Feathers (22 page)

             
“It’s nothing really.  But I need to stay after for a little bit to catch up on this assignment.” Raziel said.

             
“It’s all right.  Mia’s with me, so we should be okay.  And Sean’s in our next class after lunch if you can’t get there right away.” Anna told him.

             
“Yeah.  Besides, we haven’t seen anything either since we’ve been here.” I agreed.

             
“I guess.  Just keep your guard up.” Raziel said.  The reluctance was definitely there in his voice.

             
I really couldn’t say I blamed him though as we walked out of there.  We’d see what happened at Anna’s house, and it had been pretty scary.  To think that Flint had that much power to him as to change someone so drastically was almost mind blowing.  But Sean had sat down and explained to me the night before that it wasn’t that unusual for a fox to be able to influence someone who already had a cracked personality.  Ben Smith apparently had issues with anger before.  Flint just allowed him to feel no more remorse.

             
Walking to the cafeteria though, I stopped at hearing my name on the loud speaker.  Anna stopped too.  “Why would they want you in the office now?” she asked in surprise.

             
“I don’t know.  You want to come?” I asked her.

             
“Sure.” Anna agreed.  Somehow, I doubted she wanted to be at lunch all by herself.

             
The office wasn’t that far from the cafeteria, so it didn’t take us long to get there.  But walking in there, I felt myself stop dead in my tracks.  There was a woman sitting in there, waiting quietly.  I would have known her anywhere.  Long dark hair and light brown eyes. 

             
It was my mother.

Nineteen

              When they say people can be frozen in shock, this is definitely true.  It had been over ten months since I’d left my home in Florida and come up there to live with my father.  I had not heard a thing from my mother or grandmother since.  Yet now, she was sitting there in the high school office as if none of that had ever even occurred.  She even looked very put together, which was something I had not seen in many years.  Yet, there was something very unsettling about that too.

             
Beside me, Anna was looking too.  “Mia, what’s wrong?  Who is that?” she whispered.

             
“She’s… my mom.” I managed to whisper back.

             
By then, Ms. Haney was coming back to her desk.  Mom noticed me as well.  “There you are.  I was beginning to wonder if you were in school today.” She said, smiling happily at me.  She looked happier then I’d ever seen her look before.  It felt strange to see.

             
“Your mother came in saying she’d like to pick you up today.  Do you have all your things?” Ms. Haney asked.  Of course she wouldn’t question this too much, considering there was no formal custody arrangement between Michael and my mother.  And I was certain that Mom could’ve proved who she was, considering how well kept she looked.

             
“Uh, yeah.” I managed.  I looked back over at Anna.  “Can you let Raziel know about this?  I’ll give you a call later.”

             
“Sure.” Anna said.  She watched my mother for a moment longer before going back out.  It was funny, but Anna actually looked a little wary herself.  She didn’t know a lot about my mother, but I would’ve imagined that Raziel had told her enough to make her aware that something wasn’t really right here.

             
“So how did you get here Mom?  Why are you here now?” I asked as the two of us walked out of the office.  It felt like this was the safer time to ask.

             
“Well, your grandma passed away a couple weeks ago, and I decided to get myself back on my feet.  Since I’m doing so much better, I thought it was only fair that I got to see my daughter again.  After all, I’ve missed you so much.” Mom explained, still apparently very happy.

             
“Grand mom died?” I repeated, barely able to believe my own ears.  She had always been very healthy from what I’d seen before.  Could something have happened to her down there?

             
“Yes.  She was very sick, and she passed away.  I just couldn’t see staying down there all alone once I started getting better, so I came up here to find you.” Mom explained.

             
“Wait a minute.” I said, forcing us to stop as we stepped outside.  “You’re not saying you’re getting ready to take me back to Miami.”

             
“Of course I am.  You know as well as I do that you don’t belong up here.” Mom replied.  Now she looked a bit surprised.  Guess she never thought that I’d refuse.

             
“But I’m finishing high school here, and I have friends.  I can’t just leave.” I said.

             
For a moment, Mom was quiet.  But when she spoke, I could tell she was a bit sad now.  “You’re really serious?  But I came all this way just for you.  I felt so terrible when I realized what happened.  You really don’t want to be back with me now?” she asked softly.

             
“It’s not that.  I just don’t want to leave everybody here.  I really like it here Mom.  And I can’t just leave Dad like that.  He’s been really good to me in everything.  And… things changed too.” I admitted softly.

             
“I see.  So you got them too, huh?” Mom whispered, looking away for a moment.  After apparently regaining herself again, she spoke again.  “It still doesn’t change things.  You’re still Mia.  You’re still my daughter too.  You don’t just belong to them.”

             
“I didn’t believe she belonged to anyone.” I heard Sean say.  I looked over to see him walking over to us.

             
Mom watched him for a moment, her eyes a little wider now.  At the time, I guessed she wasn’t expecting to see someone like him there.  But then again, I think Sean could’ve stood out anywhere.  “What are you doing out here?” I asked dumbly.

             
“I overheard Anna telling Raziel that your mom was here, so I had to see for myself.  I have to say I’m surprised.  I didn’t think this day would come.” Sean commented.

             
“A friend of yours?” Mom guessed, finally pulling out of her shock.

             
“Kind of.  This is Sean Morrison.” I said.  Somehow, I couldn’t make myself tell her yet that he was my boyfriend.  Maybe I feared what might come out of it.

             
“You must be Missy Renaldi.  Did you really just come up here to bring Mia back to Miami?” Sean asked. 

             
“Of course I did.  I want my daughter back now.” Mom said.

             
“But don’t you think it should be her choice if she wants to return there?  Dropping this suddenly is hard enough, especially with no contact for nearly a year.” Sean reasoned.

             
Mom sighed.  “You might be right.  But I don’t want to leave without her either.  I’ll call Michael later and discuss this with him.” She said.

             
I watched her walk to her car and get in.  I couldn’t help but feel a little more then shaken.  Something wasn’t right about any of this.  Beside me, Sean sighed.  “This is worse then I thought.” He muttered, watching the car drive away.

             
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up at him.  “Do you know something I don’t again?”

             
“It just seems too convenient now for her to get better and show up suddenly.  There’s something else going on here.” Sean admitted.

             
By then, Raziel was coming out there as well.  “I wouldn’t have believed that one if I hadn’t seen it.” He said.  Apparently, he’d seen her from inside before she left.

             
“So that was really your mom Mia?  She’s beautiful.” Anna commented from where she stood near him.

             
“Yeah, it was definitely her.  But I’ve never seen her like that before.  She actually looked… okay.” I admitted.

             
“Something’s definitely up.  I put in a call to my dad, and he’s letting us bail for today.” Raziel said.

             
“Does Michael know yet?” Sean asked.

             
“I’m not sure.  He didn’t say if he was with him at the office or not.  Guess he’s gonna have to tell him.” Raziel answered.

             
I couldn’t help but wonder what Michael would think once he learned of all of this.  Obviously, it was going to be hard.  Michael and my mother had never formally divorced, so one could easily tell that feelings may still have been there.  And Mom knew that I’d changed.  She knew what happened with the Renaldis after all.  Would she use that against Michael?

             
The ride back to the house was fairly quiet.  Looking over at Sean, I once again wondered what he was thinking.  I didn’t doubt that he knew something I didn’t with all of this.  I may have sensed something was up with my mother suddenly appearing, but Sean was good at reading between the lines in just about any situation. 

             
After what seemed like forever, he spoke again.  By then, we were parked in the driveway of my house.  “You know, we need to be careful that this.  I’m not positive, but I’m fairly sure I smelled something different on her back there.” He admitted quietly.

             
“Like what?” I dared ask.

             
“I don’t know.  It was old and faint, like it had been a while since whatever it was had around her.  But her recovery puzzles me too with this.  Something happened down there.  And I don’t think it was natural.” Sean explained.

             
I could understand that one.  I believed it too.  “So what should we do?  You know it’s not easy on us.  Especially when Michael doesn’t know.” I said softly.

             
“I know.  But I think he’ll figure it all out too.  Your father’s a lot more insightful then most give him credit for.  Trust me, I know.” Sean said, patting my head.

             
I couldn’t help but smile a little.  “You certainly know how to put things sometimes.” I joked.

             
Sean smiled back.  “It’s a talent.” He teased back.

             
Going into the house, we found Sara was there in the kitchen.  She’d apparently been keeping herself busy by doing some baking.  Of course, she didn’t look too surprised to see us.  Sean picked up on that one right away.  “I’ll take it you got a phone call too.” He noted.

             
“Of course.  But I wasn’t expecting to hear what I did.  You don’t think this has anything to do with him, do you?” Sara asked.  She may have been speaking in a roundabout way, but I didn’t mistake who she was talking about.

             
“Don’t know.  I smelled something, but the scent was too old to pinpoint.” Sean admitted, taking a seat by the bar.

             
“Did Dad talk to you about any of this?” I asked as I took my seat beside him.

             
Sara sighed.  “A little bit.  But he seemed pretty unhappy over it.” She admitted.

             
“That doesn’t surprise me.  Mom’s never really made an effort to get along anyways.  And if she really wants me back, she’s probably going to cause trouble to get what she wants.” I said.

             
“That’s what he thought too.  But there has to be more to it.  After what I was told about her, I wouldn’t think it would be natural for her to recover her senses so fast that she’d come up here by herself to bring you back.” Sara reasoned, taking a seat across from us.

             
I thought about it for a moment before speaking.  In all honesty, the subject of my mother had always been something I really avoided before.  Not only because I worried about maybe upsetting Michael, but because I didn’t want to face it myself.  “It can’t be.  Mom’s been sick for as long as I could remember.  She tried to care for me, but she never could do it without turning on me in some way or another.  And in Miami, she never even left the house most of the time because she didn’t want to.  She’d stay up in her room for days sometimes with all the blinds drawn and refuse to come out.  Grand mom did want to put her in the hospital, but she worried about what might happen with me and her family’s reputation because my mom was so young when she had me.  So she just left her alone.” I admitted.

             
“It all seems too convenient now, doesn’t it?” Sean muttered.  He seemed to be thinking it over very carefully.  No doubt he was trying to figure out how to piece this one together.

             
I quietly stood up.  “I’m sorry, but I should probably go and find Michael.  I want to make sure he’s okay.” I said.