Chapter Three
Alessandra
“Seriously,kid?”
All I could do was sit there on the couch with my head in my hands. It’s happening. And I didn’t like it.
“You should have knocked!” Jenson, my thirteen-year-old son, yelled at me.
“Well, maybe you should have turned on a light, so I’d know you were in there. Or geez, hung a tie on the door or something!” My voice rose as well. I tried so hard to get the image of my son jerking off out of my head. I was mortified. I knew it was going to happen at some point. I mean, he’s thirteen now, he’s going to be into girls, and his penis. We’d already had the talk years ago, but he wasn’t into it so much. But obviously things have changed. My little boy, with his silky black hair and dark blue eyes, that used to play with his action figures in the tub, is now choking the chicken in our shared bathroom.
“Shit, I didn’t know I was supposed to alert everyone when I wanted to do it.” Smart ass. I always wondered where he got that from. Not me, of course.
“Watch your mouth.” I lifted my head up and zoomed in on him with the mom look.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
He just stood there awkwardly, and I knew better than to make something like this taboo. The body wasn’t something he should be afraid of. I just don’t wanna know about it or see it. Simple.
“All right. Look, it’s okay, what you did. It’s natural. It’s just not something I want to see, you know? Do it in your room. Lock the door, or do something that gives me notice that you are not to be disturbed. Deal?” He nodded and walked away, probably feeling pretty embarrassed. I didn’t blame him. I wanted to take a big gulp of tequila and forget that whole scene.
I looked at my little wall above the TV that was full of pictures. Me and the kid, as he grew up. I had gotten pregnant with him when I was seventeen. It was a surprise. His dad was excited at first, but then once Jenson was born, the reality of responsibilities set in. He wanted to be an actor, and party, not have to take care of a kid all the time. Selfish. So when he made the move to Hollywood, I pulled up my sweatpants, and became both a mother and father to my son. We had a great life so far.
Our apartment wasn’t big. But it was home, and we liked it. Close to the beach, which Jenson and I loved. He had nice friends, and was at a good school. Things were good.
I prayed for years that when he hit that teenage stage we wouldn’t have problems and so far it was okay. He wasn’t giving me any more attitude than he normally did. He still dressed nice. Not hipster, or like a punk. Just jeans, a shirt, or sometimes gym shorts.
I wasn’t ready for this. I don’t think many parents are. I guess I should just be thankful I don’t have a girl right now. I was a pure handful, so that would be karma hitting me.
A yawn took over my face, and I realized how tired I was. Work was killer, being on my feet all day, then coming home to make dinner, and clean up the house some. I wanted nothing more than to take a hot bath, with a bottle of something. I heard Jenson’s favorite movie coming from his room and knew he was settling in for the night, too.
Deciding to take that bath, and chill, I went into my room and changed my day’s clothes out for my robe. Before heading into the bathroom, I opened the cabinet beneath the kitchen sink and grabbed the bleach.
I couldn’t sit anywhere in there right now without at least wiping it down. God knows how long this has been going on, and what it would look like in there if I had a black light. I didn’t wanna know.
Once the tub was as clean as I could get it, I started the water and waited for the little shower tub to fill up. It didn’t take long; by the time I placed the cleaner under the sink and grabbed the bottle of tequila, it was about done.
I tried to fit as much of my five-foot-eight frame into the water as I could. It was either leave my top half out of the water and have my knees covered, or bend my knees and slouch to cover my chest with water.
At least I could take a bath in clean water. I had a cousin back in Rio de Janeiro that didn’t have that luxury. So I smiled, and took a sip from the bottle.
“You, take those men to the warehouse; I’ll find another way.” An all-too-familiar voice echoed under the door, bringing my thoughts back to work despite my best efforts.
Jenson’s favorite character was one that Joel had played. He watched the movie all the time. Tried to be like that character—heroic, athletic. He even asked if I could start prepping him meals so he could bulk up like Joel did in the movie. That lasted all of a week, when I told him he had to eat lots of healthy proteins and lift weights. One slice of pizza on our movie night, and he was a goner. It was hard to avoid the thoughts of Joel,with his voice playing in my house.
He was something else, and I kinda was starting to like our little game with each other. Still, I wouldn’t have sex with him. He was all Hollywood. With his good looks and charm he thought could get him anything. For the most part, it worked. I just wasn’t falling for it.
The tequila was making its way home in my veins, fooling me into believing the water was warmer than it was. I felt calm and cozy. Bed was calling my name now. Tomorrow was going to be another long day of fighting off Joel’s idiotic attempts to seduce me.
