Ch 3
What the hell was wrong with me?
I took a few deep breaths and tried to clear my head as I stumbled out of there. The hum of all the travelers didn't stop. The scanners rushed with noise. Agents ordered people around in a long, droning wave. I felt dizzy. And guilty.
I was looking at her. I couldn't stop.
I watched my own mother undress.
My incredibly beautiful mother.
I had to find her. I felt disgusting. My gut was flipping, my mind started screaming at me, about the kind of freaky piece of shit I was. I had to find her. I had to explain myself. A horrible thought crept into my mind that I had alienated mom by staring at her, right when she was at her most vulnerable. Vulnerable was the right word. All those layers of protective clothes were coming off. The color of her skin flashed into my mind, wiping it like it was a slate. It was a clear and beautiful alabaster, her soft and hairless skin was so unbearably inviting.
I shook it off just as mom came into view. She had both of our suitcases in front of her.
This time she looked calm. Her face wasn't red anymore. She seemed relaxed. Composed. Very collected and sure. She looked at me, all business, no embarrassment, no nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she didn't realized what was going on. Maybe she didn't notice the erection she caused. Maybe everything was fine, and this would be a hilarious memory to talk about during holidays.
"Your father," she started sternly, "he can't know. Neither of us are going to mention what we just went through." She took a deep, deep breath, her chest swelling as she closed her eyes and clearly dispelled even more of the strangeness of the situation. "He'd go absolutely insane," she said, finally. "It might give him a stroke. So we're going to keep this a secret for now. Alright?"
"Absolutely," I agreed. "You got it."
"Good." She handed me both of the suitcases and smiled. "You get to hold these, mister muscles." She winked, and I laughed awkwardly, embracing the return to normalcy.
Dad came out of the crowd behind her, holding a few bags of fast food. "Chow time," he said, surprisingly cheery. "You guys really took a while."
Once the terminals called for seating, we boarded our airplane and tried to relax in the infinite hospitality of economy class. Mom had a window seat. Dad sat in the middle. I had the aisle. Dad popped a few pills and stretched as much as one could within those tiny seats. "Piece of shit ripoff," he muttered, then continued sarcastically, "it's eight hours to paradise. Don't wake me unless we're falling out of the sky."
"Absolutely, honey," said mom. She seemed relieved that at least he was winding down. She tried to hold his hand, but he kept redirecting himself to his phone, a virtual golf game sucking the entirety of his attention. Eventually mom gave up, rolling her eyes.
A cabin host came up to us as we got comfortable. "Good morning," said some bright red lipstick lips. Dad opened one eye and looked her up and down, noticing the girl's thin legs, which he seemed to appreciate very much. Mom noticed and tried not to react while dad miraculously discovered his ability to pleasantly smile. The air hostess continued, "It looks like we have an opening in economy plus, so if one of you," she said, looking at me, "wants to go up there, we can consider it a free upgrade. And then," she hinted, looking at mom and dad, "a couple of you can get some quality time." She gave a plastic smile - the best that our airline could give in customer service.
Mom tapped dad's shoulder. "Honey, isn't that great? Brett can get some room, and we can have some time togeth-"
"That sounds great! I'd love to head up there," dad said hurriedly as he got up, grinning at the air hostess. He made his way out of his seat without even waiting, punching me in the shoulder as he passed over me. Dad scooted past the airline hostess, making sure to obviously look down at her body. I saw him wink at her. I'm certain mom did too. He quickly disappeared down the rows of seats toward the front of the plane.
Mom, hurt, tried raising her voice after him, "You don't want to spend some time with-" Her words trailed off. He was long, long gone.
The air hostess, stunned, still standing by, gave a quick look of pity to my mom, who returned with a withering scowl. The air hostess gave a final nod with her practiced smile and wished us both a great flight, before walking after my dad who was by now, making an ass of himself elsewhere.
Mom stared at the back of the chair in front of her and tried drilling through it with a look of pure frustration and hurt.
"Hey," I offered, "I'm sure he's just..." I hesitated. I wanted to say something like he was just impatient, or he was just really tired, but the way mom stared ahead told me everything.
She took a deep breath. Her shoulders dropped. Her stare went down. The anger disappeared in her. All that was left was a tired, embarrassed look. Her lips looked so soft and pale.
"Maybe it's not him," she said, finally. "Maybe I'm not enough, or something." She sat up straight and pulled out a magazine. The light from her window came down and across her chest, across her pale skin. It refracted and gave our seats a gorgeous, almost ethereal glow. I tried to say something until I realized that a small tear formed in the corner of her eyes as she tried to read.
"Oh, mom," I lifted the arm rest and moved a little closer, into the seat next to her. "Come on, mom." I put my arms around her. I assessed it as best as a freshman with one psychology class under his belt could. "Dad just doesn't know what he's missing. He can't help it. People get stuck, mentally. That's how it is."
"He doesn't know? That's how it is?" Mom gave a small laugh, wiping one of her eyes. There were no more tears. "This vacation's going to be..." She couldn't finish that sentence. "Well, at least there's you." Mom sighed. "I just wish your dad cared enough about all of this. Maybe if I looked better, he'd be more excited about staying on a fucking beach together. If I were more beautiful," she suppressed a sob, choked it back, "then we wouldn't have these problems. Damnit, I bought new swimsuits for this!"
"But you are beautiful," I said without thinking.
She turned and looked at me. Her dark eyes seemed deep, like wells. The whites of her eyes were pink from her suppressed crying. Under her eyes, there was a color like dusk. The sun reflected off of her shoulder now, illuminating her from behind, putting a halo around her skin and under her dark brown hair. It was incredible.