It is two days after the fight I had with Raphael that I end up having lunch with my mom. I don't have uni today and she's been quite stressed about fitting in with her job, doing everything right and getting along with everyone. She could use a change of pace for once.
I surprise her in her office, having called them earlier to make sure mom is still there, and knock at the door.
She doesn't look up, so I knock again.
I grin when her head finally rises and her whole face spells confusion.
'Donovan. What are you doing here?' she says while gesturing for me to sit in one of the cozy looking chairs.
'Figured I'd take out a beautiful, smart and hardworking woman today.' I say, grinning cheesily.
'Let's go have lunch!' I add and pull her out of her office, grabbing her coat and handbag on the way.
We get grins and waves all the way to the front door and someone even asks why mom had hidden such a gem like me. I almost giggle at that.
The restaurant I booked a table for isn't far away and nothing fancy at all. It usually really doesn't suit either of us. We only go out fancily for special occasions and even then we usually end up getting a sundae from Mac Donald's afterwards.
It is a tiny little every-asian-country-all-you-can-eat-buffet thing and I have been craving one for so long now. I love Asian food and so does mom. Unfortunately, my mate doesn't, which is why it's been Mexican or Italian up until now.
When we get there, we are greeted by a small, but seemingly happy lady with a hairdo far too complex for me to even wrap my head around. She smiles all the way to our table, makes idle small talk and then leaves us to get settled.
Mom is wearing a really nice dark blue ensemble. She's not usually one to dress up, but she always says for work and her son she always will anyway. She's a lawyer too, so she does have to look presentable at all times.
When I called her office this morning, I told them I was going to take mom out for once, so they said not to worry about how long it's going to take. When I inform mom of that, she's speechless at first and then proceeds to hit my arm.
I grumble and rub it, pretending it actually hurt.
'Oh suck it up, you big baby.' she chides, then stands up to get her first serving. Yes, first, because that woman can eat, even if you can't see a thing of it in her figure.
I follow behind her, loading my plate with all the deliciousness there is. I've even skipped breakfast to now have enough space in my stomach to eat everything. Food is my weakness.
Once we get back to our table and start our food, both of us end up stealing stuff off the other's plates and it's just a giant grab whatever you can fest.
I love these moments with my mom. Because it's only ever been the two of us, we have a really strong bond and I wouldn't change it for the world.
She's probably the most important person in my life, just about the same as my mate, which definitely says something.
We soon stand up to get another serving. We're still on the appetiser and haven't even touched the main course yet. This is definitely going to be a long lunch break.
'Thanks Donovan. This really means a lot.' she suddenly says, smiling brightly at me.
'Don't worry about it. You deserve it.' I smile back, 'And in all honesty, I've been craving Asian food for so long. It wouldn't even have mattered which country it comes from, as long as it's Asian. It's just been way too long.' I almost moan around my food it's that good.
'Oh so this was pure selfishness then?'
One of her perfectly trimmed eyebrows rises as she looks at me as if to dare me to lie to her.
'Of course it is.'
She scoffs.
'No mom, in all honesty, I just know how stressed you are. And since I found my mate, I've not really spent that much time with you and I don't want that. So yeah. This is for both of us. But never repeat that. That was so sappy just then.' I warn her at the end.
She suddenly starts laughing out loud, tears in her eyes and she can't stop. Everyone is looking at us, but the more I look at her feeling so free, I can't help to laugh too.
Soon, we're both holding our stomachs, our heads bright red.
'That was nice.' I said.
'Sure was.'
The whole of the restaurant seems to have gone back to their own food and their own conversation after satisfying their need for entertainment, so we don't pay them any attention either.
'So, have you seen that Raphael boy since?' she casually - yeah right - asks once we actually do get around to get our main course.
I take my time chewing to think. I don't think I've met him since, but I really haven't been paying attention and I doubt I would have noticed him walk by me either.
'We haven't talked, no.' I finally settle on.
'Maybe you should. He's not a bad guy, you know?' she says slowly.
'I know. It's just... I don't know. So if I'm being honest, the fight was really good. I liked it. We were just about evenly matched and I could let some steam off. I'm hoping it was the same for him and we can now interact at least somewhat civilly.' I explain.
It is quite an odd feeling to feel good about beating someone, especially for me, but there's no other way to explain it really.
'Speak of the devil.' I say when I notice the door open and none other than Raphael walks in.
I notice that his hand is wrapped around a smaller one and recognise the little boy from last time. Sam, I think.
Mom turns around abruptly, of course not at all subtly and Raphael immediately notices us.
He stands there for a second, staring in our direction, but then just turns around and sits at a table on the other end of the room. Fair enough.
'Seems like he doesn't want to talk." I point out.
Mom just shrugs and stands up to get yet another serving of food.
I roll my eyes. She is the complete opposite of elegant when she feels comfortable. Lucky for me, she always feels comfortable with me around, so when she comes back, she crosses her legs on the seat like a kid and starts eating again.
I laugh lightly.
This woman can be a stunning beauty, a real messy laze-ball or a deadly weapon and it all comes naturally to her. Yes, she was the one who trained me and taught me how to fight.
Since dad died, she's made it her top priority to make sure I know how to defend myself when she's not there. While her work is quite flexible usually, there are times when she couldn't come home for a few days and she was scared. Not so much now, but at the beginning.
So she taught me. All I now know I know thanks to her.
My ears pick up quiet, but taunting laughter from a few tables down and I curiously listen.
'New guy's out with his mom.'
'You think it's his mom. Could be his sister. I'd bang her.'
Another few snickers.
My hands ball into fists and I'm so close to standing up and walking over, but mom's hand rests on mine to signal me not to do anything.
I look at her, but she just continues to eat with one hand, keeping the other on mine, but not meeting my eyes once. She's heard just as I did, but she doesn't want to cause trouble.
I, on the other hand, do. However, I stay, because she asks me to.
'Think he doesn't have any friends?'
'So what. He's a loser. Although if that babe was in my family, I'd stay with her too... all night.' They laugh again.
'Think she'll gang bang us?' That has them almost falling out of their chair.
Right until two of them have their heads smashed right onto the table they're sitting at.
I turn around immediately and see Raphael standing there, looking livid.
'Shut your fucking mouths!' he screams, almost trembling with anger.
Everyone has turned around to them by now to watch the scene between an angry young man, a little kid behind him, two groaning boys and another three surprised ones unfold.
I want to intervene, but my body won't move.
It's when Raphael hits two of the others that I see mom fly out of her seat and stand in front of him.
'Stop it. It's fine, honestly.' she says, trying to soothe him. She ignores the four boys in pain and the fifth one frozen from his shock completely, only focussing on Raphael.
It takes a few minutes, but when little Sam pulls on his shirt, Raphael seems to snap out of it.
He kneels down in front of the kid and takes his hands.
'I'm sorry Sam. You shouldn't have seen that. What I did wasn't a good thing. Never hit people, okay? Only when you have to defend yourself. But if you think something isn't fair, tell them too, okay? I should not have done that. Remember it, okay?' he explains quickly.
Sam nods, a serious expression on his face.
I'm quite amazed by this short exchange. I didn't peg him as someone to either defend my mom or to have a relationship with and look out for a small kid like that.
Mom talks to him for a bit in a quiet whisper and I decided not to listen in.
When they leave, mom and I get the dessert in cardboard boxes and decide to take it to the park.
Neither one of us mentions what happened in the restaurant in favour of enjoying the rest of her lunch break together.