A New Chance – Chapter V

Home for Thanksgiving

The next morning, Chance sat on the edge of his bed. He had taken the sheets off and put them in a pile on the floor. His bag was packed and he was ready for Andy to take him to the Child Services.

To his great surprise, it wasn’t Andy that came down it was Marabeth. To add to his shock, she invited him to stay with them for a while. The Lucas-Simpsons would become his foster family if that was all right with him. He assured her it was all right with him. The rest of the day he felt like he was in some kind of alternate universe or something. This could not be happening to him. Especially after getting JJ in a fight last night. He didn’t take Marabeth or Andy to be the joking kind and if this was a joke it was cruel. But neither one said it was a joke. In fact, the next day, Marabeth took him to the school to register.

Even after he started school a week later, he waited for the other shoe to drop. One week became two which became a month. And that shoe never dropped. He exceled in all his courses except public speaking. That was his lowest grade with a steady B.

JJ was a year ahead of him but he still took him in to his circle of friends. They all accepted him more or less. Even though he didn’t really share their interests. He was usually lost during most of their conversations about movies and if he could help it, would doodle in small notebook he carried around. His drawings were mostly of architecture and future houses he’d like to build for himself. He started pairing up with Kelli a lot. Mainly because she was in a lot of his same classes. At first, it annoyed her slightly to have someone younger on the same level as her. But she warmed up to him and they became study buddies.

Emerson also happened to be in the same track as them. She was friendly enough when Forrest wasn’t around but her life seemed to be drama filled. Something Chance was trying to do without. He did his best to stay out of Forrest’s way because he knew if he got in his way there would be conflict. And he really didn’t want any more conflict or reason for the Lucas-Simpsons to change their mind about having him stay.

After the first quarter, all of his teachers raved about him. The guidance counselor even used the word college. That was not something he had ever thought of before. He was just hoping to graduate in a couple of years. That in itself would be accomplishment enough for him.

JJ had a field day when he heard the counselor’s recommendation and started calling Chance ‘Nerd-O.’

The week before Thanksgiving, Chance and JJ were cleaning the kitchen after dinner. They were talking about the newest video game JJ had bought and trying to figure out how to level up in it.

Marabeth and Andy walked in.

“Hey boys,” Marabeth said. “Can we talk?”

Chance looked at JJ. JJ flipped his towel and said, “It’s about time. You know how hard it is for me to keep a secret.”

Chance looked around the room. It seemed like he was the only one that didn’t know what was going on. His mouth went dry as he tried to think of anything he had done recently to mess up.

“Relax,” Marabeth said smiling. “You’re not in trouble.”

He nodded but he couldn’t fully relax.

“We just want to know if it would be alright for us to legally adopt you,” Andy said. “How do you feel about that?”

There was a moment of silence in the room. Chance had to process the words. Andy, Marabeth, and JJ held their breath while waiting for an answer.

“You want to adopt me?” Chance asked slowly.

“I told them they should pick someone younger, you know, cuter,” JJ said, “but they won’t listen to me.”

Marabeth ignored her son’s humor. “We want to officially be your family.”

Chance couldn’t say anything.

Andy looked around and put his hand on Chance’s shoulder. “This is a lot to take in, I know. You should think about it.”

“It’s not that,” Chance didn’t want to appear ungrateful. “I just wonder, I mean, I sometimes think…”

“You want to know what happened to your mom?” Marabeth asked.

Chance looked at her and nodded. “Yeah, I do.”

Andy nodded. “In order for us to adopt you, we will need her signature. We hired a PI,” he paused to let Chance understand his words. “We have her address.” He held up a Post-it note.

Chance looked at it and took it slowly. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see the address but he couldn’t resist and looked. It was a familiar street. “She lives in our old neighborhood. Do you think she moved back looking for me?” he asked hopefully. “Or,” the thought occurred to him. “Do you think she’s been there the whole time?”

Marabeth put her arms around him and hugged him.

“Look, if you’re not up to seeing her, I can go talk to her,” Andy said. “But I think you should go.”

“What?” JJ asked. “He doesn’t have to go. You’re his lawyer. You go. You go and tell her Chance is happy here with his new family and the older brother he’s always wanted. He is staying. You go, dad.”

“No, I want to go,” Chance said. “I need to see her.”

Andy nodded. “We’ll go tomorrow morning.”

“Well,” JJ said. “I won’t be able to focus at school. I think I should go, too.”

Marabeth nodded. “I will call and excuse you both from school.”

It was another long night for Chance. He played every kind of scenario he could think of in his mind. His mom left but regretted leaving and returned. But he was already gone and so she lived in the area hoping to bump into him. That was his favorite scenario. But there was another one that crept in. Maybe when she left him, she stayed in the area. That was the thought that kept him up all night.

The next day, all four of them climbed in Andy’s Ford and headed to the address on the Post-it note. JJ tried to engage Chance in conversation but for the most part, he rode silently.

It felt like an extra long drive until they pulled up in front of a rundown peach colored house. An old mattress was in the front yard along with car parts.

As they walked to the door, Andy said, “The PI said she is usually home in the mornings. Her shift at the diner doesn’t start until afternoon.”

They approached the door. “Ready?” Marabeth asked Chance.

Chance looked at the door then at all of them. “Sure,” he said.

Andy nodded and rang the doorbell.

An older woman with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth answered. She looked at the four of them. “I don’t need religion,” she said.

Chance stepped closer. “Thelma?” he asked.

Surprised to hear her name she looked at him and squinted. “Chance? Chance my boy, is that you?”

“It’s me,” he said. He looked at the other three. “Thelma worked with my mom at the diner before she left.”

“Before who left?” she asked the cigarette dangerously close to falling out of her mouth. “She told me you ran away.”

Marabeth put her arm around Chance and squeezed his shoulder.

“I didn’t leave,” Chance said slowly. “She did.”

Thelma looked at the four of them. “Should have known that. In the time I’ve known her, your momma has been a wild-child.” She opened her door wider. “I guess you better come in and get this all settled.”

Chance didn’t want to go in. He found out all he needed to know. But Marabeth guided him in. The house was small and it was evident Thelma was a bit of a hoarder because every space had stacks of something in it. Stacks of magazines. Stacks of bags. Stacks of frozen food boxes. You name it, there was a stack.

“Crystal,” she called. “You have company.”

After a few minutes, a younger woman came into the room. She probably was no more than 40 and a little younger than Marabeth. But her lifestyle had aged her face.

“What?” she asked. When she saw Chance she stopped. “What are you doing here?”

This was the worst-case scenario he thought of last night. There was no denying or pretending. She had never looked for him. Not once.

“Mom,” he said weakly. “Why did you leave me?”

She scratched her forehead. “Look, some women are naturals at being a mother. You know I never was. It wasn’t my thing. But I tried. I tried as long as I could. But you’re old enough to take care of yourself now.”

“He’s fifteen,” Marabeth stepped forward.

“And it looks like he’s doing just fine,” she ran her hand on his shirt. “All dressed up with these nice-looking folks. You landed on your feet just fine, just fine.” She patted his chest.”

“You want me to thank you?” Chance asked his voice rising. “I slept under an overpass. I went to jail.”

“But you’re not there now, are you?” she matched his voice level. “You landed on your feet, boy, you landed on your feet.”

He shook his head and turned away.

“We want to adopt Chance,” Andy stepped forward with the document. “We just need your signature and we will get out of your way.”

“Adopt?” Crystal asked. “Why would you want to do that?”

“He’s part of our family,” Marabeth said standing next to Chance.

Crystal licked her lips and sized up the family. “Well now, he is still my son. We may not live under the same roof but he is still my son.”

Marabeth looked at her in such a way that Andy thought he might need to protect Crystal from Marabeth.

Instead, Marabeth calmly said, “Boys, why don’t you step outside and leave the two of us alone.” She took the papers from Andy and watched them step outside.

Andy, Chance, and JJ went out to the front porch and waited. Chance and JJ sat down on the step. Andy hovered at the door trying to eavesdrop if he needed to rescue Crystal from his wife.

Finally, Marabeth walked out. Andy raised his eyebrow in a silent question. She slapped the paperwork on his chest and he grabbed it. He looked at it quickly. “She signed it!”

“Chance,” Marabeth said quietly. “Please go in and say goodbye to your mother.”

He nodded and went back inside.

“How did you do it?” Andy asked.

“I told her to do one good motherly thing for her son by giving him a better life.” Marabeth said.

“And that worked?” Andy asked.

“Oh no,” she said and looked to make sure Chance wasn’t coming out. She lowered her voice, “I had to make a small charitable donation to her favorite charity.”

“Her favorite charity?” JJ asked.

“Herself,” Marabeth said. “But that remains here. Chance is to never know his mother sold him.”

“How much?” JJ asked.

“It was a steal,” she said.

A few minutes later, Chance came back out. His mother stood at the doorway and he waved as they pulled away. She did not wave back but shut the door.

When they were halfway home, Chance asked, “How much did you give her?”

“What?” Marabeth asked surprised.

“I know my mom. I know that act she gave us was her way of attempting to get some money. How much did you have to give her?”

“I appealed to her sense of motherhood. To give you a better life. She recognized the merits of that.” Marabeth said.

He nodded. “Sure, okay.”

“We got her signature,” Andy said. “That means you are officially one of us now. There’s no turning back.”

“Oh,” JJ said, “is your name going to be Chance Bell Lucas-Simpson now? Because that would be great if you joined me in the long moniker club. We’ll have to shorten your name to CB though.”

“No more Nerd-O?” Chance asked.

“Are you still a supersmart Nerd?” Chance asked.

Chance shrugged. “Guess I am.”

“Yeah, I think that name has gone to your head. CB, CB is a better name.”

Chance smiled.

The next week, Chance sat down to his very first family Thanksgiving dinner. He hoped someday he’d see his mom again just to thank her for making this possible. He hoped she could learn to be happy now that she didn’t have him to take care of. As he thought of the events that brought him to the table, he also thought of Rooster and hoped Rooster had a place to eat. When it came time for him to say what he was thankful for, he didn’t know where to start. So, he just said the tip of the iceberg. “I’m thankful to be here.”