Sparks: An Inferno Prequel

by Yolanda Olson

  “Um, what are you thinking of having, um …” Now it’s Trenton’s turn to fail at the name of his own blood, but my son doesn’t seem bothered by it.

  “Don’t know yet, Mr. Miller,” he replies pointedly. “Still looking.”

  “You don’t have to call me that. You can call me Trenton, if you want.”

  Luke rolls his eyes at his menu before he replies.

  “Sure thing.”

  Dinner is quiet for the most part. Luke seems to have already become completely oblivious to the fact that his father is at the table with us and I’ve been spending my few spoken words attempting to spark a conversation between them.

  By the time picking a dessert comes rolling around, I’m completely over how they’re being with each other, so I do the only thing I can think of.

  “Sweetheart, when she comes back, can you order me a slice of Key Lime pie? I’ll be right back,” I say to Luke.

  “Where are you going?” he asks, grabbing my wrist and looking at me with earnest eyes.

  “I’m just going to the bathroom,” I reply with a light laugh as I wrench my arm out of his grip.

  He grunts as I begin to walk away. I catch Trenton’s eyes before I leave, and mouth talk to him before I disappear from sight.

  I walk through a small maze of chairs and tables until I finally see a sign for the restrooms and when I walk in, I let out a heavy sigh. I don’t really have to use the bathroom, but it’s the only thing I could think of that would force the two of them to communicate.

  Heading over to the sink, I place a hand on either side of the cool ceramic and look at myself in the mirror. For some reason, my eyes are red and half open, but I don’t pay my reflection any mind.

  It’s always been something of a liar when it comes to the real me. I know what Taylee Greene really looks like and it’s not the woman in the mirror.

  I decide not to look at her anymore because she’s starting to taunt me with her wicked smile and darkening eyes. There’s something brewing in her mind and I’m afraid of what she’ll make me do if I hold her stare any longer.

  Turning on the faucet, I splash some cool water onto my face to try and get rid some of the red in my eyes. I reach blindly for the paper towel dispenser and rip off a piece to dry my face with, balling it up and tossing it into the garbage receptacle as I walk out of the restroom.

  I’ve been gone long enough to give them sometime to at least introduce themselves to each other, I think, and I’m hoping that my little ruse worked.

  When I approach the booth again, and see them huddled in deep conversation, a small victorious smile spreads across my face.

  Looks like it worked.

  The moment Luke sees me, he coughs loudly, then leans back in his seat. I sit back down next to him and he smiles at me, slipping a protective arm around my shoulders and I lean my head against him.

  “Sorry that took so long,” I say to him. He shrugs and gives me a squeeze.

  The waitress returns with our desserts and I pick up my fork to dig into my pie when I notice that Trenton is watching me with serious eyes now. He looks like he’s debating on saying something and I raise an eyebrow.

  “Are you okay?” I ask him, the fork hovering in front of my mouth.

  He steals a glance at Luke who gives my back a quick rub, then nods.

  “Yeah. I’m fine,” he finally says, clearing his throat and glancing down at his small bowl of ice cream.

  “Vanilla?” I ask with a grin.

  “Old habits die hard,” he replies quietly, digging his spoon in. Luke seems to have taken after his father in the ice cream department, but I can see some chunks of chocolate something or other in his scoops.

  “Want some?” he asks, when he notices me inspecting his bowl.

  “No thank you, sweetheart,” I reply before I finally put a piece of pie into my mouth. I sigh happily and lean back. “This is so good. Here; try it,” I say cutting off another small piece and holding it out to my son.

  He smiles, leans forward, and takes the piece I offered him, then nods in appreciation. “Yeah, maybe we should order another slice to take home.”

  “Sounds good to me!” I reply happily. I cut another piece of my pie when I suddenly realize that Trenton is staring at me again.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him again.

  He clears his throat and pushes his ice cream around with his spoon, stealing another glance at Luke, before looking up at me with that damn serious expression he had when I sat down.

  “How are you doing these days, Taylee? Really doing?” he asks quietly.

  “Fine,” I reply evenly. “Why? Have you been told something different?” I ask, turning in my seat to stare at my son who’s pushing his ice cream around in his bowl.

  Just like his dad.

  “What do you do for a living?” Trenton asks, leaning forward. “Like, how do you afford your bills and the place you guys live in?”

  “I don’t have a job. I get assistance,” I reply, my eyes still on my son who’s doing his damnedest not to meet my stern gaze. “And because I’m able to stay home, I keep Luke home too. I teach him from a curriculum certified by the school board. Did he tell you that?”

  “He mentioned it,” Trenton replies evenly with a nod. “What else do the two of you do?”

  “That’s none of your goddamn business,” I hiss at him, slamming my hand on the table. The people at the booths and tables around us turn to look at the three of us and Luke chuckles.

  “Leave her alone, Trenton,” he says quietly.

  "What lies have you been telling him?” I shout at him angrily, giving him a shove.

  “I haven’t told him anything!” Luke says, holding up his hands to defend himself.

  “Taylee, keep your hands off that boy or so help me God, you’ll never see him again,” Trenton warns, leaning across the table and pulling me away from Luke.

  “Is everything okay here?”

  I sit back down and glance up to see our server along with some middle-aged man who’s wearing a “manager” tag pinned to his shirt, watching us carefully.

  “My fault. Totally. We’re okay,” Luke offers with a smile.

  “Alright then,” she says with a curious nod, before they turn and walk away. I can see where they’ve positioned themselves at the end of the bar so they can keep watch over us to make sure that I don’t raise a hand to my son again and it’s making me angry.

  “Well this was a great fucking idea,” I say sarcastically, shoving my plate away.

  “You’re pouting,” Luke quietly points out.

  “I think you’ve apparently said enough tonight, don’t you?” I shoot back at him, in a low tone.

  Trenton clears his throat loudly again before he takes out his wallet and drops a hundred-dollar bill on the table.

  “I’ll see you guys around. I should probably go before my wife starts wondering where I am, anyway. Remember what I told you, son,” he says, glancing at Luke who nods nervously.

  And just like that, Trenton Miller walks out of my life again when I need him the most.

  By the time we get back home, the silence between us is so deafening that I can tell Luke is absolutely uncomfortable with my demeanor. He’s brought this upon himself though by saying things to his father that he had no business telling. And even though I’m not entirely sure what the extent of their conversation was, I have every intent of finding out before he has a chance to go lock himself away in his room.

  As soon as we step into the house, I slam the door behind me, then shove Luke against it.

  “What did you tell him?” I shout at him angrily.

  “Nothing, Mom! I swear! I didn’t tell him anything!” he replies, holding his hands up to protect himself.

  “Liar!” I scream, swatting his left arm. “After all I’ve done for you, this is how you treat me? Would you rather live with him and his family? Because you’re more than welcomed to get the fuck out of my house if you c
an’t appreciate me the way I deserve to be!”

  Tears begin to roll down his cheeks and instead of seeing the confident young man I’m used to, I’m presented with a scared boy that I have no time for.

  I reach up and grab him by the back of the neck and shove him toward the hallway.

  “You can go to your room and you can stay there until you are man enough to tell me what bullshit you spewed to that piece of shit, do you understand me? I don’t want to see your face again until you’re ready to step up and own your fucking words,” I scream at him.

  The tenor of my voice scares me because the pitch is not quite me, and the look of abject terror on his face tells me that he knows what will happen soon if he doesn’t disappear from sight.

  Luke scrambles to his feet and barrels down the hallway to his room. He slams the door, and seconds later I can hear the unmistakable sound of furniture being move. He’s so afraid of me when I’m like this that he tends to barricade himself for a day or two until he’s sure I’ve gotten over whatever rage has taken hold of me. Even then, he’s very careful with peeking too far out of his room without permission because I’m liable to snap at him erratically.

  I drop down onto the floor and put my face in my hands. I don’t like to be this way with him—he loves me unconditionally and I’ll only push him away from me with my moods, but I refuse to poison myself to make things better and he seems to be doing okay with it.

  As okay as he can be, anyway.

  The more time passes that I’m alone on the cold floor, the more hopeless I feel. I want my son to hold me and tell me that everything will be okay, but I’ve already done enough damage to our relationship for the evening which means I’ll just have to deal with the feeling of emptiness.

  I get to my feet and walk quietly down the hallway, my arms wrapped tightly around myself as I stop in front of his door. I place my ear against the wood and sigh. I can’t hear anything inside—not the panting sighs of exertion, not the soft whimpers of fear. I hear nothing which tells me that he’s more than likely climbed out of the window as he tends to do sometimes and left me alone again.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper softly as I pull away from the door and turn to walk to my room.

  Once inside, I collapse on the bed and bring my knees up to my chest and begin to sob quietly. I’ve never meant to hurt my boy—physically or emotionally, but sometimes things get too much for me to handle alone and this monster comes out of me, lashing at the only thing that it can reach.

  I’m always afraid he’ll grow up to hate me because of the things that happen behind these walls, and I would never fault him for that.

  I’ve done unspeakable things to my son and nothing ever seems to drive him away from me except for when I speak bitter words to him.

  That’s when he hides.

  That’s when he shows me he’s still very much a boy and not the man I often mistake him for.

  I hope that when the time comes for him to leave me, he doesn’t hate me too much for all of the pain I’ve caused him.

  When I wake up the next morning, I have a splitting headache. So much so, that the small sliver of sunlight that’s peeking in through the blinds causes me to grimace and shrink under my blanket, but the material doesn’t move because it’s not just my arm weighing it down.

  “What?” I grumble to no one in particular.

  “Go back to sleep, Mom,” the tired voice replies, pulling me tightly back against him.

  It’s obviously Luke, which surprises me considering how I left our relationship dangling by a thread last night.

  I don’t have the heart to argue with him, to tell him that he shouldn’t be pressed so tightly against me, instead, I close my eyes again and hope that he gets tired of having to coddle me soon.

  After another half hour passes and I can tell he’s fallen asleep against me again, I take a deep breath and do my best to slip away from his arms without waking him up. As I get to my feet and turn to face him, I run my hands up my arms, my body shivering.

  I never knew I would be able to make something as beautiful as my son, and yet here he is. Fifteen years of age and as much of a man as any other I cross on the streets.

  It’s no wonder that I have to indulge myself from time to time.

  And it’s no wonder that he lets me.

  He’s always told me since he could talk that I was the most beautiful mommy in the world and his touch proves it time and time again.

  I turn my back to him and try as quietly as I can to walk out of the room when a pillow lands squarely on my back. I gasp in initial shock as I turn to face my son who’s sitting up on his elbows grinning at me with a tired expression dancing in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I tell him softly, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

  He looks so fucking innocent when he’s lying in my bed and it’s in these moments that I desperately want to touch him the most.

  I bite my lower lip and take a step closer to the bed, when Luke raises his eyebrows at me. He knows what I want, but will he be willing to give it to me again so soon?

  “Do you love me?” I ask him in tone soft enough that I know it will harden his cock. It’s a little trick I use when I want to love him with more than just my touch.

  “Aw, mom. You know I do,” he replies, leaning back against the pillows and crossing his arms loosely over his chest.

  “Then show me,” I say simply.

  Luke runs a hand over his face as he darts his eyes toward the bedroom window. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to jump, but it will be the last time if he sees fit to defy me again.

  “Ow,” I say, putting my hands to the sides of my head.

  “Are you okay?” he asks curiously. I have to hide the smile that slips across my lips when I hear the bed creak. While it’s true I do suffer from headaches that render me useless every now and again, this isn’t one of those times.

  I just want to feel his cock inside of me again, and the only way to do this will be to take him off guard.

  Luke comes over and takes me by the forearms, pulling my hands away from my face, and leaning down to look into my eyes.

  “Mom?” he asks timidly.

  When he sees the devious smile on my face, he takes a staggering step back, but I’m faster. I rush forward and push him onto his back, our bodies bouncing on the bed as I straddle him and grin.

  “Show Mommy how much you love her, little boy,” I whisper as I reach down and pull my shirt over my head.

  Luke pushes me away, but I pull him closer. I’m much stronger than he is when it comes to moments like this, even if I don’t look it.

  He knows he won’t be able to resist me once I slide my hand into his boxers, but this sweet boy—he’s constantly torn between pleasing his mother and saving his own soul from the monster I’ve become.

  “Mom, please?” he begs, pushing me away again. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  I raise an eyebrow and drop my hands to my sides. He should know better than to deny me the one thing I want most from him, and he knows that defiance isn’t something I handle well.

  Show him that he’ll always need you.

  I smack him across the face as hard as I can, the sound echoing off the walls in my bedroom and he takes a step back in shock. I’m fighting a war inside of my head right now to be Taylee, the mother and not Sister Taylee, the whore that let his father fuck me like the worthless soul I had become.

  But it’s no use.

  Not when I see his shoulders drop and the determination now gleaming in his eyes. He knows that he has to love me because no one else will.

  Nor will they love him—not like I do.

  Not ever like I do.

  I just have to be gentle with him and ease him back into the bed instead of knocking him over like a rabid animal sick with disease and he’ll do what I want.

  He always does, because he’s such a good boy.

  I let out a moan as
Luke pushes deep inside of me. He struggled a bit at first but after a few slaps to the face, a stern reprimand, and a warning that I’d never suck his dick again, he finally folded.

  I’ve only ever had two men inside of me like this, the other being his father, but his cock is so much more than just that. I can feel his love for me as he reaches down and pulls my hair, arching my body back toward his. I feel like an actual woman for what feels like the first time again when I feel his breath hot against my neck. The way he reaches around and squeezes my throat, like he knows that I need to be punished for what we’re doing, only strengthens my resolve for our moments together.

  “More,” I command him through grit teeth as he continues to fuck me. He’s thrusting into me with conviction, fucking me harder than he ever has, his hand tightening just a little more as I let out a gasp of ecstasy.

  Luke lets out a loud moan and I can feel him spill his seed inside of me, but he knows better than to stop until I’m done too. I’ve nicked his balls with a knife before for thinking it was okay to just finish and let me fend for myself.

  Luke rests his head against my back for a moment before he pulls out of me, slapping his dick against my ass, then turns me onto my back.

  A delicious grin spreads across his face as he leans down and gently bites one of my nipples while he slides himself back into me.

  The way our flesh sounds as he rams his dick into me is enough to make anyone jealous, but he’s mine—all mine and no one else will ever have him.

  “You about ready there?” he asks me, leaning down to kiss my neck.

  I nod and reach my hands up, gripping his shoulders tightly.

  Luke nods, the grin still on his face as he leans his body down against mine, wrapping a hand around my throat again.

  My boy is so good to me and he loves me and that’s why I’m very proud of our relationship.

  No one will ever understand it and that’s not something I care to explain.

  “Wait,” I suddenly say, attempting to pry his hands away from my neck. “Luke … wait.”