A/N: Here’s your baby Jad!!!
Chapter 102: Jonathan V
The first time Danny Hinote had come over, when he was helping Jonathan out with catching that high wrist shot. That had been pretty cool. Mom had a terrible wrist shot, Jana’s was a million times better than hers so Jonathan had actually welcomed Danny. He was getting pretty lonely all day, with nothing to do in the house and all Gigi did was follow Mom’s ankles and bark at everything. She never seemed to want to play with him unless Mom was, and she had other things to do.
It wasn’t like he could call anyone either. All his friends were at school and so was Elena. He had to wait the endless hours until evening before he could call them.
OK, being suspended sucked royally. Especially having to follow Mom around to all those stupid wives meetings, and lunches and brunches and shopping and baking at someone else’s house and in the end having to watch other people’s kids. It was enough to bring a grown boy to his knees and beg for mercy!
Jonathan was dying! DYING!
He was getting more and more irritable with each passing hour of each passing day. In fact he couldn’t smile at any of the wives anymore, all he could do was shrug at them and say "whatever" to anything they said. And then he would get the tight look from them and Mom would laugh and smile and excuse him by saying he was just a bored puppy while at the same time he could feel her pinch him.
"Please be polite to them!" Mom had said in the car.
"They’re stupid!" Jonathan had snapped back. "They’re like... dumb girls!"
"Jonathan!" Mom said with a definite edge in her voice. "Don’t say that! Those are my friends and it doesn’t reflect well on your father and me to have you acting so surly!"
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Oh if it’s your image is all you care about..."
"Jonathan!" Mom yelled this time. "That wasn’t nice! Don’t you dare attack me like that when you know all I do is care about you!"
Jonathan had felt his cheeks redden and he wanted to say he was sorry but he couldn’t bring himself to. He knew if he said anything else he’d probably be yelling or crying so he just crossed his arms and sighed loudly.
Danny had come over again just minutes after they came home. Instead of being excited this time, though, Jonathan felt a bit annoyed. Not even Alex came over this often anymore! This would make what, three times in the last four days? And Cecile wasn’t even here!
There was nothing wrong with Danny from a purely "cool" standpoint. He was an adult but he was still young enough to laugh about cartoons, and cars, and well, he was just cool. So it wasn’t like Danny was boring. He told cool old time hockey stories and sometimes even the ones Dad never let him hear and he knew Danny didn’t cut out the best parts like all the other adults did. Plus Danny didn’t mind when Jonathan cursed and he even taught him a few new ones. Also he gave Jonathan tips on how to make Elena’s heart melt and what girls didn’t like to hear as opposed to what they did.
All that Jonathan had no problem with and he even welcomed it. He was like Alex in that respect, except Alex had never let him curse.
What stuck in Jonathan’s mind though was that sick feeling that had told him to climb out of bed and check on mom. He hadn’t known why he should and he had froze in horror when he had seen Danny leaning over her as she slept, like some vampire in a stupid movie, his lips on her neck. What the hell had been up with that? Hadn’t he known that was his mom? That she was Dad’s wife? That she had no interest in him? He had almost ran into the bedroom and slammed his fist into Danny’s head, but his mother’s voice, softly telling Danny to go home had stopped him.
Of course, Mom could fix everything. He knew that. Would she be really embarrassed if he interfered then? Probably. So Jonathan had walked away back into the end of the hallway and Danny had come out. At first Jonathan thought about ducking from Danny’s view but then he decided to stay there and show Danny he couldn’t hide.
It seemed to be over with, that episode. Danny had apologized and Jonathan had laid down the law to him. Good enough, yes? Jonathan had thought so.
And then Danny had come over when Mom called him, and Jonathan had had fun with him. Danny came over the next day, they practiced more wrist shots and it was still fun. Then as Danny was leaving on that next day, Jonathan noticed a certain light to his face when Mom had said goodbye to him. It was different than the look he gave to Cecile, it was goofier, and his eyes seemed to get bigger. And his eyes lingered on her for a moment longer than was necessary, and then he left.
It rubbed Jonathan the wrong way that look did. Jonathan thought about it and had decided to brush it off. The next day, Danny had come over, and Jonathan had known he wasn’t imagining things. Mom had come into the sports room to bring them some iced tea and as she handed Danny his glass, Jonathan saw a small smile on Danny’s face and he definitely had leaned forward to her wrist. He had brought his nose closer. Had he smelled her or something? Christ what kind of freak was he Goddammit!
So now Jonathan was as raw as a burn when it came to Hinote. He felt his stomach turn with every glance Danny took at his mother and at the way he always seemed to avoid Dad. Oh yeah he would avoid him, sniffing after Mom like that! Was Danny just pretending to be nice to him just so he could get near Mom?
Actually Jonathan wasn’t completely sure. When he was hungry is when he thought these things about Danny. After eating he always seemed to calm and he would think to himself how stupid he was being. And then Danny would do some other dumbass thing looking at his Mom.
Still, Jonathan couldn’t tell Dad.... who could he tell?
Mom was mad at him now because of the way he was acting to the wives. So that made Jonathan mad. And now they were barely in the door and Mom barely had time to really chew him out and knock, knock, again it’s Mr. Noter.
"Oh hi, Daniel," Mom said with a sigh. Dammit, dammit, dammit, as she leaned over to pick up the ever-barking Gigi Danny was definitely just looking at her. "Come on in."
"Hey, Jonathan," Danny said, beaming as he came into the house.
Jonathan could feel the rage in his chest. "Hey," he said curtly.
"Jonathan, be nice!" Mom said in French before switching to English for Danny. "He’s been in a mood poor thing. I think he is sick of me."
"Oh first you get after me for attacking you and now you accuse me of being awful!" Jonathan snapped. "That’s great Mom!"
Mom closed her eyes and put her fingers on her forehead. Immediately Jonathan felt like shit but he didn’t know what to say. "Sorry Momma," he whispered in French. "I don’t mean to..."
"I don’t have time!" Mom snapped. "I really don’t!"
She stomped away from them muttering stuff he couldn’t understand.
Jonathan sighed and looked back at Danny who was gazing down the hallway she had exited through, his eyes glassy and large. They stood there for a minute before Danny looked at him with almost reproachful eyes. "You shouldn’t give your mother so much trouble," Danny said.
"What would you know!" Jonathan said dully, feeling the anger again. Oh yeah, it was sparking inside him, waiting for the dose of lighter fluid.
"Well, she’s a wonderful woman," Danny said in a stupid fatherly voice that even Dad didn’t use. "And she goes through enough without having to deal with..."
"Oh shut-up!" Jonathan snapped. "What do you know about her that I don’t? And what the hell are you doing here anyway?"
Danny actually looked confused and hurt as he took a step back. "I thought we were friends."
"Well you’re testing it!" Jonathan said. "And you don’t know anything about Mom!"
"I’m here because... well because I like you, and you need a male figure to..."
"Need a male figure?!" Jonathan cried. "NEED A MALE FIGURE! I have my DAD! Or have you forgotten my dad? FUCKIN BEST GOALIE in history? Or have you forgot that just like you forgot you have a girlfriend cause your busy sniffin..."
"JONATHAN!" he heard Mom exclaim.
Jonathan didn’t even look at her as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. There was no way he was crying in front of him, no way...
"Daniel, I think you should go," Mom said quietly.
"Uh.. Jonathan I’m real sorry.." Danny began.
"OH SHUT UP SHE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE!" Jonathan screamed so hard his voice snapped.
Danny didn’t say anything else as he left. As soon as he did, Jonathan felt Mom’s fingers on his arm, tight and viselike.
"That is it!" Mom said. "I am through with this I can’t take it anymore do you understand!"
Jonathan could barely keep up with her as she dragged him up the stairs, what was she doing? She wasn’t gonna spank him... was she?
"Mom?" he asked.
"Hour after hour you are like this! No one can function, not at all!"
Gigi pranced around their feet panting and dancing on her hind legs thinking they were playing a game.
Mom shoved open Jonathan’s bedroom door and letting him go she began to open his drawers and pull out clothes tossing them on the bed.
"MOM!" Jonathan exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"
"I love you baby," Mom said, walking to him and hugging him, "But we’re driving each other mad, do you see this? I am bothering you and you’re just..."
She let him go and grabbed his empty hockey bag. "Fill it up."
Jonathan looked at the clothes scattered around him on the bed and understanding filled him. "Mom are you sending me away?" he said quietly.
"Don’t be so melodramatic," Mom said. "You know you are sick of me and of this house. Just for a couple of days before you go back to school. Little Puppy you are dying for something interesting to happen. No?"
"No!" Jonathan cried this time letting the tears escape him. "Mom!" He ran to her and squeezed her thin body. "Mom don’t send me away I’ll be good I promise I will I won’t bother you anymore!"
He felt Mom’s lips on the top of his head and she whispered. "First tell me that you haven’t been dying of boredom the past week, eh?"
"Well.." Jonathan said.
"And you’re not sick to death of wandering the house and sitting at the lunches and babysitting snotty faces squealing babies.."
"Oh.." Jonathan said.
"And you’re not sick of lying in bed knowing you can’t possibly have any contact with your friends until that thin sliver of time before dinner..."
"Eh..." Jonathan said not feeling so sad anymore. He pulled out of Mom’s arms and wiped at his face. He looked around his room, which suddenly felt, tight and constricting. "Where would I be going?"
Mom leaned forward and whispered it into his ear.
"Mom!" Jonathan exclaimed. "Have you even asked?"
"Psssh," Mom hissed, flipping her hand at him. "What would he do? Turn you into the street? Now pack up I’ll be downstairs."
Jonathan sighed as she left the room and he began collecting his clothes. Gigi was snoring on his socks. OK he was sick of the house but that didn’t change the fact that Danny had just got him kicked out of it. His own house! Jonathan decided that he hated him.
Links to other sites on the Web