Waves struck against dock in slow, patient rhythms. Birds sang above as the sun rose, painting the horizon in pastel hues of peach, rose, and gold as light shimmers across the water.
Leslie sat on an old bench, its surface rough beneath him, worn thin by years of weather and neglect. A short distance away sat a woman. The space between them was insignificant compared to the feelings he had for her. His mother.
He studied her from the corner of his eye. The woman he remembered was long gone. In her place was someone, wrapped in fine fabric and expensive perfume. Heels rested neatly on the stone, accessories catching the sunlight. Everything about her now was different.
Leslie exhaled slowly, then spoke, breaking the silence.
"What do you want?"
She parted her lips, the closes it. Hesitating to ask his son a question she already knows what answer he'd say.
Instead, she ended up asking something that irritated him. Of course it was not from bad intention.
"How's your fa-"
"Fine, we're both fine. Why'd you even asked, i thought you were done with us."
His words came fast, edged with bitterness.
Leslie kept his eyes forward, watching the water shimmer under the rising sun. He couldn't understand how she could sit there and pretend to care when she was the one who abandoned their family, the one who shattered what little they had.
"Honey, I do care. I always do."
She stood up, closing the short distance between them. She stopped in front of him and knelt. Smiling, her hand rose and brushed his cheek, gently.
"I'll be moving to New York soon, i want you to come with me. I hired a good caregiver for your father so you wouldn't have to worry about him. Honey, i know this is difficult... But some things… they don't go the way we want and all we can do is move forwar-"
Suddenly, leslie ran without turning his back.
She stayed where she was, her hand suspended in the air before slowly falling back to her side. Her smile faded. Defeated. She understood he was hurting, she herself too. Watching him disappear, she felt the ache settle in her chest, knowing his pain was born from the mistake made by his parents.
Leslie didn't stop running, not looking back even once. His hand slammed against a door marked A-5, and he slid it open without knocking.
A man sat on the hospital bed, staring at the window. His eyes fixed on something. Somewhere unreachable.
"Dad, i met mom today. She said I should go live with her."
He let out a dry, humorless chuckle.
"As if! After what she's done? Can you believe that, Dad?"
His voice cracked.
Silence...
The weight in his chest finally gave way. Leslie's hands clenched the hem of his hoodie as his head bowed, shoulders shaking.
"Dammit!!! At least answer me. Say something. Anything."
He looked up and his heart sunk.
His father turned toward him with the same empty stare. There was no recognition. No reaction.
Leslie laughed and cried at the same time, a broken sound that echoed in the small room.
When he calmed down, he reached over and pressed the call button beside the bed. The nurse came quickly. Leslie thanked her, then handed her a small gift, his voice low as he explained he wouldn't be coming as often anymore. That he was leaving everything in her care now.
She nodded, gentle, understanding.
After one last look at his father, Leslie turned and walked out of the room. The door slid shut behind him, and he left the hospital.