tell me a story

Mae hated packing. She'd never gone on a trip alone. Actually, she'd never really gone anywhere. She'd never mentioned this fact to anyone. Was she just a tree waiting for an accident?

Unlike Sadie who couldn't stay in any place very long..until now. She'd decided to go to rehab.

Of course, Mae would have to fly out to Las Vegas to pick up Caden. She now had custody of him.

It didn't seem real. A piece of paper was proof of the matter. She needed to pick up the child.

She squinted tears, thinking of those people referring to Caden as a thing. Well, maybe they weren't, but it felt like it to her.

Mae broke down in Audrey's tiny office and told her everything.

"Does this have to do with Jude?" Audrey wanted to know.

"It has nothing to do with Jude." Mae promised.

Still her head was heavy and her eyes burned, to drag up the past, that was just as good as forgotten.

"I'm a terrible person." That was really all Audrey needed to know.

"What are you talking about?"

It was like pulling teeth, to separate the truth from the lies.

"Its Ben.." She finally murmured. "We have a child." She wished she hadn't said it. Because it never felt so REAL until now. And she left it at that and said she had to leave for Las Vegas and Audrey only nodded.

Mae jerked open drawers in her room now, looking for underwear. Of course, she found all the frilly ones she hated to wear. They were like new, but she always felt fat in them. Her favorites were in the dirty clothes.

She made a face of distgust. She couldn't find a bra anywhere. Mae was so numb from the ordeal. She clutched her breasts, wondering if she was wearing a bra under her ribbed gray tank. Of course not.

Well, she was fine with that as she looked back at the suit case full of yoga pants and ribbed tanks. All she need was her old gray cardigan, and she would be fine.

There came a knock at the door. "Mae." It didn't sound like Ben. She went to answer to it.

"Mae, what did you do to Ben?"

"Nothing." She looked a little bewildered. She wasn't going to involve Ben in any of this. Even if Audrey told her she had too. She winced hard as if she might have a pain in her neck, but only in her mind.

"What's going on?" Taylor saw the suit case.

"I have to go to Los Vegas. I have ..to..get..my..nephew." Her frown was small. As it was, she didn't know if she could get to the airport on her own.

"Oh."

She sighed as if she hated to lie to him.

"Its really twisted. All right." She said very quickly. "My sister can either go to rehab ..or..jail..she's been neglecting..." She was engulfed with tears. She had to sit on the couch then. Reliving bit by bit. Thinking she'd done so much for her sister, and this was the thanks she'd get.

"What's wrong..what's really going on?"

"Why..why do you..have to sound so much..like Ben?" She winced more tears.

"Because, he wants to know. You know, he loves you." Taylor patted her on the back.

"He won't love me. He can't." She blinked tears.

She bit her thumb nail, deep in thought.

"I never even knew he had curly hair." She almost laughed, thinking everyone thought Caden had Karl's curly hair.  She shook her head, no.