Lost and Found in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #2)

46. Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Three

E verett remained in the hospital for twenty-eight days to undergo medically supervised detoxification which included medication-assisted treatments. They were allowed to visit him in the visitor’s lounge for scheduled visits. Maureen and Allan attended therapy sessions at the hospital and Nar-Anon meetings in the community.

At the end of his stay, he was transferred to a residential rehab facility on the other side of Cheever for further help.

In the middle of August, Maureen and Allan traveled with Ashley to the West Coast to see her off to college. Although she was excited to be starting this next adventure in her life, she did get a little misty-eyed as they left. The one thought swirling through Maureen’s mind as she hugged her daughter goodbye was, What if she starts taking drugs too ? A year ago, that thought wouldn’t even have popped into her head. But the landscape was now different.

The only one left at home was Lance. After working all summer outside and usually shedding his T-shirt as soon as it got hot, their son was now a bronzed god, and his hair had lightened. It hadn’t escaped Maureen, the number of girls walking by their house on a Sunday afternoon, which was Lance’s only day off. But Lance was never home on a Sunday.

The first night after they returned from the West Coast, he actually joined them for dinner. As it was so hot out, Maureen decided on a simple meal of make-your-own bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches.

She set down plates of sliced beefsteak tomatoes, lettuce, and cooked bacon in the middle of the table. There was butter for the toast and mayo for the sandwiches. She then manned the toaster. Allan and Lance sat and helped themselves to the first pieces of toast on the table and began putting their sandwiches together.

As Maureen carried another plate of toast over to the table, she asked Lance, “When are you heading back to UB?”

He didn’t answer right away. He sat there, silent, staring at his half-eaten BLT.

“Lance, didn’t you hear your mother?” Allan asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Lance said. He looked up, first at his mother and then his father.

“Talk to us about what?” Maureen buttered a piece of toast and laid a few strips of bacon on it, followed by lettuce and tomato. She looked over at Lance.

He looked back down at his plate. “I’m not going back.”

Maureen laughed. “What do you mean? Of course you are.”

Lance shook his head. “I don’t want to go back.”

Allan frowned, finished chewing, and asked, “Don’t you like it?”

“No. ”

“But you did well in your classes.” Maureen didn’t understand this. They’d seen his grades at the end of the last semester, and he had done quite well. They’d been pleased.

Silence descended. Maureen blinked several times, never taking her eyes off her second-born child.

What was going on? What kind of fresh hell was this?

“Why?” Allan demanded.

Lance shrugged, but he finally tore his gaze away from his sandwich and looked up at them. “I don’t like school. I never have.”

They knew this. Lance liked the social aspect of it and the sports, but cracking open the books was low on his list. This was the kid that had declared at the age of nine, “I don’t know why I have to go to school. I know everything.”

“You don’t like the course,” said Allan.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Maureen asked.

Lance turned to look at her. “I tried a few times to talk to you when I was home for spring break.”

Immediately, she thought of the missed breakfast, and then missing him before he’d left to return to school.

“That was months ago. What about all summer?” Allan asked.

“I was working every day, and you guys were kind of busy with Everett.”

Allan shook his head. “You had plenty of time to talk to us about this instead of waiting until the last minute.”

Maureen understood why Allan was irate, but she tried to smooth things over.

“You’ve only been there a year,” she said. “Why don’t you see how the second year goes before you drop out? ”

But Lance shook his head. “No. I’m not going back. I’ve already dropped out.”

“What? You went ahead and dropped out without even talking to us?” Allan said.

“If you were having trouble, you should have told us,” Maureen said.

“I wasn’t having trouble, Mom. I’ve decided it isn’t what I want to do anymore. College isn’t for me.”

She didn’t know what to say. The landscape of her family was shifting so dramatically she no longer recognized it. It was like someone had dropped her on another planet. How could things change so drastically from one year to the next?

“Do you know what you want to do?” Allan asked. “Because if you’re not in college, you’ll have to get a full-time job.”

“I know that, Dad, you said that enough times when Everett and I were in high school. That if we didn’t go to college, we had to go to work.”

Allan had nothing to say to that.

“It’s no secret that I’ve never liked school,” Lance continued. “Not like Everett and Ash.” He picked up the other half of his sandwich, took a large bite, chewed for a moment, swallowed, and said, “I went to college because that’s what everyone does.”

Did they?

“What would you like to do?” Allan asked.

“I want to be an electrician.”

“Electrician?” Maureen repeated. “I didn’t even know you were interested in that.” How had she missed this? He might as well have said he wanted to take a rocket to Mars .

Lance finally smiled for the first time since he sat down to dinner. His bright, cheery smile that always reminded her of when he was a little boy.

“Electricity lights up my life,” he joked.

Neither Maureen nor Allan laughed. But Maureen could feel the tug of a smile.

“What about going to college for electrical engineering?” Allan suggested. “UB has a great engineering school.”

Lance scrunched up his nose. “Nah. I thought about that for about thirty seconds. Not interested.”

“I don’t know what to say. Have you looked into this?” Allan said.

Lance nodded, helping himself to more fixings for another sandwich. Maureen stood from the table to make more toast.

“There’s a year-long course at a trade school and then a five-year apprenticeship if I can get into the electricians’ union.”

“Do you have to do both?” Maureen asked. Although she frequently dealt with electricians with her work, she had no idea what the process entailed to become a qualified one.

“No. But I could handle the one year of trade school. And then try for an apprenticeship with the union. I’ve already spoken to Matt’s dad; his brother is in the electricians’ union. He’ll see what he can do for me.”

“Where’s the nearest trade school?” Allan asked.

“Over in Cheever,” Lance replied.

Four slices of toast popped up, and Maureen plated them and carried them over to the table. “At least you’d be able to live at home. ”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“When do you need to apply?” Allan asked. Maureen passed him the plate of toast. “Thanks, hon.” He took two slices and laid them on his plate.

“I already applied last spring. I’ve been accepted. It starts the first week in September.”

Allan looked up from the second BLT he was making for himself and nodded. “Good for you. That shows initiative. When does the tuition need to be paid by?”

“It’s not that expensive, and I’ve saved enough money working this summer to pay for it.”

“You know the arrangement. I pay for college,” Allan reminded him.

“I know, Dad, but I can afford this. I’d like to pay for this myself. It’s only for a year.”

“Great. But if you need anything, you’ll come to me, right?”

“I will,” Lance promised.

After dinner, Maureen and Allan sat out in their backyard around the new firepit that Allan had purchased the previous weekend. Their chairs were set back from the blazing fire. The brutal heat of summer was behind them, but the evenings were still warm. Maureen lit several citronella candles as the mosquitoes were out in full force.

Allan slapped his arm.

“Do you want me to go in the house and get the bug spray?” she asked.

“Nah, honey, don’t bother.” He looked over at her. “Do we have the ingredients to make s’mores?”

She laughed and shook her head. “The kids haven’t had s’mores in years. Except when they go to my mother’s house and she does them on the grill. ”

They sipped beer from ice cold bottles. It was refreshing. Maureen wasn’t a big beer drinker, but she liked the odd one in the summer.

After a few moments of silence, he asked, “So what do you think of Lance’s news?”

She sighed. “I don’t know what to think. I had no idea he was that unhappy in college.”

Allan crossed one leg over the other and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t think he was unhappy, just that it wasn’t for him.”

“I’d prefer he went to college rather than the trade school.”

“Why?”

She looked at her husband. Did he really not know? “Because I think he has a better chance of supporting himself with a four-year degree.”

“Electricians make good money.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

Allan probed gently, “Maybe it looks better if he’s a college graduate.”

Maureen reddened. “Gosh, that makes me sound shallow.”

Her husband was quick to reassure her. “Which you’re not.”

“Everything is so different.” Her voice was quiet.

“It’s no lie that we’ve got some challenges with Everett. But as far as Lance is concerned, I’m impressed that he took it upon himself to drop out officially from college and enroll in trade school. That’s a good sign of maturity.”

Maureen had to agree.

Allan took a swig of his beer. “Look, honey, as long as they’re happy, they’ll be fine. They’ll land on their feet. ”

Deep down, that was what Maureen wanted more than anything else: for her children to be happy. After all, a mother could only be as happy as her unhappiest child.