Stillard

(Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash)

My mother recoiled upon touching my father’s hot skin, his stiff body motionless as he baked out in the blistering sun.

For the past five minutes, she had been trying various techniques to snap him out of it. She started with clapping her hands together in front of his face; now she’s resorted to lightly tapping him on the face as she yelled his name over and over again. He surely would’ve flinched from all this if he were fully conscious, no doubt embarrassed by my mother’s reaction. Had anyone else been outside, she would’ve drawn a crowd.

She’s ignored my comments as she’s tried to shake his unmoving body, knock him over to rid him of this spell. Her heavy breathing rang out in the air, her cheeks flushed red from the heat, before she slumped to the grass in a heap.

“I tried all of that when it first happened to you both.”

Mom glanced up, a horrified look on her face as tears sprang in her bloodshot eyes. With a huff, she slammed her hands on the half-dead grass and pulled herself to her feet. She took one last look at Dad, threw her hands up in the air in defeat, and stormed back to the house.

“Mom?” I said, before jogging to catch up. She wiped tears off her face when we reached our front porch and threw the door open before collapsing on the couch.

“What the hell is wrong with him?”

I shrugged my shoulders, wishing I had an answer instead of the million questions that were probably now swarming in her mind.

“That’s what Ryanne, Brady, and I are trying to figure out.”

Her bottom lip quivered as she wrapped her arms around her tight. “This has been happening since we moved here?”

I nodded, and she shook her head in disbelief, a shaky breath emitting from her lips.

A loud knock on the door startled the two of us; my mother’s right hand slammed against her chest.

“Anthony!” Brady’s shrill voice carried from behind the door.

“You okay? Why weren’t you at school today?” Ryanne added.

“Can I open the door?” I asked Mom, and she waved her hand to signal them to come inside.

Brady rushes in immediately, not noticing my mom, while Ryanne remained at the doorframe.

“Boy, it’s a scorcher out there. I don’t know how-” Brady’s jaw dropped the second his eyes landed on my mother.

His head swiveled to me in seconds, his eyes so wide I could barely see his pupils before he returned his focus to my mom.

“How are you here right now? How did this happen?”

“She called off work,” I replied, relieved I didn’t have to carry this on my shoulders anymore. Though I hated to see the unyielding worry plaguing her face.

“I can’t believe I had been doing that for months,” Her gaze remained on the living room window. “What has this done to my body? Your fathers? What about our jobs? Are we even bringing in money?” My mom started spiraling, her breathing growing rapid.

“What company do you work for?” Ryanne asked as a distraction.

My mother’s eyebrows knitted together. “Why does that matter?”

“My dad works in construction. He’s actually building the back half of this neighborhood, and he doesn’t do that. You know the shaking and zoning out.”

Brady gasped loudly and facepalmed. “Why didn’t I think about this?”

I turned to my mom, and she managed to stutter out, “I-I work at Li-Lindon Industries.”

Brady’s face turned green. “So do my parents.”