Making it All Turn Out Just Right

Lucas wanted everything to turn out right. He cleaned up the apartment. The best he could anyway; it's hard to do much with a cluttered one bedroom. Now he was making a homemade cake-or at least he thought it was. It actually came from a box. To him, this was better than the day old cakes they sold in the store; cheaper too. Besides, she would know it came from him and that would make it special. He used the last of his money to buy the cake mix and the frosting. He wanted this day to go just right.

It had been seven months since he last lived with his mother. That's when she messed up. It really wasn't her fault though; it was that stuff-it messed her up. Before she got caught up with him everything was fine. She had a good job working as the assistant manager at the IHOP. He liked it when she worked there because she always brought home extra food, like chocolate chip pancakes, his favorite. But she was fired because of that stuff and that man. "Why did she even let him come around," Lucas thought. "We were doing fine before he showed up. I'm the man of the house." And he believed it too, even though he barely had peach fuzz on his face.

They let her come home last month. She finished treatment and had been doing pretty well. She even managed to get a new job as a waitress at a nearby diner. Not as fancy as IHOP but it's a start anyway. That and the money he got for walking old lady Johnson's dog everyday was enough for the two of them to get by.

Lucas took the cake out of the oven. It smelled so good he wanted to eat it right then but he knew he couldn't. It was for her. He tried to put the frosting on but it slid off because the cake was too hot. He knew it needed time to cool down. He sat down and looked at the card he made for her. "Happy Mother's Day" on the outside; "You're the best" on the inside. He thought about how she turned her life around. "Yeah," he thought, "she is the best."

He checked the cake again. Now it was cool enough to frost; chocolate frosting-both of their favorite. He tried to make it look all fancy with swirls like the store cakes, but it just looked lumpy in spots. He didn't care; to him it looked just right.

Lucas looked at the clock in the kitchen and saw it was getting late. She was due home by now. He tried not to worry. He finished his homework. School was going well for him. He was passing all of his classes and had begun to make friends. One day after school he even hung out with a couple of them. They didn't know about his past like the kids from his old school did. They didn't know he got knocked around by him. How he almost broke Lucas' arm that time. That was the time someone heard the noise and called the police. That was the time they took him and his mother away. No, these kids didn't know all that and hopefully they never would.

Now it was really late. Lucas was getting very tired and he needed to sleep because he had a big test the next day. "Where could she be?" Lucas began thinking the worse. What if he got out of jail and he found her? What if he got her back on that stuff again? What if his mother brings him home and he starts using Lucas as a punching bag again? Not this time. No never again. This time Lucas would prove he was the man of the house. He would do anything to protect himself and to save his mother from getting messed up like before. He cleaned off the knife and looked at it. He touched the tip and thought, "If I have too, I can do it. He may get a few punches in first but then when he's all messed up, I'll do it."

Just then he heard the key turning in the doorknob. He held the knife behind his back, out of sight. The minute he saw him, he was prepared to use it. She walked in. She looked tired, or at least he hoped that's all it was and not something else. Lucas held his breath waiting to see if he walked in the door next, but instead she just closed the door.

"Lucas, what are you doing up, it's after 11 o'clock?

"Where have you been?" He demanded.

"At work, where else?"

"You said you'd be home by eight." Lucas was still suspicious. "How come you're so late?"

"The next girl didn't show up so they needed me to work her shift. Too bad we don't have a phone. I could have called and told you not to wait up." She noticed Lucas was hiding his hands. "What's that behind your back?" Lucas forgot his hands were behind his back. He slowly pulled his arms out and showed her the knife. "Boy, what are you planning to do with that knife?"

At first Lucas didn't know what to say. Should he tell her what he feared? Then he composed himself and said. "I baked you a cake for Mother's Day; have some." And Lucas used the knife to slice her a piece.

A tear came to her eye. "Oh Lucas, after all I've put you through...I really didn't expect...Oh Lucas, you are turning into quite a young man. Thank you."

As they sat together eating some cake, Lucas smiled and thought "I knew it would all turn out right."