Tudor the Tutor (21)

Chapter 21

It was late at night when I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. "Lynn?" A soft, young voice asked. "Lynn?"

I blinked and turned on the bedside lamp, and squinted at the light. "Trevor? What's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," he said softly. I took in the adorable PJ pants and Superman T-shirt he wore and couldn't help but smile with that, and the terrible bedhead he had. "Can I sleep with you?"

I sighed and patted the side of the bed next to me. "Come here." He crawled on the bed and laid his head on my chest. "Now, what was this dream about?"

"I had a dream that you left. And you weren't coming back." Trevor buried himself closer at my side. "I don't want you to leave, Lynn. Never, ever."

I sighed and kissed his forehead. "I'm not going to leave soon. I may be gone in a few months for college, but I'll come back. And I'll be here weekends."

Oh, could those dark brown eyes get any bigger? With a soft pout, he asked, "Are you leaving with Nik?"

"I - what?"

"To be with his family? Cause they need a Mom -" He stopped suddenly. "Oopsey. I promised I wouldn't tell."

"Wouldn't tell me what?" I asked, sitting up.

"Nik's secret?"

"Yeah." Trevor blinked. "I did it again! No more questions!"

"Is this about Nik's Dad?"

He shook his head. "Nope. No more questions."

"Is Nik in trouble?"

Trevor looked down. "If I tell anyone, he will be."

I stared down at him for a long, long time. "I'll ask him tomorrow," I decided aloud.

"Don't tell him I told you!" Trevor begged.

I nodded. "Our little secret." I blinked. "And why didn't you go to your parents' room?"

"The door was locked; they were probably wrestling again. It gets pretty mean in there." Trevor's face was absolutely serious. I couldn't help but let out a series of embarrassed giggles.
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I was really curious about what Trevor was talking about with Nik. So, I was pretty ticked when Nik didn't show up at the library - his math scores were finally on the rise. I was on that topic all day. I made a C on a math quiz - so no praise for me. I enjoyed being smart in an advanced class. In Gym, I was hit in the face with a volleyball not one, but twice.

After school, I was lucky enough to have the day off from the Cafe. The bar shift was later - I didn't have to work as much for rent, and Mom wasn't there sucking down drinks and ruining her lungs with cigarettes. So, I did something I hadn't done in a while - clean the house.

Aunt Maddie and Uncle Drew were going out to eat - I couldn't help but laugh when Trevor commented that was what always happened when they wanted to wrestle - so I picked up Trevor and we set to our work. I vacuumed and swept every room, applied shampoo on the ones with carpets, and had just cleaned out everything from the fridge when the front door rang.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead and dragged Trevor with me to answer the door - God, I would die if he got into the chemicals.

A man in a lean, black suit was there. He was holding a suitcase. "I'm looking for a Darcy Tudor."

"I go by Lynn," I sighed.

"Oh." In the oversized jeans and tank top I was wearing, he didn't look impressed. He eyed Trevor cautiously. "And this is your son?"

"No, my cousin. Do you need something, because we're a little busy at the moment." I didn't want to sound rude, but how often did I get a chance to clean the house?

"Oh, of course. I'm here to set out the Will of your mother, Shannon." He adjusted the suave square glasses he was wearing. It reminded me of Nik, only the business man was less awkward.

"Oh, well, my Aunt is taking care of all final expenses and everything. I can give you the address, but she's out right now so you'll have to see her tomorrow."

He nodded. "Thank you." The man offered a piece of paper from his briefcase and a pen, and let me write down Maddie's address. Then he left.

Trevor and I went back to our work.
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I had dusted and wiped and swept every square inch of the house until it sparkled like Edward from Twilight, but there was one more thing I hadn't done. My Mother's room. I hadn't cared walk in there.

I sighed and closed the lid of the washing machine; I had a mountain of clothes that hadn't been washed in forever, and now I was finally caught up. Trevor was jumping on my newly cleaned back and smiled triumphantly. "I think we did a good job!" He announced proudly.

I smiled and grabbed him from his stomach, tickling him in the air. He collapsed on my bed, giggling, and let me pick him up. "We did an awesome job," I confirmed. "So, how about we get some Sonic and we can see if you can spend the night over here, since it is finally presentable."

Trevor cheered and went to find his shoes. I sighed and looked down the hall, at the door of my mother's room. I hadn't been there since I was fourteen and got caught trying to sneak my mother's vodka stash.

What had changed in those years?

I shook my head and tried to tame the whispering curls that had fallen from my ponytail. That adventure would have to wait until another day.

Trevor was calling for me from the door. I smiled and slipped on my tennis shoes, then followed ran out with him, quickly grabbing a twenty-dollar bill from the counter on my way.
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Laughed as Trevor skipped along the old, half-gravel road. He was as bright as the sun, with that smile on his face. All I did was order him a chicken nugget meal and some tater tots with a cherry slushy, and he acted like he got a pony.

I sipped my chocolate milkshake and held my own dinner - chicken strips with fried, close by my side.

"Hey, Lynn? Can we eat at the park?" Trevor asked in a hopeful voice.

I laughed. "Sure."

Of course Trevor, who was hopped up on the thought of eating tater tots, ran right ahead of me. I ran after him, but he was back in front of me again.

"We can't go to the park," he said urgently.

I stared at him. "Why not?"

"Um..." Trevor looked around. "There's a mean man and he'll take our food. We gotta leave."

"Trevor, what's wrong? Really." I bent down to his level.

"Um..." Trevor looked down. "I lied. But we can't go to the park."

"Why not?"

Trevor didn't answer. I kissed his forehead and took his hand, then led him to the entrance of the park.

I instantly saw what he meant. Nik was pushing a little boy on the swings. Right at the time, a little girl tugged up at him and asked, "Daddy? Can you push me on the swing now?"

I felt... weird. I blinked and finally formed a complete thought.

Nik... was a dad?

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Comment Replies:

Marijah A - Thanks!

Catherine - Lol, I'm sure something exciting will happen. People in another city get to wear these fake baby bellies. We can't have them because they cost over $700, but I'm really happy about that.

Bookworm - One boy; Tyler. He's gay. Sorry. He threw the baby against a locker, then left it in a closet for the other two days. He got a zero because he cut off this wristband we're forced to wear (Mom calls it the tracking device) and that's an automatic zero. He let his Mom take care of it the whole time; she let its neck fall back because she liked when it screamed. I like learning about people from other places, too, but my place here isn't too big. It's a boring place.

Renea - Oh. Does it actually go to the bathroom, because ours didn't?

REGINA - Okay, okay.

Real Me Leotie - That's cool - but wouldn't the egg get all rotten from being out all day?

Comment or I will eat my foot... Not really, but comment please!