The entire ride home my mom was silent. She kept alternating her focus between me and the road as if I would disappear again at any moment. When we finally got home my car was parked in its spot. It looked exactly how it had prior to me leaving for Heather’s house five days ago. No new dents, scrapes, or scratches. It looked like nothing had happened to it.

Mom caught me marveling at the car. “The head detective brought it over a few days ago. He said that the CSI folks had examined it but it didn’t provide any new clues and he didn't see why it should be in police custody any longer.”

“That's nice of him,” I said. The good cop strikes again. “Hey mom I -”

“I got your message about Quincy,” she said as she pushed the button to the elevator. “Initially I thought maybe you and Heather were with him. I called him several times but it always ended up the same - straight to voicemail.”

The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Mom entered and I followed.

“I’m sorry about that. I had thought that Quincy was back because I got a call from him, but I guess it was a false alarm.”

“Well false alarm or not, I’m at least glad that he tried to reach out to you. I hope he finishes up whatever he’s doing and comes back soon. It’ll be nice to get a couple weeks with him before he’s off to college.”

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor. It dinged again as the doors slid open.

Mom had been through a lot these past couple of days. Regardless of Persona’s gag order, I knew it would be cruel to tell her about Quincy’s current MIA state. How would that conversation even go? ‘Hey mom, so Quincy has either been kidnapped or is now an evil villain trying to take over the world. But don’t worry, the reject Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that Quincy used to roll with are on the hunt for him. And if it does turn out that he’s a villain they have assured me that they would do everything in their power to hunt him down and eliminate him.’

Yeah, I couldn’t tell her that. But was it right to just leave her in the dark about the potential fate of her eldest child? She had already lost her husband unexpectedly and now it seemed like the universe was trying to take away her son. I didn’t know what to do; what was the right choice?

“Sweetie,” Mom said. “Are you going to get out?”

It was then that I noticed that I was still standing in the elevator. Mom had her hand in front of the sensors to keep the doors from closing.

“Yeah, I'm sorry,” I said as I exited the elevator.

We entered our apartment and mom closed the door behind me. She immediately turned to face me. “You’re not ok, are you?”

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“That obvious?”

“Uh huh,” she replied. “Sweetie you know you’ve never been good at keeping secrets from me. So tell me what actually happened?”

I felt a lump in my throat. “Uh...it's like I said back at the police station. I don’t remember,” I looked away from her. She was right. I have never been able to hide anything from her. I didn't know if it was because she was a trained counselor or the fact that she was my mother, but her interrogation skills would put any detective to shame. She knew all my secrets.

“Look at me, Deshawn,” Mom said using her serious voice.

Reluctantly I did and she held my gaze. This is it I thought, I am going to have to break the first condition of my release. Mom is now going to be an easy target for the Shades, and she’ll end up like the Greenhill residents.

With a sigh she finally said. “You’re not the type to keep secrets, at least not from me so I’ll have to trust that you have a really good reason too. But I have to ask these questions for my own peace of mind.”

“Ok.”

“Were drugs involved?”

“No.”

“Alcohol?”

“No mom. No drugs or alcohol.”

“Ok, are you in trouble?” She asked, her expression serious.

“No, I’m not in trouble,” I answered without hesitation.

“Is Heather in trouble?”

This time I did hesitate. “I...I don’t know.”

She exhaled again. “Well ok. That's in line with what you told the cops. But whatever actually happened I know you’ll tell me when the time is right.”

I felt the lump return to my throat. “Yes mom. I will.”

“Good, now get some rest if you can. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”

“Ok,” I said as I turned and walked toward my room. I stopped and turned around. “Mom?”

“What is it, Sweetie?”

“Quincy...what would Quincy do?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Never mind,” I said turning to enter my room.

“But I would say whatever he thought was best,” she continued. “You know how your brother is. He always follows his own path and stays true to himself by doing what he thinks is right.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” I said as I entered my room.

“Deshawn,” Mom said. “You’re the same way. You may not be as self-assured as Quincy, but you can be just as headstrong and determined once you decide to do something. And although you seem to have lost your drive to do much of anything, I still have complete faith you’ll find your way back. Once you do, you’ll give Quincy a run for his money.” She smiled.

I had heard that speech before, more times than I cared to keep track of. What she said sounded great but it was much easier said than done. I replied in the same way I always did. “Thanks mom,” I smiled back.

“Of course Sweetie. I only said what was true. The rest is up to you. Now go wash up. Dinner will be ready in an hour.”