What Matters Most (10 page)

I
t was just before lunch when I checked my cell phone messages, which were numerous. I was surprised to see that the first one was from Uncle Allen.

“Uh, Maya?” he began as if uncertain. “Are you aware that your mother is in town? I have a strong suspicion you’re not. So I thought I’d give you a little heads-up.
She is.”
He cleared his throat. “And she’s been by my office and seems to be under the impression she’s staying with us.”

I actually shrieked, causing curious classmates to stop and stare. I kind of smiled and waved them off as I continued to listen to the message, which asked me to give him “a jingle ASAP.”

Naturally, I did this immediately. “Uncle Allen,” I said as soon as he answered, “I am
so
sorry. I had no idea she was in town. I
never
invited her, and I don’t know what to—”

“It’s okay, Maya. I actually got a co-worker with an empty guesthouse to offer her a place to stay for a few days.”

“A few days?”

“Yes, apparently the guesthouse is going to be occupied by the end of the week.”

“And then?”

“And then Shannon will have to figure something else out.”

“But not with us—I mean,
you
, right?”

“It’s your house too, Maya. I’m not throwing you out. It’s just that I don’t think I can handle, uh…well—”

“It’s okay, Uncle Allen. I can’t handle her either. And I’m so sorry she’s crashing like this. Did you talk to her much? I mean, did she seem okay? Or should we—”

“She actually seemed all right—if you mean sober, which is my guess.”

“Yeah.”

“She wanted to see you, Maya. I told her you were in school.”

“Well, there are a few messages on my phone. Probably from her.”

As it turned out, some were from her, desperately begging for my attention, for me to meet with her, and for us to share a “home.” How she thinks she’s going to conjure up this home is a mystery to me. Although I can guess. She probably figures that with what I earn combined with Dad’s child support, I should be able to take care of her again.

Fortunately, her calls had been from pay phones, so there was no point in returning them. But one of the calls was from Kim, so I decided to check in with her.

“Everything okay?” I asked after saying hello.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you.”

“Why?”

“Dad called.”

“Oh. Did he tell you about Shannon?”

“Yes. He was a little unsure about what to do. After all, she is Mom’s sister. He thought maybe that meant he should take her in.”

“And what did you tell him?” Okay, this worried me since Kim has had a soft spot toward Shannon. She’s the one who originally encouraged me to write to Shannon while she was in prison. And she’d been communicating with her off and on since Shannon’s incarceration.

“I told him that Shannon should find someplace else to stay.”

“Oh, good. I mean, Uncle Allen told me she was staying somewhere else, but I’m glad you agreed with that.”

“Yes, for your sake and Dad’s, I think it’s for the best.”

“I agree.”

“So, are you going to be okay, Maya?”

“I don’t know. I mean, it’s going to be stressful; that’s for sure. But if she only has a place to stay for a few days… well, what’s she going to do?” Yet even as I said this, I realized I was talking about Shannon—the great manipulator.

“I don’t know.” Kim paused. “And I hate to cut you off, but I need to get to class right now.”

“No problem. And don’t worry. I can handle this thing with Shannon.”

“Maybe you’ll be invited to join Redemption,” she said lightly, “and you can just get yourself outta Dodge.”

I laughed. “Yeah, maybe so.” Then we said good-bye, and I went into the cafeteria, where Dominic immediately knew that something was wrong. As we made our way through the lunch line, I gave him the short version of my messed-up mom’s unexpected appearance in town. And he was very sympathetic. That’s when I decided this might be my best chance to break the audition news to him.

“Seriously?” He seemed genuinely shocked as he put a garden burger on his tray. “A real audition?”

“Well, it’s not like I’m being invited to join the band. It’s just that Chloe told their manager about us jamming with them.” I laughed. “I suspect if you were a girl, you’d be the one getting an audition.”

“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes.

“You’re the one who plays bass, and that’s what Laura played.”

“But you’ve been picking it up pretty good too. And the sound with two guitars isn’t bad either.”

I smiled at him as I paid for my garden salad and drink. “Still, I feel bad. You’ve got way more talent than me. It seems unfair that just because you’re a guy—”

“It’s okay. The cool thing is that all that jamming’s made me want to put together my own band. I already have a couple of guys in mind.” He winked. “Not that this is going to be one of those sexually discriminative bands. I’m open to talented
females
too.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind after I fall on my face at my audition.”

“You won’t fall on your face,” he said as we found places at our regular table. We’ve continued sitting with Wyatt and Vanessa and the others. And it’s like no one even questions this anymore. I have a feeling that both Becca and Vanessa are hoping Dominic will look their direction. And maybe he will. I suppose that might make me jealous, but since we’re not really dating, I can’t tell him not to.

“Fall on your face doing what?” asked Vanessa with too much interest. I tried to send Dominic a silent signal, but too late.

“Maya’s going to audition for Redemption,” he told them.

“That’s so unfair,” said Becca.

“Why?” asked Dominic.

“Maya gets to do everything. It’s like she’s this newcomer that came to town and took over. First the newspaper, then TV, and now she’s going to be in the—”

“I’m not going to be in the band,” I said quickly. “I’m just going to audition. The manager didn’t even sound that interested.”

“Oh, they’ll want you,” said Vanessa a little smugly. “And whatever will we do without you?” She looked directly at Wyatt now. “Who will you drool over if Maya’s on the road playing gospel music with the girls’ band?”

He pretended to dab his chin. “I didn’t realize I was drooling.”

Everyone laughed.

“And what about Dominic?” said Becca in a teasingly hopeful tone. “What will you do with no Maya to fixate over?”

“For your information,” I said firmly, “I’m not planning on going anywhere. And Dominic is thinking about starting his own band, so I’m sure he’ll have plenty to keep him busy.”

Fortunately, this became the hot topic of conversation between Becca and Vanessa. But as Dominic bounced answers back at the two of them, I became aware that Wyatt really did seem to be staring at me. I suppose I’ve been deceiving myself that he and I really are only friends. I mean, we are just friends in my mind, but I should’ve realized by the little comments he makes and the way he sometimes touches me (not in a wrong way exactly but in a slightly intimate way) that he’s still interested.

He confirmed this in history class. “Maya, Maya,” he said like he was about five years old—or maybe eighty-five. “You can’t leave us. School is going to be so dull without your pretty face around to look at.”

I just laughed. “There are plenty of cute girls to hold your attention.”

“Boring girls, you mean.”

“Boring? That just sounds like you haven’t taken time to get to know them.”

“I’ve gone to school with most of them for years.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. “Promise me that if you join that girls’ gospel band, you’ll go out with me just once, Maya?”

I laughed. “No way.”

“Please.”

“Don’t beg, Wyatt.”

“I’ll beg you, Maya. Just say yes. If you’re going to leave us, you could at least go out with me once. Please?”

I distracted myself with the computer we were sharing, trying to engage him in the research we were supposed to be doing. But he was relentless. He begged and begged until I told him to wait and see.

“Wait and see?” He looked slightly hopeful. “What does that mean?”

“It means if, and that’s a big if, I get invited to join Redemption, then you can ask me.”

“Meaning you’d consider it?”

“Meaning I want you to shut up about it, okay?”

“You heartbreaker, you.” Of course, the twinkle in his eye told me that his dramatics were nothing more than that—dramatics. I know lots of girls think this is charming, but most of the time I think it’s obnoxious, and I wish he’d save it for girls like Vanessa or Becca.

Somehow I made it to the end of the day without really thinking about Shannon. Then as I was leaving school, I realized I should probably turn my phone on. It was barely powered up before Shannon was on the other end, gushing about how she couldn’t wait to see me.

“It’s my day to visit Marissa,” I said, as if she’d even know what I was talking about.

“Who is Marissa, and why is she more important than your very own mother?”

So I told her about Marissa’s accident. I probably painted it more vividly than I would’ve if I’d been talking to anyone else. But I thought she needed to hear it. Shannon knows all about driving under the influence.

“I’m sorry to hear that your friend got hurt,” Shannon said, “but I still don’t see why that’s more important than seeing me.”

As a stall tactic, I asked her where she was, making it clear that she couldn’t expect Uncle Allen to put her up in his home. But when I realized she was staying just a few blocks from the nursing home, I got an idea. “Tell you what,” I said. “Why don’t you come and visit Marissa with me?”

I knew by her response that she wasn’t very excited about this, but she did agree. And I thought if nothing else, it would buy me time to figure this thing out. But I almost didn’t recognize her when I stopped to pick her up. Or maybe I’d just forgotten what she really looked like. But she seemed older or perhaps simply her age (over fifty). And her hair, which had always been long and blond, was now shorter and mousy. Her lips, which she used to get puffed up with collagen, now looked thin and wrinkled, and her eyes, though clearer than I recalled, looked sad. I actually felt a small stab of pity. Even so, I was determined to hold my ground on keeping her safely at a distance. “I’m sorry you can’t stay at Uncle Allen’s,” I said again. “I hope you understand.”

“It’s no big deal,” she said defensively. “I have a place to stay.”

“But only for a few days,” I reminded her as I parked at the nursing home.

“I thought your friend was a teenager,” she said as we went inside.

“She is.”

“But this is an old folks’ home.”

I quietly explained the situation, smiling like usual to people who mostly didn’t respond, as I led her down the corridor. When Marissa wasn’t in her room, Shannon acted like that got us off the hook. “Guess we can go now. Want to get something to eat, or we could—”

“Not yet,” I said. “Sometimes she’s in the activity room.”

As it turned out, she was in the activity room, along with her dad. “Hi, Mr. Phillips,” I said as we joined them. “Hey, Marissa.”

She grinned at me and said, “Hey.” Then she frowned at Shannon, and I quickly introduced everyone, ending with, “Mr. Phillips, this is my mother, Shannon Stark.”

He smiled and shook her hand. “But my friends call me Adam.” He turned to me. “You should call me Adam too, Maya.”

Now for some reason this caught me off guard. As did the way Mr. Phillips, make that
Adam
, was looking at Shannon. And then I realized that for a woman her age, which she lies about, she’s not bad looking.

“Maya,” Marissa commanded me. “Come here. You and I walk.”

“Sure,” I said, quickly going to her side so she could steady herself as needed. “Walking is good.”

Soon we were out of earshot, and I could tell Marissa wanted to know about Shannon. “Your mom…Maya…your mom bad. Bad mom?”

I let out a big sigh. “Do you remember what I told you about my mom?” I asked, curious as to how much memory she really had.

“Your mom bad. My mom bad.”

I kind of nodded. “My mom has made some bad choices.”

“I made bad choices,” she admitted.

I kind of laughed. “I guess we’ve all made some bad choices.”

Now we were by her room, and she went right in. “Play video game,” she commanded me.

“Sure.” The truth is, I was relieved to be away from Shannon. However, I was curious as to what she might be saying to Marissa’s dad. I was also curious as to why he was here. Since Marissa’s accident he usually worked the day shift during the week and visited Marissa in the evenings. But today he wasn’t even in uniform.

“Your dad’s not working today?”

“Not today.”

“That’s right.” He and Shannon came into Marissa’s room. “I’ve changed to a four-day workweek.”

“Oh?”

“I’m trying to figure out a way to bring Marissa home. If I only work four—”

“Marissa home!” she said with enthusiasm. “Marissa go home.”

Just then I remembered the recorder that I’d bought for her
yesterday after church. So I explained I needed to get something from my car and hurried out. And here’s the strangest thing. While I was gone for less than five minutes, Shannon offered to help care for Marissa in the Phillipses’ home in exchange for room and board, and Marissa’s dad had agreed! When I came in with the recorder, they all seemed quite pleased with themselves. Even Marissa, but then she’s suffered brain damage.

“She won’t be released from here for another couple of weeks,” Adam explained to us. “But that will give you a chance to get to know her,” he said to Shannon. And she just nodded like no big deal. Like she cares for brain-damaged teenage girls all the time. Like she has a clue…or is interested in anything beyond a roof over her head.

The only bright spot in all this was that Adam and Shannon decided to go get a bite to eat together, which struck me as totally bizarre. Even though they said it was to discuss this new “business arrangement,” I couldn’t help but feel skeptical. But at least I got to go home without her. Still, I can’t help but wonder what is to come of all this. And what, if anything, should I tell Marissa’s dad about Shannon’s “little” problems? Should I warn him that this could, and likely will, blow up in all our faces? And don’t I owe a warning to Marissa? On the other hand, Marissa’s dad is a cop. Maybe he’ll figure it out himself.