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Bo's Journey Home - Chapter 24   Maryann watched as Matthew paced nervously around the living room. Every few seconds he glanced at the door, only to be disappointed when there was no one there. “What time is it now, Maryann?” he asked. She smiled as she answered. “Its 6:30, Matthew.”   “It was 6:30 when I asked you before,” Matthew whined.   Maryann nodded her head. “I know, and that was all of 30 seconds ago.”   Matthew heaved a sigh. “What did mom say again, when she called?”   Maryann shook her head slightly. “Matthew, you spoke to her. She said she was running late but she would be home as soon as she could.” Matthew opened his mouth and Maryann continued, stopping him. “And she said that Bo would be right behind her.”   “But they said they would be here after work,” he complained.   Maryann nodded again. “And they will be. They are both still at work. You know they work at the police station. Things happen to make them late.”   Matthew kicked his foot at the air. “I hate that they both work there.”   Maryann smiled. “Why don’t you go get your Harry Potter book and we can read the next chapter.”   Matthew shook his head, folding his arms across his chest. “I don’t want to read.”   “Then how about a game of cards?” Maryann tried again.   Matthew shook his head, continuing to pace the room, looking up every time he heard a car go by the house. “Mom was going to be late, and Bo would go home and not come with her,” Matthew thought to himself. “And that was what Matthew wanted to change. They would have to go along with his plan now,” he thought. “They would just have to.”   Maryann watched the small boy walk from the living room, into the kitchen and then back into the living room. She wished she could distract him. “Matthew, lets play a game while we wait.”   “I don’t want to,” he said.   “Then why don’t you go upstairs and play a game on your computer?” she suggested.   Matthew shook his head. “I want to be down here when they get here.”   “I’ll call you the minute the car pulls up,” she promised. As she said that, they both heard a car door. Matthew ran to the front door as Maryann stood, thanking the gods that one of them had finally arrived. Matthew had the door wide opened, blocking the entrance as Nora came from her car, one hand holding her brief case, one hand the pizza box, and cradling a bottle of root beer under her arm.   “Mom, you’re here,” Matthew greeted her. “What took you so long? And where’s Bo? Is he still coming?” Matthew shot all of the questions at her at once.   “Matthew, hold on a second. Let me get in.” Nora pushed past him, struggling with her full hands. “And you could take something for me.” Maryann met her and took the pizza box out of her hand, taking it to the kitchen. “Thanks Maryann,” she smiled gratefully.   “Sorry, Mom,” he mumbled, reaching for her briefcase, holding the handle with both hands. He took it across the room and almost threw it into her office. He turned back to her, repeating his questions. “Where’s Bo? Is he coming?”   Nora held up her hand to silence her son. “Matthew, give me one minute, would you please?”   He rolled his eyes and nodded impatiently as Maryann returned from the kitchen, gathering her things, her car keys in hand. “Here,” Nora said, handing him the bottle of root beer. “Take this in the kitchen and pour some for each of us. Then you can get out some paper plates and napkins. Okay?”   He heaved a disappointed sigh. “Just us?” he asked. Nora rolled her eyes at him. “Okay, I’m going,” he whined annoyingly, turning to leave the room.   With ice,” she called after him. Nora turned to Maryann. “Thanks for staying.”   Maryann nodded with a smile. “It was no problem for me. But that last hour almost killed him.”   Nora chuckled and walked Maryann to the door. “See you tomorrow,” they both said in unison. Nora closed the door behind her and turned back to the living room. Matthew had just returned with two glasses of root beer. His face said it all. “Bo’s not coming, is he?”   Nora shook her head. “He’ll be here. It’s just going to be later than he thought. I’m going to go up and change. Why don’t you start on the pizza, okay? I’ll meet you in the kitchen in a minute.”   Matthew rolled his shoulders dejectedly, returning to the kitchen and setting the glasses down on the table. He got the paper plates and napkins from the pantry closet. He pulled some slices from the pizza box, dropping a slice on each plate. Then he plopped into one of the kitchen chairs, sulking. That’s where Nora found him when she returned. She sat down across from her son, reaching for his hand and taking it in her hand.   “He’ll be here,” she assured him. He shrugged his shoulders at her again, frowning. “Matthew, he said he would be here. He doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean.” She picked up the slice of pizza, looking at her son with a sly grin. “Besides, the longer he takes, the more pizza for us.”   Matthew finally gave her a slight smile. “I guess.” He picked up his own slice of pizza, taking a bite. They ate in silence for a few minutes. Nora finally spoke. “So, what’s going on? What did you want to talk to us about? Can you tell me before Bo gets here?”   Matthew remained silent, chewing on his pizza. He finally looked up his mother. “I guess I can tell you some stuff without Bo.”   Nora put her slice of pizza down, still chewing. “Like what?”   Matthew put his slice of pizza down as well. “I didn’t tell you the whole truth about when I ran away.”   Nora nodded at him slowly. “Okay. Do you want to tell me now?”   Matthew shrugged, looking towards the kitchen door. “Bo said he would be here, that we could tell you together.”   Nora nodded again. “If you want to wait, we can.”   Matthew shook his head. “No, Bo all ready knows. Besides, he may not come at all, and he said I should tell you the truth.”   Nora smiled at her son, repeating herself again. “Matthew, Bo will be here. If you want to wait, we can.”   Matthew shook his head again. “No. I can tell you. I just know you’ll be mad and,” he paused.   Nora looked at Matthew confused. “And what? What will I be mad about?”   “Well,” Matthew began slowly. “When I ran away, I ended up at the waterfront.” And then Matthew slowly told her about leaving the park, running to the waterfront, falling into the river, and Harry pulling him out and taking him to his apartment. Nora stayed quiet until Matthew finished his story. Nora let out a long sigh.   “You’re mad, aren’t you?” Matthew asked knowingly. Nora shook her head slightly. “I’m a lot of things Matthew. Mad is one of them. Relieved is another. Do you realize what could have happened to you by going with a stranger?” Matthew nodded his head, not looking at her. “Not to mention that you left the group and went to the diner by yourself. I thought you and I went over all of that?”   “We did,” Matthew agreed. “It’s just that I was so mad at all of the things that Gabrielle had told me. And then when I fell into the river and couldn’t swim back to the top, Harry got me out of the water. He helped me. I thought it would be okay to go with him. But I know it’s wrong to go with strangers. It will never happen again, mom.”   Nora pulled Matthew into her arms, holding him tightly. “I don’t know what Bo or I would do if something bad ever happened to you.”   Matthew hugged her back. “I know. That’s what Bo told me.” He paused. “Are you going to ground me?”   Nora pulled back from him, looking down into mirror images of her own eyes. “I should. But I think you understand now, right? No going with strangers.” Matthew nodded his head. Nora smiled at him, thinking back. “You know, there’s an old Chinese Proverb about people who save other people’s lives. It goes likes this; whoever saves the key from the well is its master.” Matthew looked at her confused. “What does that mean?”   Nora chuckled. “It means that you are forever linked to the person who saved your life; that you and Harry will always have a special bond between you.”   “Really?” asked Matthew.   “Really,” Nora repeated, thinking back. “Bo once saved a young girl’s life and a few years later, she ended up helping to save his.”   “Wow,” said Matthew, amazed. “So I might save Harry’s life some day?”   Nora smiled at him. “Who knows? But you and Harry will always have a special bond.”   “Did you ever save anyone’s life, mom?” Matthew asked.   Nora pulled away from Matthew, picking up her pizza again, taking a bite. She thought back to 10 years earlier, a man, out on a ledge, lost. “He had repaid her that debt in full,” she thought. She looked back at his son. “In more ways than one.” To be continued.