Deadbeat Mother

Help Me

~Evan~

I flew down the street, trying to get away from the pier as quickly as possible. Too many thoughts are running through my head, and I don’t know what to do about it. I can’t think about this stuff anymore; I can’t wrap my mind around everything.

I drop off the company truck and pick up my car, taking off as soon as I turn the engine over. I pull into the parking lot of my apartment complex and storm upstairs. When I get inside, I go to the hall closet and pull out two suitcases. I go to Cooper’s room and start throwing clothes inside. I’m not even counting the number of outfits; I just fill up the suitcase. When finished, I go to my room and do the same.

I grab a backpack and stuff electronics and chargers inside. I stand in the middle of the apartment, looking around for anything I may be forgetting. Cooper and I need to get out of here. It’s only a matter of time before I come face to face with Neela, and my heart can’t take it. I don’t want to see her with her husband either. I need to get away from Natalia as well. I don’t know who she is right now; I just know that I need some distance.

Once everything is packed, I make two trips to the car, placing the bags inside. I check my phone and see that school will be let out soon. As soon as I get Cooper in the car, I want to make my way out.

I go to the kitchen and dig in my flour jar. I pull out all of the cash that’s been hidden inside and stuff it into my pants pocket. I take one last look around before walking out and locking up.

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The slamming of the car door jolts me from my catnap. When I arrived at Cooper’s school, I parked in the pickup line and shut my eyes to rest a bit after taking a note in the office. I look in the rearview window and smile at Cooper. “How was your day, buddy?”

“It was okay. Lunch was gross today. Laine was being mean to people, so Jody got in her face.” Cooper hunches his shoulders and looks out the window. Always such a colorful world when it comes to these kids.

“I have a surprise.” Cooper looks up at me. “We’re going to the cabin.” Cooper’s eyes light up, and a smile grows on his face. He quickly scrunches his face up.

“What about school?”

“I have already checked in with the office. They will send packets to us for you to complete.” Cooper doesn’t respond but looks back out of the window. “Hey, buddy. I know you will miss your friends and teacher, but I think we could use this break. There’s a lot going on, and we need to get away.” Cooper nods but doesn’t change where his focus is. I put my eyes back on the road and get ready for the long drive.

~Natalia~

After the confrontation with Neela and the talk with Evan, everything went to s**t. I ran around the pier like a chicken with its head cut off. I was frazzled and exhausted. I feel like I missed a few things, but I wasn’t sure.

When the shoot was over, it was late. The darkness had already set in, allowing us to do our night shoot. I was able to avoid Steven, though I should have pushed up on him just to get back at that b***h. I put an assistant in charge and left as quickly as possible.

It took no time to arrive at Evan’s place. I throw the car in park and bound up the stairs. I bang on his door, then stand back and await an answer. I’m not sure how long I stood there, but I knocked again before long. This was how the time passed: me knocking on the door, then stepping back to wait before doing it all over again.

I finally let it go and step back from the door. It seems like Evan isn’t here, so where could he be? It’s after school, so I know Cooper is out. I walk downstairs and knock on a door. A pleasantly plump older woman answers the door. “Hello, Ms. Frey. I was wondering if you’d seen Cooper.”

“No, no Cooper today.” I thank her and watch as she closes the door. I take my phone out and see there are no missed calls or texts from him. I dial his number, and it goes straight to voicemail. I dial three more times, all with the same result. I should have guessed he would do this. On the fifth dial, I let the voicemail message play. When the phone beeps, I speak into my phone, “Evan, where are you? Call me so we can talk.”

~Mia~

It was awkward for a while during this photoshoot. Steven was watching every second of the shoot while shooting Nokia dirty looks. I wasn’t sure that he’d be able to contain his anger. I expected him to blow up and things become ugly.

Steven whisked her away as soon as the shoot was over, and Neela was changed. I know he’s going to want to get back home as soon as possible. I told Neela that I needed to handle a few things and I’d call her tomorrow. I decide to wait around for Nokio to be free.

It didn’t take long for the creative minds to leave for the night, leaving Nokio working alone. I hang outside of the tent, not wanting to interrupt him. “Uh, Mia? You’ve been out there for a while. Is there anything I can get you?” I tentatively step inside the tent. Nokio is hunched over a table that has some photos spread everywhere.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to pull up the pictures digitally?” Nokio chuckles.

“Yes, but I find that things can be missed. I always have a hard copy of the photos to compare.” I guess this is why he’s so popular. “What did you need me for?” I launch into the story, making sure I’m making sense.

“I just hoped you’d be able to help.” Nokio nods and points to a chair for me to have a seat.

“I can definitely help. I was hoping that abuse wasn’t happening, but deep down inside, I knew it was a pipe dream.” Nokio pats my hand. “We will figure this out together, I promise you.