Matthew part 1

Hey guys, I am writing a story. It is called Matthew. Here is the first part. Let me know what you think...

He would never go back. He had been on his own since he was six; nothing was going to make him go back now. Matthew Grayson was on his own, and he knew how to stay under the radar.

Ten years earlier

Danielle Grayson could not believe it. She had no idea what would happen to her little boy. A six year old. No one wants a six year old. He was her only family. What would happen to him?

Danielle looked at Matthew as she picked him up from school and tried to act as normally as possible. She didn’t know how to tell him that she wasn’t going to be around forever. She was supposed to take care of him for at least twelve more years. How could this happen to her?

As Matthew sat at the kitchen table, Danielle prepared dinner and gathered courage to say what had to be said. How could she word this so he would understand?

“I went to see someone today.” She said, trying to figure out the right words.

“Who momma?” Matthew said as he looked up innocently.

Holding back the tears Danielle turned away to answer, “The doctor.”

“Ewww. I don’t like the doctor. They give shots.”

“Yes, they do. But they also tell people what is making them feel bad.”

Matthew contemplated, “Like why you are tired and sleep all the time?”

“Yes, exactly.” Danielle was surprised that she hadn’t hidden this as well as she thought.

“So is he gonna fix you?”

“Not exactly. I have something bad in me. It isn’t going to get better.” Matthew was beginning to understand that this was going to be bad.

She couldn’t tell him what it was. She just had to make sure he understood that she was going to be gone soon. Cancer was going to take her away from her son. The only warning sign was the tiredness. How was she supposed to know it was so serious? Treatments would make the tiredness worse and add other symptoms. Was she really going to make Matthew go through that, or watch her go through it?

“Momma? It’s going to be okay, right?” Matthew looked frightened now. His six year old sense was telling him something was very wrong.

“Honey, I am going get sick. And I might not be around for very much longer.” Danielle wiped the tear from his little face. “It will be okay. We will have so much fun together, and then, you can tell everyone stories about me. You won’t forget me; I will always be with you in here.” She said as she tapped his chest.

Present day

Matthew slept in the park. He was glad it was August, no need to worry about frost bite yet. When he woke up, he looked in his bag for the letters. He read one every morning. He refused to forget the most important person in his life.  

It was mid-morning. After 2 weeks on the street, Matthew knew he had to find somewhere to wash his clothes. Three shirts, two pairs of jeans, and a sweatshirt don’t last very long on the street. He looked in his pockets; no money. That meant looking for somewhere that would overlook a dirty teenager in the bathroom. Gas station. They never cared. Matthew walked to the gas station on the corner and went to the bathroom.

“Washin your clothes in the sink is not a good start dude.” Matthew said to himself. “We gotta find work or somethin.”

As he walked out of the gas station, Matthew ran into a kid. He never even saw him, the kid walked straight into his legs. Matthew smiled, he remembered being in such a hurry that he couldn’t stop to see who was in front of him. The kid was cute, about six years old, with a curly fro.

“Sorry.” The kid said sheepishly.

“Tyler! I told you to walk. No more running.” A woman said as she walked up with two more kids, one about four, the other in her teens. “I am very sorry. Tyler here doesn’t know what the word ‘walk’ means.” She said smiling.

Something about that smile took Matthew back to his mom.