Do You See Me Now? ✔

Chapter 11 - The Truth

Friday, October 19th

     Jesse had been ignoring his mother's phone calls ever since Felipe had kicked him out of the house. She called at least a dozen times on Thursday, and Friday wasn't an exception.

Jesse wondered if she had forgotten the fact that he was in school until around one in the afternoon. By the time school ended, she had already tried to call him seven times. He wasn't really in the mood to answer her call.

She was probably going to tell him to come home and stop disrespecting Felipe. But to Jesse, it was too early. Too early to go back, too early to face Felipe, too early to pretend he was going to listen. He knew Felipe would test him, by making a new appointment to get his tattoo removed, and Jesse was never going to comply with his wishes.

Not just because he really liked his tattoo and because Calix was still impressed by him getting a tattoo in the first place. No, Jesse thought it would be a waste of money too, to get a tattoo removed within a month after getting it.

Besides, it was his money, his body, his decision.

There was just one problem, and that was the fact that he still loved his mother. He didn't hate her, even if she kept siding with Felipe and allowed Felipe to treat him poorly.

His mother was just as afraid of Felipe as Jesse himself was. And Jesse had witnessed Felipe turning his anger towards her whenever she tried to protect Jesse, more than once. He didn't want to go back to that same situation. But the least he could do was let his mother know he had shelter, and he was fine. She didn't need to worry over him.

But she couldn't know that, unless Jesse answered the phone and told her himself. So, when she called again while he was walking towards his bike, he decided to answer anyway. Even if he wasn't going to go home no matter how much she begged him.

"Hey mom," Jesse greeted her with a neutral voice when he answered her call. "I was in school."

"Hi sweetie," she greeted him back. She sounded sad, and that did something to Jesse. He didn't want his mother to be sad, or unhappy. "Good to hear you still go to school."

"Yeah..." Jesse took in a deep breath. "I'm fine, mom. I've got a place to stay, I'm still going to school..."

"Good... Good." She sounded a bit distant, as if she was deep in thought. "I miss you," she eventually whispered with a thick voice full of emotions.

"I miss you too, but I'm not coming home, sorry."

"I... I wasn't calling to ask you to come home. Felipe is still furious, and I don't think you'd be safe here, to be honest."

"All the more reason to stay the hell away from him," Jesse replied, unlocking his bike in the meantime. He was glad Axel got detention, and Calix went home with Francesca. He wouldn't have been able to talk to his mother freely, if they had been there. "So why are you calling me?"

"We need to talk, Jesse." She suddenly sounded a lot firmer. As if she suddenly was on a mission. "We need to talk, face to face."

Jesse didn't miss her tone of voice. She was serious, and she wasn't going to accept no for an answer. But that didn't mean Jesse was going to listen just like that. She had hurt him too, and he wasn't really up for a meeting.

"Jesse? I need to tell you the truth, and I'm not going to tell you over the phone. Will you please meet me at Shakespeare's in half an hour?"

"The truth?" Jesse repeated her words carefully. "The truth about what?"

"About you, and why Felipe hates you."

Jesse knew why Felipe hated him. It was evident with the way he had treated him for years. But to hear his mother admit he really hated Jesse, still stung. She, nor Felipe had ever openly admitted it, even if it was clear as day. His mother had just confirmed what Jesse already knew. But while he always had kept a tiny bit of hope that he was wrong, and that Felipe still cared about him a little, his mother's words had taken that away.