“You were not, you were right in front of that crack!”
“Nick? Wasn’t I further back than that?”
“I dunno, Aaron, I wasn’t looking.” Sick of listening to the twins bicker as they played HORSE with Nick’s basketball in the driveway, Nick climbed painfully to his feet. “I’m gonna go in and get something to drink,” he announced. “You two want anything?”
But they were too busy arguing about whether Angel’s shot had counted or not that they didn’t hear him. Rolling his eyes, he turned to go into the house, but the sound of a car approaching stopped him. He glanced back to see a black jeep pulling up and could just pick out Brian and Howie in the front seat. Abandoning the idea of getting a drink, he limped painfully off the front porch and started down the driveway to meet them.
“Hey, guys,” he greeted them, smiling. “Wassup?”
But neither Brian, nor Howie smiled in return. Grim-faced, Brian said nothing, just thrust something into his hand. He looked down at in surprise – a magazine. Not just a magazine, but a tabloid. The National Enquirer. A picture of a sweaty Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera arm in arm graced the cover, accompanied by the headline, “Justin and Christina: Things Heating Up On the Justified/Stripped Tour.”
“What the hell is this?” Nick asked, his nose wrinkling in distaste. “Like I care who that fucker Timberlake is bon-“
“Not that,” Brian said impatiently, ripping the magazine from Nick’s hands. Flipping through it so fast Nick could hear the sounds of pages tearing, Brian got to the page he was looking for and handed it back. “This!”
Nick saw what “this” was as soon as he looked down at the spread. The title on the left page read “Backstreet Boy’s Heartbreaking Battle” and under it were two pictures, side by side – one of his parents sitting in chairs, his mother’s face buried in her hands, his father’s arm around her shoulders, and the other of...
“Where the fuck did they get these?!” Nick exploded, as he looked down in horror of a picture of him lying unconscious in the bed in ICU, a tube coming out of his mouth and his molting head uncovered for the world to see.
“I don’t know,” Howie said carefully, “but I have an idea.” He pointed to the caption below the picture of Nick’s parents, and Nick read it, seething. “Nick’s parents struggle to keep their composure as they wait for word on their son’s condition. ‘It’s just so hard,’ sobs a tearful Jane Carter. ‘We just keep praying that our baby will make it through this.’”
Nick’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my God... she didn’t...”
“Unless they just randomly quoted her, she did,” Howie said gently. “And where else would they have gotten the pictures. Hospital security was tight around you, Nick. They couldn’t have gotten in unless a family member let them... unless she took them herself.”
Nick shook his head, unexpected tears rising in his eyes, distorting the magazine article. “I can’t believe she did this,” he said hoarsely, drawing the back of his hand across his eyes.
“It’s okay, Nick,” Brian said gently, slinging an arm around him. “It’s out now, and there’s nothing you can do about that, so forget about it. But you can do something about the cause of all this...”
“Yeah,” Nick said, squaring his jaw and nodding. “Yeah, I can. And I will. She’s screwed me over one too many times. This is the last straw.”
Exchanging glances, Howie and Brian nodded regrettably. Nick knew they couldn’t relate. Both were “mama’s boys” themselves; they came from nice, normal families and had nice, normal mothers who loved them rather than take advantage of them for money or attention or whatever it was Jane Carter was in search of.
Why did he have to get stuck with such a screwed up, dysfunctional family? He loved them, he really did, but they, his mother in particular, got to be too much at times. This time was the worst though. He had been pissed off enough when she had gone to the Enquirer with her sob story about how he had chosen Mandy over her and deserted his family at Christmas. But this... this was a million times worse than that. She had exploited him, put him on display, and all so that she could sob about how rough she had it and gain some sympathy from the world. And he hated her for it.
He had said he hated her many other times, even believed it sometimes. But now, he was sure of it.
He hated his mother. Hated her with every fiber in his being.
And he wasn’t going to put up with her anymore... her fakeness, her lies, her backstabbing.
He was through.
She was out.
***
“OUT!” Nick screamed.
“What?!” Jane gasped. “What did you say to me?”
“I think you heard,” growled Nick. “I said, OUT! GET OUT!”
“Nicky... what’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong? THIS is what’s wrong!” He tossed the magazine at her, and it hit the kitchen floor with a splat, landing in a crumpled heap. “You went to the fucking National Enquirer and took pictures of me while I was fucking comatose?!”
“Oh, Nick, it wasn’t like that,” Jane tried to defend herself. “I did it for your fans. The press had been relentless, trying to contact you for interviews and things, and I thought doing this would stop-“
“For my fans? Oh yeah, it was so great for all the little ten-year-old girls to see pictures of me like that! You probably scared the crap out of them! And that’s not even half of it! What about me, huh? My personal life? My body? My rights? You totally exploited me!”
“Nick-“
“I’m your son! How could you do that?!” He was near tears now; he had never been so enraged with her in his life. Then again, she had never done anything so horrible to him.
“Nick, I...” She shook her head, at a loss for words. He had rendered her speechless. Well, good, he was tired of all her lame excuses. For the fans, his ass. It was for her, all for her. She craved attention and apparently was milking his cancer for all it was worth, trying to be the victim, the oh-so-supportive, loving mother that everyone pitied for having such a burden upon her. Not to mention, she had surely been paid a hefty price for those rare photos, and he knew how important money was to her, even though she was already swimming in it, thanks to him.
“You need to pack your things,” Nick said slowly, his teeth clenched, his shaking hands balled into angry fists at his sides, “and get the fuck out of my home. Don’t call me, and don’t email. As far as I’m concerned, you are no longer my mother.”
Jane’s eyes were bright with tears, but they did not affect him. He no longer cared. She had hurt him so badly that he wanted to hurt her back and felt no remorse when he did so.
“Fine,” she whimpered quietly, turning on her heel and leaving the kitchen. As soon as she was out of sight, he left the room himself, storming upstairs to his bedroom and slamming the door shut, locking it behind him.
Ten minutes later, there was a knock. He ignored it.
“Nick?” came his brother’s voice. And still, he ignored it
“Nick, come on, let me in!”
Aaron sounded upset, and his love for his brother giving in, Nick grudgingly hauled himself off his bed and went to the door, unlocking it and opening it a crack. Peeking out into the hall, he checked to make sure Aaron was alone and then opened the door wider, letting his brother in. He closed and locked the door behind him and sat down beside Aaron on the bed.
“Go apologize,” Aaron urged him. “Mom’s a mess; she’s all crying and stuff. She’s making us get all our stuff together; she said we’re going home on the next flight.”
“Yeah,” Nick said tonelessly.
“I don’t wanna leave!” Aaron cried. “I haven’t gotten to spend any time with you, and if you and Mom don’t make up-“
“I’m sorry, bro, I really am,” Nick interrupted. “But this is her doing, not mine. Can’t you just stay here with me?”
“I asked; she said no. She’s making us all leave.”
“Sorry.”
“Nick!”
“Aaron, I can’t! Don’t you get it? Don’t you realize what she’s done to me? I’m not going to apologize, and I’m not going to give her a second chance. She’s had countless second chances, and she’s blown them all. This is it – she’s no longer my mother, and I’m not her son.”
“You don’t mean that...”
“Yes!” Nick shouted. “Yes, Aaron, I do!”
Aaron was silent. “Fine then,” he sniffed after a moment. “Then I guess I’m no longer your brother.”
“Now stop, you know that ain’t true, AC,” Nick said. “You’ll always be my brother, and no matter what happens with the rest of the family, I’ll always love you, Squirt. You know that, right?” Aaron just shrugged, sniffing again. Was he trying not to cry? Nick felt bad. “Aaron...” He put his arm around his brother, hugging the lanky teen close to his body. “Come on, AC, don’t be sad. This sucks, I know, but I ain’t gonna lose touch with you, okay? You call me whenever you want, and we can email... whatever you want.”
Aaron shook his head. “It’s not the same.”
“I know. But things can never be the same now, after what she’s done to me.”
They left it at that. Aaron shrugged out of his embrace and stood up, wordlessly walking to the door.
“Aaron,” Nick called as he started to unlock it. His brother looked back. “Don’t let her do it to you, man,” Nick advised. “Listen, if she gets to be too much, you call me. I’ll make the arrangements, whatever, I’ll fly you out here, help you escape.”
Aaron nodded, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “Okay.”
Nick smiled. “C’mere.” Reluctantly, Aaron walked back to him, and Nick hugged him tight. “Take care, okay? I’ll see ya, Squirt.”
“You take care too,” came Aaron’s muffled voice as he buried his face in Nick’s shoulder. “If you... if you, you know... get sicker... or something... please call me.”
Pulling away, Nick looked down to see tears in his brother’s eyes. He smiled sadly. “I will. But that ain’t gonna happen. I’m gonna be better soon, I promise. And you know what? I’ll call you when I’m all better. When things are back to normal. And then maybe I can get you back out here to visit, and it’ll be so much more fun than it was this time.”
Aaron nodded. “Okay,” he said, managing a tiny smile. “Yeah, you do that. Call when things are back to normal.”
He left then, and, locking the door again behind him, Nick couldn’t help but hear his own words echoing in his head. But things can never be the same now. Deep down in his heart, he knew it was the truth. Call when things are back to normal. Yeah, right.
Things would never be normal again.
***
