Resolution

           “What did you say?”, Joshua questioned as he pulled the earbud from his ear.

           His mother replied, “I asked you why you had not taken out the garbage yet? I told you before I left for work this morning that I expected it to be done.”

           “Sorry mom, I just got busy.”

           “Busy? Busy doing what? Busy listening to music and playing on your laptop? C’mon, Josh. Give me a break, will you?

           “Fine! Don’t have a cow! I will go and take it out now, alright? Geez!”

           “I just do not know what to do with you some days, Joshua. If your father was alive…”

           “But he isn’t, is he?” Joshua stated maliciously. “You will never understand me the way that dad did!”

           With a deep sigh, she left Joshua’s bedroom.

           “Josh, your dinner is ready!” his mother called from the bottom of the stairs a couple of hours later.

           Moments passed with no response and no Joshua. Once again, she called up to her son, but again there was no reply. His mother stormed up the stairs. Her blood pressure increasing with each step. She was tired of the inconsideration that Joshua had toward her.

           Turning the doorknob on his bedroom door, she swung it open. The stereo was blaring, but Joshua was nowhere to be found.

           “Now where has that boy disappeared to?” she asked herself.

           Grabbing her cellphone, she dialed his number. The song, “The Bitch is Back”, by Elton John started playing from the other side of the room. She walked over and found his cellphone tucked in beside the pillow on his bed. On the call display, appeared the name, “Mom” and her phone number.

           Now, more than before, she felt a rage building inside of her, and she knew that eventually, she would lose her cool.

           She tried to access his contact list to call some of his friends, but his phone was password-protected, so she threw it back down onto the bed and went back downstairs.

           Around 11:00 PM that night, Joshua crept in through the front door, trying his best not to step on the loose, creaking floorboards in the foyer. As he shut the door and turned the lock, the light came on in the foyer. Standing in the doorway to the living room was his mother.

           “Where have you been all night, young man? I have been sitting here for almost five hours worrying about you. I thought that you might have been kidnapped or were lying in a ditch somewhere!”

           “It’s no big deal, mom. I just got together with some friends from school and we hung out for a while down by the creek.”

           “Joshua! No big deal? I couldn’t reach you or any of your friends. It scared me.”

           “Geez! Sorry, alright? I can take care of myself. I’m not a little kid anymore, mom.”

           “Josh, I know you are growing up, but you are still only fourteen, and you will always be my baby no matter how old you get.”

           “C’mon, mom. I am tired. Can we finish this conversation tomorrow instead?”

           “That depends. Can I count on you being here to have this conversation tomorrow?” she asked.

           “Yes, fine. I promise that we can talk tomorrow, okay? Can I go to bed now?”

           “Yes, go to bed. Goodnight, Joshua.”

           “Goodnight, mom.”

           In the morning after she had awakened, Joshua’s mother went down to the kitchen to prepare pancakes for her and Joshua. When the batter was mixed, she went and knocked on Joshua’s bedroom door. Her stress level had decreased substantially after a good night’s sleep.

           After five minutes of badgering, she finally convinced Joshua to get out of bed and come down for breakfast. He sluggishly got dressed and combed his hair, but once his nose captured the scent of blueberry pancakes, he picked up the pace and hurried downstairs to the kitchen.

           After devouring the first three pancakes, his mother asked if they could finish their conversation from the night before. Reluctantly, Joshua agreed.

           “Listen, Josh, I have had time to calm down and I will do my best not to yell, but I need to get some things off my chest. You need to promise me that if you plan to go out, that you let me know when you plan to return and you need to have your phone with you just in case we need to call each other. Agreed?”

           “Agreed,” Joshua replied.

           “Also, I want to talk to you about your dad.”

           Before she could get another word in, Joshua had dropped his fork, got up from the table, and ran back up to his room with only one word to say in response, “No.”

           His mother let out another sigh and hung her head low while she tidied up the breakfast dishes. A single tear cascaded down her cheek as it slipped silently onto her quivering lips. The salty taste reached her tongue as more tears began to fall.

           Joshua sat on the bed in his room listening to the sound of his mother sobbing. He felt a heaviness building in his chest as he laid upon the bed and covered his head with a pillow.

           Another night had passed, and the important issues were yet to be resolved. Joshua’s mother went down to the kitchen at 8:15 AM on Sunday, only to find a note sitting on the countertop. It read…

           “Mom, I promised you that I would tell you when I would be home, so I left you this note. I left early this morning to go canoeing with Chuck from my class. I should be back in time for dinner tonight. Sorry about last night. Josh.”

           Feeling that she had made a small breakthrough with Joshua, she held the note to her chest and smiled.

           As promised, just after five o’clock that evening, Joshua arrived home. His mother met him at the door and welcomed him back with a hug.

           “What was that for?” he asked.

           “Nothing in particular. I am just happy to have you home.”

           “Okay, mom. Are you feeling okay? You are acting a little strange.”

           “This is a good day, Joshua. Let’s enjoy it.”

           They had a peaceful dinner and Joshua even shared stories about his canoeing adventure that day. Later, they sat in the living room and watched some television together before heading up to bed.

           The next morning, when Joshua’s mother headed downstairs, she could hear noises coming from the kitchen. She peeked her head around the corner and saw Joshua at the counter whisking eggs in a bowl.

           “What’s all this?” she asked with surprise.

           “I thought that it was about time I made you breakfast for a change, mom. I hope you don’t mind scrambled eggs.”

           “That sounds wonderful. Thank you so much!”

           As they sat down, Joshua gazed into his mother’s eyes and could see a joy that he had not seen since his dad was alive.

           “Listen, mom, I think that it is time for me to be straight with you about something. I haven’t been very fair to you and I want to say that I’m sorry.”

           His mother listened intently without responding.

           “The truth is, since dad died, I have felt so alone. Dad and I had this bond, you know? We shared interests like sports and cars, and I thought that I could never have a bond like that with anyone else…not even you, mom. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple of days, and I came to realize that you and I don’t need to have the same interests as dad and I did, because we share other interests.”

           His mother swallowed hard and wiped her eyes at the outpouring of emotion that her son was expressing.

           “I love you, mom, and I haven’t done a great job of showing it since dad passed, but I want that to change. From now on, I will promise to spend more time with you, and in return, I ask that you teach me how to cook and bake some of my favorite meals. I mean, I will be on my own one day and I need to be able to do things without your help, right?”

           His mother stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms tightly around her son’s neck. Joshua gasped for air until she released her grip.

           “I love you so much, Joshua. You have made me so happy. I would be overjoyed to teach you how to cook and maybe you can teach me how to catch and throw a football one day too.”

           Joshua laughed as he pictured his mother trying to throw a football.

           “Okay, mom, it’s a deal.”

           After breakfast, Joshua and his mother went to the cemetery to visit his father’s gravesite. They kneeled upon the dew-covered grass and set fresh flowers inside a vase next to the gravestone.    

           “Dad,” Joshua began, “I hope that you are looking down on us right now from Heaven. I want you to know that things are good between mom and me now. You don’t have to worry anymore. I miss you so much, but I’m glad I still have mom to remind me of how much love we once had, and we have again.”

           Joshua felt his mother’s arm lay across his shoulders and her head rested softly against his as they sat in silence for the remainder of their time at the cemetery.

           What once seemed like an impossible task now seemed like a wonderful dream as the resolution between mother and son was complete and a new beginning was at hand.