Something Like You
"You never really told me something, Annie."
"What?"
"Why you left and came over here in the first place. I'm glad you did, BELIEVE ME. But there must be some other reason besides getting a new job."
I hesitated.
"If you don't want to tell me, I'll respect that."
"I told you about when Mom originally got sick, right?"
Keanu nodded.
"I went with Mom to every doctor's appointment, every chemo appointment, every single place she had to go, I went with her."
"That's a good thing."
"I thought so too, I gave up the job I'd had when she got sick so I could be with her."
"I did that for Kim, I told the guys in Dogstar I was done with the whole thing, this was when Kim got REALLY bad."
I nodded.
"You did the right thing, staying with her, Annie, Family's supposed to look after family."
"Absolutely.."
"Sounds like there's a but coming."
"There is," I said, Keanu squeezing my hand.
We were outside in the middle of town, and frankly I didn't care who saw or heard us.
"My brother wasn't too happy about it."
"He wasn't?"
"No. In the times after that, he'd get kinda sniffy that he couldn't go, mainly because it was days he worked, And I think he hated the fact it was me that went, me who did things for her, even things he was capable of doing, he wasn't willing to. Mom's always counted on me, depended on me. And I think Jake hates the fact that it's not him. My brother's got a real immature streak in him, K, always has had. Mom told me she thinks of me more as another grownup somewhere around her age, rather than just her kid. I took it as a compliment. And I've been happy to be there for her. Always. But this with Jake got too much, and it was giving Mom stress."
"Which she doesn't need."
"Right. So I promised Mom I'd keep in touch, packed my things, and moved out here. Three neat things happened. I found my place, weird as it was, I found a job.."
Keanu pulled me close.
"And I found you," he whispered.