wine glass at the blob. The glass fell onto the edge of the grass, spilling wine onto the ground.

“Yeah, I’ve felt his presence at home at night when I’m trying to sleep.”

“Fuck,” Sean muttered. “This isn’t good.”

“My ass it isn’t!”

“Language,” I whispered, too afraid to speak any louder. What was going to happen? Was this it for me, Mom, and Sean? Dinner had been a new experience. Eye opening. When was the last time Mom and I had been so relaxed at dinner? Sean was like a facilitator when our conversation seemed ready to break down, when all I wanted to do was get up and leave. Sean cracked a joke or he would simply sit back and listen to us like he was interested in what we both had to say. And for some reason, we wanted to keep talking.

“I can hold it at bay for a while, Lin, but, I mean, it’s very powerful.”

Mom must have been drunk because she roared like a lion and raised her arm, sending a powerful blast of pure white light out of her hand and around the blob.

“Get the hell outta here!” she screamed, snapping her wrist and sending the blob hurtling away from the pool, the palm trees lining the backyard, and toward the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

“Oh, wow, Lin!” Sean gaped, then a smile crept across his face. “I didn’t know you were so fearless.”

“That blob of shit was not about to ruin a beautiful night with my men.”

I looked over at Sean, who scrutinized Mom. He looked speechless.

“That was badass, Mom.”

Mom bowed for some odd reason. She was definitely drunk.

We went inside. Sean brought out dessert, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting, my favorite. This guy really knew how to score points with me. Sean told us about his sons, Dion and Dre. Both were overseas studying. Dion at Oxford and Dre at the Sorbonne. He showed us pictures of two tall, thin young men with their father’s eyes and smile.

“I love this picture.” Mom was draped on Sean. She was getting emotional. When was the last time she was this way? Ten years? More?

“Yeah, they’ll love you, Lin.”

“You think?”

“Sure, you snort when you laugh.”

“Oh, God, Sean!”

They were laughing and whispering to each other. Mom snorted. She shot me a look. I grinned.

“I’ve had too much to drink.”

“Two glasses is her maximum, Sean,” I explained.

“She polished off a bottle!” Sean said, pointing to an empty bottle lying on its side on the dining table.

“Watch it. She may propose to you when she’s in this state. Emotional.”

“I’d love that.”

Mom searched Sean’s eyes. Awkwardness fell over the room. Okay, me, really. I left the love birds in the dining room and went to the den.

I retreated to the sofa and messed around with Malcolm, Rosa, and Harriet. Love, Simon played on the TV. I settled into watch the movie and cavort with the dogs. Content, a weird feeling for yours truly.

After a while, Sean and Mom pushed back their chairs and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes. The coffee machine began sputtering; the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room. A half hour later, Mom came out holding a coffee cup in her hands.

“You should have told me about this haunting, Elijah.”

Mom was back. The booze had worn off. I sighed. “I didn’t think much of it.”

“Elijah!”

“Okay, fine. I was wrong.”

Mom sank into one of the wheat-colored linen sofas across from me, “I worry, honey.”

“I know. I worry too.”

“This is serious, has he been in the house?”

I nodded.

“Not good.” Mom began to look panicky.

Sean appeared in the doorway with a glass of water. He handed it to Mom, brushed her hand with his, and left.

“Christine and I will place more runes around the house. I’ll research spells to keep you safe.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“We’re supposed to be talking to each other, right?”

“I think so.”

“Arnulfo has said we need to be honest with each other.”

“I’m trying,” I said. “I’m not used to this.”

“What?”

“Us being…normal?”

“Yeah,” Mom said. “Gosh.”

I heard Sean moving around the kitchen, shutting a door, and then the sound of the dishwasher humming.

After a moment, Mom stood up and went to fetch her purse, the very expensive voluminous imported leather one she brought along to meetings with heads of state, hostile shareholders, or whenever she was nervous.

“I have something for you,” she said, rummaging inside the purse. She removed a flashlight, deck of cards, three protein bars, a half-gallon bottle of mineral water, chewing gum, and a flamethrower.

“Why on earth do you have all that in your purse?” Sean said, coming over to join her when she returned to the den. “A flamethrower, Lin?”

“It sprays holy water,” Mom said. “You know, not all monsters are destroyed with magic. Sometimes you need a little help from the Lord above.”

Sean doubled over, laughing. Mom was surprised.

“Lin, you are my favorite human ever.”

Mom’s face went white. Startled. Her shell broke. And she smiled broadly.

“Oh, Sean,” she said, tapping the end of his nose with her manicured nail. She went back to digging in her purse for a moment, then pulled out a long, silver chain with a silver amulet on the end.

God, these two were made for each other. Mom was acting like someone else. I mean she was acting the fool around Sean. Not her usual self. The stiff one, the robot. Miss Perfect.

“Here it is!” Mom said. “I got this last week in San Miguel de Allende,” Mom walked across the room to show me a small chain with a silver amulet featuring La Virgen de Guadalupe. “It was blessed by a bishop. I meant to give it to you. For good luck in all your endeavors coming up.”

“Wow,” I said like a fool. “I mean, this is beautiful.”

“And it has runes on it…”

“Like, so I win gold?”

“Silly,” Mom quipped. “No, to keep you safe and happy.”

“Do you know me?” I caught myself. I had been happy tonight. I had been…wait for it…content! Wow.

“Maybe tonight is the first night of the rest of your life, Eli,” Sean said. My heart stopped. The fire cracked and popped in the fireplace.

“Come on, let’s put it on you.” Mom led me to a mirror hanging near the fireplace. She set it around my neck, the silver caught the glow of the fire and sparkled.

“It’s magical.”

“You like it?”

“I love it, Mom.”

“Good, darling.”

For some reason, I turned Mom around and hugged her tightly, tears in my eyes.

“A lotta firsts tonight,” Sean remarked. “Malcom, come on, boy. I gotta take out the trash. Be on the lookout for that evil blob; it might have come back.”

Malcolm barked and jumped up to join Sean as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Mom and I stood by the mirror examining the amulet.

“Tonight was great, Mom.”

“Yay,” Mom cheered. “I was nervous.”

“I know.”

“You were sweet.”

“Sure.”

“I mean it.”

“Yeah, well you singlehandedly shot Zid’dra out into space!”

“Shit, I bet he’s mad.”

“Too bad, so sad.”

We laughed really hard.