“What are you doin here?” I looked at my mother incredulously as though I had never seen her before. I hadn’t really seen her in almost a week or more. She was sitting on the couch with a very stern expression on her face. I just stood there unable to really believe that she was sitting there. I hadn’t seen her car in the driveway or anywhere along the street - but at the same time, I really hadn’t been looking. 

“This is my house, Brandon. I live here.” My mother said angrily. She looked over at Chris, the bitter look on her face only worsened. “And who are you?”

“Chris. ” For a moment, my mother didn’t say anything. And then she finally said very delicately while trying to keep a calm expression: “It’s nice to meet you Chris.. but now is not the best time for you to be here. I need to talk to Brandon alone.” My stomach was twisting in all kinds of knots and I could feel myself slowly becoming numb all over. Chris took a step backward, away from me, in the direction of the door. 

“Alright,” he said politely. To me Chris said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, B.”

I didn’t answer, I just watched, angry and disappointed as Chris walked out of the door. A few minutes later, I heard the sound of his engine starting and I heard him drive away down the street. At that moment, I felt really alone. 

“Sit.” my mother said, her voice sounding very cold. 

Reluctantly, I sauntered over to the chair across from the couch where my mother sat. Her eyes were still had that ferocity in them that made me nervous. After about a two minute lapse of silence, my mother said, “I got a call from your Spanish teacher, Ms. Navarro just a few minutes before you came home. She told me that you were caught copying off someone else’s exam.” 

It felt like my chest was caving in and I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t expected Ms. Navarro to call my home that soon, and I sure as hell didn’t expect my mother to be here to answer the phone. “She told me you were cheating off a boy named Christopher Green,” my mother continued. “That wouldn’t happen to be the name of the boy who just left here would it?”

Looking down at my shoes I replied, “Yes.”

“Since when do you cheat on tests, Brandon?” 

“I...” I didn’t know what to say at all.

“This woman told me some other things involving you and this boy that really has me concerned,” my mother said. “You never told me that you’ve been having detention for practically the last three weeks. Your teacher told me you were suspended for three days for having sex in the classroom with this boy. What’s that about Brandon? Tell me, because I’m not really understanding why you’re having sex at school with a boy I didn’t even know existed until ten seconds ago.” 

I still didn’t know what to say. “I don’t know.”

“Well you need to know quick, Brandon Newman. I’m very upset with you. Your teacher told me that both you and this boy should’ve been expelled by now. The only reason why you haven’t been is because you’re a good student. Brandon, send you to school so that you can get detention and get expelled. The only two things I’ve ever asked you to do, is be a good student and take care of the house when I’m not here. I trusted you to be responsible, to make good decisions and you’re not doing any of those things. How many times has that boy been over here?”

“I don’t know...a lot.”

My mother sighed deeply. “Your teacher says you have a week of detention starting tomorrow. If I were you, I would do whatever is that I needed to do so that you don’t have to do that detention. I don’t care whose ass you have to kiss to get out of it, but I want you to be here tomorrow afternoon before six o clock. Hopefully I’m making myself clear.”

“Sure,” I answered bored. I got up and started to go to my room.

“And I don’t want you being around that boy anymore.” It was just like she had just stabbed me in the stomach with a rusty knife or something. 

“What?” I asked, obviously shocked.

“You heard what I said. That boy is causing you a lot of harm, and I don’t want him getting you into anymore trouble. Stay away from him, Brandon.”

“He’s my boyfriend.” I said defiantly. “I’ll see him whenever I want.” Before my mother could respond, I rushed into my bedroom and slammed the door shut. I landed heavily on my bed and peered out my bedroom window. Tears were trying to force themselves to fall from my eyes, but I didn’t allow them to. I had learned how not to cry long time ago and I wasn’t going to cry now, especially not over this. I wasn’t going to cry ever. 

Chris came to mind, and I recalled how that past Saturday, we had spent most of the time in my bed, talking, thinking, fucking...I wanted him with me at that moment, and I was mad as hell with my mother for making Chris leave. She was wrong, Chris wasn’t causing me any harm. He used to, long time ago, but not anymore. And who gives a fuck about what Ms. Navarro has to say anyway? She doesn’t know me and she doesn’t know Chris. I wasn’t going to allow her, my mother, or anyone else to fuck up what I had with Chris. 

Around ten o clock, I decided to call Chris to see what he was doing. It took seven rings for him to answer.“Hello?” Chris said.

“Chris, it’s me, Brandon.”

There was a brief second when Chris was completely silent, and then he said, “Oh. Hey.” His voice kinda sounded robotic, and I was getting the idea that he really didn’t want to talk to me.

“What are you doin?” I asked.

“Nothin,” Chris answered. He sounded very uninterested.

“Sorry bout what happened with my mother.”

“It’s cool,” Chris said. There was an awkward silence that lasted about half a minute and then Chris told me, “Listen B, I’m bout to get off the phone right now. I’ll see you tomorrow.” There was something strange in the way he said ‘tomorrow’ as though he were not telling me the truth.

“Why do you sound like that?” I questioned.

“Sound like what?”

“Like you don’t wanna talk to me,” I said. “Is there somethin wrong with you?”

“I rather not talk about this shit right now, B. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You keep sayin that. There is somethin wrong with you. Just tell me what it is.”

“Look,” Chris said, “I really gotta go now.” I was about to say something else but Chris clicked off before I could say anything. At first I really hadn’t believed that he hanged up on me like that. But then I heard the dial tone, and then later the mechanical voice of the telephone operator telling me to hang up the phone. My first thought was to call Chris right back and ask him what the fuck was wrong with him and why he was talking to me like I was really annoying him or something. But then I decided against it. If he was bothered, I didn’t want to bother him any more. So I just laid there in my bed, bored and alone.