No Way Out by Fern Michaels (great books for teens .TXT) 📗

me some respect.” Then he stormed down the steps to his private sanctuary in the basement.

Jackson counted on his fingers how long ago that was. His next birthday was soon, so maybe it was a year. He wasn’t sure, but he kinda thought he might be right. He then thought about Christmas. Christmas came halfway between his birthdays. That much he knew.

He recalled going with his mom and dad to get a tree. His mom had picked out a super pretty one, but his father didn’t like it. “They dry out too soon.” Finally, they let Mitchel pick what he liked. It wasn’t much different than the first one, but it was better than listening to them complain to each other in the car. His mom sat quietly during the drive home.

Once they got back to the house, Mitchel turned to Jackson, and said, “Well, son, you want to see how a real man puts up a tree?”

Jackson watched as his father cut the lower branches and trimmed the trunk. He placed the base on the trunk and tightened the screws. He reached over to the top end of the tree and pulled it up so it was vertical. But it was crooked, so his father kicked the tree over and stomped down the basement stairs. Jackson immediately began to cry.

He remembered his mother running into the living room. “What happened, honey?”

“Daddy got mad at the tree and kicked it.” He was hiccuping at this point.

His mother rocked him in her arms. “It’s going to be OK.” He had heard the same words since his birthday. “Come on. Let’s have some hot chocolate; then we’ll see if we can fix the tree.” When he got up the next morning, he was happy to see that the tree was standing upright in the corner.

Jackson was going to have his first visit with his father the next day. He was extremely nervous. He kept reminding himself of what his mother said about none of this being his fault. But how come he still felt that way? He knew his mother would never lie to him, but still, his dad hadn’t been the same since his last birthday. It had to be his fault, even if it was only a little bit. Was it because they didn’t wait for him to light the candles? Sure looked that way.

Jackson deliberated about what he should wear because he didn’t know what the plan was for the day. He knew Grammy Haywood would pick him up, but he didn’t know what they would be doing. Going bowling? Playing ball? Taking in a movie? Should he bring his bat and glove? No one told him anything, which was making him nervous.

He walked down the hallway into the kitchen, where his mom was making cookies for the school bake sale. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yes, honey.”

“Do you know what I’m going to be doing tomorrow?”

“You’ll be spending the day with your father. But you know that.”

“Yeah. But what will we be doing all day? I don’t know if I should wear my good pants, school clothes, or my jeans.”

Colleen realized she hadn’t been told any of the details.

“Let me call your grandmother and ask her.” She dreaded speaking to the woman.

When she phoned, an abrupt “Yes?” came through the phone line.

“Hello, Vivian. Jackson would like to know what the plan is for tomorrow.”

“Mitchel said he wanted to take him to see some new space movie, but I don’t remember the name. Why? Is there a problem?”

“No. No problem. As I said, Jackson was wondering, that’s all.” Jackson could see that his mother was not happy talking to his Grammy. He knew Grammy could be cranky, like his father, sometimes.

“Well, as far as I know, it’s lunch and a movie. Unless you have any objections,” Vivian replied.

“That’s fine. As long as the movie is suitable for Jackson’s age. But please don’t take him to any fast-food places.”

“We’ll take him to wherever we want. It’s our time with him, not yours!”

“Gotcha. Eleven o’clock?”

Jackson watched as his mother rolled her eyes. He started to giggle. Then his mother gave the phone a funny look. He guessed Grammy had hung up because his mother didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.

“Looks like it’s going to be a movie,” his mom declared. “Some space thing.”

“Yippee!” He was excited to know that there was going to be at least one thing he would enjoy that day. He knew it was going to be weird going to the movies with his father and grandmother. He couldn’t remember if any of his friends went to the movies with grandparents. Yep, it was going to be weird all right.

* * *

The next morning, Jackson was up at the crack of dawn. He was both excited and anxious at the same time. He wished he could go over to Ms. Bowman’s house and run with Buddy before his grandmother picked him up, but then he would have to change his clothes, and he didn’t want to upset his mother. He could tell she was in one of her “worry moods.” Jackson came up with that term whenever his father didn’t come home for dinner and his mother didn’t know where he was. Once, when his father was absent from the dinner table, he blurted out, “Mom? Are you in a worry mood?”

“A what?” she asked.

“A worry mood. You know, when you worry.” Jackson thought he was making perfect sense. She smiled at her astute son then, so he decided to ask her again now.

“Mom?”

“Yes, honey.”

“Are you in a worry mood?”

She wiped her hands on a paper towel. “To be honest, I am a little worried.”

“What about?”

“Oh, that you’ll have a good day with your father. And Grammy.”

“We’re going to the movies!” Jackson said it as if there was no doubt they would have a good day.

“Yes, you are. And you’re going to have some lunch, too.”

“Will Dad bring me home?”

“Not this time. Grammy will drop your father off somewhere, then she’ll