The Change of the Seasons: The Long Sweat

Chapter 3
The Lioness Lays down the Law

Chapter Description: James and Jonny find out once again why they should avoid pissing off their mom.

[size=2]Jennifer Medlock was not a happy woman. Overworked as hell, she found herself supporting two very different kinds of growing boys. Her eldest son, growing slightly in the waistline, was dancing with alcoholism while her youngest son, rapidly shooting up in height, was getting more rebellious by the day.

In James’ case, everything had started perfectly. She was damn proud of her son when she sent him off to college for his freshman year. He gave her the grades he promised he’d make and he was finally getting his chance to prove his independence from her. The daily texts and phone calls went to weekly and then bi-weekly and then at times she felt she had never spoken to him at all. Yet at the end of each semester, he dutifully returned back to mother’s nest looking no different from when she had sent him off from her nest.

But he had changed; he had brought his college drinking habits back with him. Jennifer had tolerated it at first, she was no hypocrite, but there was a small boy being raised in this household. When she had outlined her policy to James the night he had told her that he was underage drinking, he had played ball obediently, but with enough smartass in his tone to put a smile behind her face. They had shared a bottle of brandy that night that left her feeling closer to her firstborn more than she ever had during his teenage years. Yet here her son was, running off to God knows where to drink himself into a bender every night. He was failing in his responsibilities around the house and now according to Ms. Yong in simply picking up his own little brother.

Jonathan was not much better but she could at least reassure herself that it was just a phase. Ever since he was banned from taking the school bus home after the fight, Jonny was becoming increasingly disobedient at both home and school where Ms. Yong had marked a drastic downfall in his usual stellar grades. She thought she could fix him up over the summer but James’ presence only seemed to exacerbate the problem. She was at her wit’s end and at 48; she was afraid all this stress was going to drastically age her in appearance. In either case, storming towards the front door, she was determined on fixing her family this summer and she would start with the first thing caught within her deadly sights.

“JONATHAN!!!!!!! TURN THAT GAME OFF THIS INSTANT!!!!!!!!!”

Jonathan had heard the word shit before, the first time when his brother secretly showed him The Matrix and later when Derek’s dad said it several times while he was playing over at their house…if he knew anything at all about the word; it was that he was in a load of it right now.

“But....it’s…summer break.” he meekly said.

“That’s not the point young man and you know it. You barely made C’s in your final report card this year. You promised me you would turn your grades around and right now you’re doing exactly what caused your grades to fall in the first place. Consider the Xbox dead this summer because you’re not touching it again.” Jen still incredulous at her son’s audacity continued her onslaught, “And frankly, it should stay dead until I see your grades improve in the fall.”

“What? No! That’s not right!” He snapped.

Jen, eying the TV and game console replied, “What truly isn’t right is that Xbox is still on!”

Jen marched towards the Xbox and before Jonny could stop her, his paused game blinked into nothingness. Even modern checkpoint systems cannot stand the overwhelming force of a pissed off mom.

“You’re grounded for the summer. Go to your room and we’ll discuss your terms at dinner.” She said boldly.

Jonny was pissed off, but that wasn’t really in his vocabulary yet. So in the darkest recesses of his mind he came up with the worst possible thing he could say to his mom, “I hate you! I wish I was living with Dad instead!” he shouted while running up the stairs.

“Yeah, yeah,” was all that Jennifer could get out. One down, one to go, she mused. She knew little Jonny wasn’t coming down for dinner, so she figured she might as well plop down on the couch and get the overwhelming stress and sadness out of her before making some microwaveable dinners for everyone.

Crying done, with two microwave dinners in hand; Jen ascended to the second story where she placed Jonny’s dinner in front of his locked door before knocking to get his attention. Moving down the hallway, pass her own bedroom, she found James’ door shut but unlocked. Entering the room she found her other son also absentmindedly playing away at some videogame.

“James we need to talk.” She said while pounding the door to further announce her presence.

“I’m in deep shit aren’t I mother?” James said.

The beer in his hand informed her that he had already gotten alcohol through one of his friends again. “Eat this and sober up a bit. You’re giving me your unconditional surrender when you come down by the way,” she declared as she left the dinner on his dresser and slammed the door shut.

James grabbed his dinner and went to work on it. By the time he was done with it he figured he should down the last of his beers, he knew the inevitable was coming. Descending slowly down the house’s half landing stairwell; he turned the midpoint and found his mom quietly sitting at the dinner table eyeing her half-finished dinner. James favored his mom’s looks a great deal. They shared the same tone of blonde hair, though hers fell well below her shoulders. She had the average body size of a middle age woman, though her hourglass figure was more homely in these later years than slender. When she finally gazed up at him their blue eyes connected. His mother’s face had a gentle fading beauty to it, the kind of legacy that showed that she had been very beautiful in her prime.

“Take a seat James and hear me out, I hope at least you have the maturity for that.” she said bitterly.

“Oh boy”, James concluded, “This is where the fun begins.” taking the seat adjacent from his mom.

“If sobriety is fun to you than sure it will be a blast.” Jen said

Before she could continue James was already interrupting, “Ok wait. I won’t drink in the house anymore but…”

“No buts.” Jen said blankly. “You’re underage and I was foolish to tolerate your decadence for this long. And don’t expect to see your college friends again until you’re back at college.”

“What? Come on mom! I’m an adult already! James said flustered as hell, “I can understand your concerns about drinking here with Jonny in the house and all, you win on that front. You won’t see me drinking anything here until I’m actually 21 next year but come on, you can’t expect me to break out of my antisocial shell in college and force me back in when it’s inconvenient for you.” he said adamantly.

“I damn well can James when you live in my house and live off my money. Hell, most of everything in your room is a gift from either me or your other family members. Don’t kid yourself James, you’re not an adult: you’re lazy, selfish, and have never held a job in your life. Compare yourself to the Longview family. Little Sarah has been volunteering at the library ever since you went off to college and now she’s being paid to do it and you know Samantha has held down her job as a lifeguard at Old Lake Beach for years now.”

“Sammy?” James questioned bluntly, “I haven’t spoken to her since…you know,”

Jen was a bit amused, Hook, line, and sinker, she thought.

“Well, you’re both out of your awkward teens now. So you should be able to reconnect now. At least you should because she’ll be your coworker.” she said.

“Bullshit, he muttered, “she probably wants nothing to do with me these days, besides don’t you need lessons or something to be a lifeguard? I won’t let you force me into a job that’ll get some poor kid killed because I’m incompetent at the job.”

“You’re a damn good swimmer James and you know it, “she said while shaking her head.

“Not anymore! Look at me mom! I’m a fatass!” he shouted.

Jen once more shook her head, “sweetheart, that beer belly can be straightened up with a decent diet and some exercise, which is exactly why you’re taking this job. Sammy has already gotten you registered. You’ll start training on Monday, so I suggest you use this weekend wisely.”

James stood up; he was at a complete loss. He had expected to weasel most of his way out of his mom’s wraith, but just as she had said, this was no parlay between equal parties. James felt the emotional independence he had been steadily building since middle school and high school give way, leaving him feeling like an elementary schooler all over again. He suddenly felt like calling his mom a bitch and running up the stairwell like Jonathan did. But then the feeling called out to him, relaxed him even. You couldn’t hold a job while you were in elementary school. The sheer temptation of it terrified him enough to bring him back into reality. His mom had him played from the start, she had him in checkmate. Besides, spending more time with his mom and brother didn’t seem so bad once he accepted it and the extra money he would presumably be making could go a long way come fall semester.

Recovering from the shock he slyly said, “You brought me into this world mom,” bowing mockingly towards her, “My life is yours.”

Even in defeat he’s trying to win the long game, she thought.

“Enough of this, let’s get our minds off it. Do you want to watch something? Jonny isn’t coming down so we can watch whatever.” she said, smiling coyly at him, “You caught up on our show?”

James laughed, “Nope! My backlog grows with each day.”

Finally able to bring the nice mom persona back out, she motioned him over to the couch, “Let’s get caught up then.”

Settling onto the couch the two experienced a rare laid back night watching television without Jonny’s high pitched voice ruining important scenes he considered boring. Before the two knew it, they had cuddled up a bit. By the end of the binge watch, James was ready to take his leave.

“Goodnight mom,” leaning in to peck his mom on the cheek, “Better make Jonny some chocolate pancakes tomorrow or he’ll hate you for life.”

“Yeah, yeah baby. Goodnight.” She said sweetly.

As the clock hit midnight, Jen exhaled a bit in satisfaction.

Mission accomplished, she presumably thought.

The Long Sweat continues in Chapter 4: Man goes in, Boy goes out. You can’t explain that[/size]