ANOTHER'S TREASURE

CHAPTER 8

The note was from Jamie, he'd gone to play basketball with his friends at the park.

The house felt cold, I walked to my room and laid on the bed. My body ached, I'd worn a pair of heels to impress and ended up with an unbearable pain. I walked to the bathroom, luckily there was hot water. The water almost felt like a massage.

I just stood under the shower, letting the water do its thing. Feeling better and better, somehow I felt more relaxed now.

Jamie's POV

The basketball game had run long, and I was sticky with sweat and tired right down to my bones. I opened the door and stepped into the apartment, it wasn't locked meaning mom was already home, I dropped my bag at the entrance.

mom would probably kill me if she saw the bag there but honestly I was too tired to even think. I walked up the stairs and went into her room

"Mom?" I could hear the water running in the shower.

"Jamie, you're back? How was it?" Her voice called from inside the bathroom.

"It was ok, I'm just tired" I said crashing into the bed.

"Ok I'll be out in a bit, then we'll make dinner and talk"

"Ok mama" I responded then I noticed her bag buzzing at the edge of the bed. I rolled to it, opening the bag to find her phone ringing. Normally I wouldn't touch it but the unknown caller Id begged for my attention so I gave it, hitting the accept icon.

“Hello?” I said, trying not to be loud enough for Mom to hear.

“Hi—Jamie?” The voice was familiar and a little surprised.

"Who's this?": I asked.

“It’s Cai. Is your mom around?”

My eyes widened. Cai?

“She’s in the shower,” I said, suddenly alert. “Should I tell her you called?”

There was a pause.

“No, it’s okay. I just… I haven’t heard from her. I was hoping to check in. But since I’ve got you—how are you holding up?”

That caught me off guard. Adults rarely asked that and meant it. “I’m okay,” I said. “Trying, I guess."

"You're doing a magnificent job, you're a really strong young man and I'm proud of you"

I smiled, something about those last words. “Thanks.”

“Listen… can I take you out sometime? Just to talk. Nothing formal. Man-to-man kind of thing.”

I hesitated. But something in his tone made me soften, he didn't seem like a horrible person.

“Sure,” I said. “I’m free tomorrow.”

“Great. I’ll send the address.”

Right after we ended the call, I noticed the screen hadn’t locked yet. A new message popped up, it was the address, I wrote it down and deleted the message and the call history. Just as I was about placing the phone back in the bag, a message popped up —one from a utility company. Something about unpaid bills. I clicked on it.

More messages. Missed calls. Threats. “FINAL WARNING.” “DISCONNECTION NOTICE.” It was like a digital avalanche of everything my mom had been hiding from me and everything that bastard had put her through.

I felt so much anger,

And then, the memory of that night raced through my mind.

The first night he hit her.

there was so much shouting, mom had confronted him about drinking and wasting her money at the bar. He got angry and they both started screaming at each other, I tried using the pillow to block out the noise then came the slap—loud and sickening.

I ran to their room standing by the door, so scared that if he set his eyes on me he'd hit me too. Mom was on the floor, hand clutching her face from the hit. I remember the way she looked at me, then she walked over and shut the door giving me a small smile. He apologized the next day, crying. Promised it would never happen again, he kept to his words.

But he started staying out. Several times mom would sit in the living room waiting for him to come back. he started Drinking more, we were used to seeing him stumble into the house late at night in that wretched smell of alcohol but then he started having the smell on him every single time of every single day. He started Coming back later and later until some nights he didn’t even come at all.

And I watched her slowly break. And I couldn’t do anything.

Not back then.

But maybe now…

I snapped out of the memory with clenched fists. I showered quickly, pulled on my pajamas, and walked into the kitchen, mom had finished showering now and was making some instant noodles.

”hey mama" I walked over, wrapping my hands around her from the side. She immediately stopped what she was doing and held me back, placing a kiss on my head.

"I love you mom" I felt her pause for a moment, then she took in a deep breath.

"I love you more"

Cai's POV

The board today was frustrating, Anthony kept asking stupid questions about the investment's, I was so glad Bethany was the one responding to his stupidity. If they'd let me answer him, I'm sure I'd have lunged for his neck at some point.

Just as I was reviewing the stocks report my intercom spoke

"Sir there is a Jamie Collins here to see you, should I..."

"Yes" I didn't even let her finish.

The heavy oak doors opened slowly and he walked in, a simple grey polo, black pants and a clean sneaker. He looked so much like her, it was almost like she was standing there except shorter.

"You're early," I said, leaning back

"I was free, so I thought... I could go back" he said already turning, I could see the wave of disappointment on his face.

"No, this is the perfect time. I just thought you'd be at school". I explained, then there was another expression on his face, I couldn't tell what it was.

"No...no school for me" he seemed to choke on his words.