to number with incredulity. He felt as if he was constantly ramming himself into a dead-end, always ending stuck at an illogical, nonsensical solution for an exercise that was supposed to be part of a night’s worth of math homework. His paper, smudged with graphite smears and dusted with pieces of eraser shavings, seemed to ridicule him for his idiocy. Letting out a shaky sigh, Caleb slumped back into his chair in defeat. The question had all but consumed all of his resolve. It was then that his mother appeared in the doorway of his room, an expression akin to worry on her face upon seeing her son slouching morosely in front of his homework. She greeted him with a soft smile, kneeling by his side and scanning his messy homework. Her astute gaze brightened, and she grinned at Caleb—she knew what to do.
22
Once again, Caleb was snapped back to the present day with a start, looking down at his review sheet, only to be greeted by a slew of equations and expressions that were all too familiar. As if he had been hypnotized, Caleb had written a duplicate of his homework from weeks earlier. Chairs scraped against the floor, ricocheting against the painted cinder-block walls as his cohorts scrambled for the door. Caleb knew why they were so rushed and paid no mind to the swarm flooding the halls as he made his own way out of the school and towards a red bench in the middle of the freshly cut grass. Behind him, the swiftly moving throng quieted as it grew farther and farther away, the hubbub becoming nothing more than the quiet humming of a hundred voices from in the distance. The wind tousled Caleb’s chestnut brown hair, but he paid no mind as he once again zoned out. This time, he saw his mother walking down the road, the midday sun illuminating her skin. She smiled and held up her hand to wave at Caleb, who blinked in confusion. When his eyes flew open again, she was gone. Cradling his head in his hands, Caleb’s mind raced as he grew distraught. Whispering voices hissed the most outlandish suggestions to him, threatening to overturn all his sensibility and maturity for the sake of emotional closure. Screwing his eyes shut as his eyes watered and his throat seemed to cave in, Caleb took off in a mad dash. Away from the school, down the sidewalk, through the grass, and around the corner. He sprinted all the way to his humble home, panting as he lurched over the porch. He knew that his aunt, the kind but detached woman who had been taking care of him, was downtown shopping and probably conversing animatedly with the florist’s wife. Scampering to the back door that she always left unlocked, he navigated the furniture of all shapes and sizes that his mother collected. Not caring to stop, Caleb leapt up the stairs and skidded to a stop at his mother’s room, which had not been cleaned out since her passing. He paused at the door and then crossed the threshold for the first time in over a month. The scent of her still lingered in the air, which pained Caleb greatly as her likeness flashed through his mind. On the verge of tears, he pored over her dresser to find the shoebox of photos and other knickknacks that his mother had compiled over the years. He snatched the most heart-wrenching Polaroids of Caleb and her at the county fair, unable to look any longer at the goofy smiles he and his mother had worn. Her closet had been cleaned out by his aunt for fear of moths, but he found
About a half an hour later, Caleb flopped back against his chair, sighing this time resignedly but instead in relief. His math homework was finally done, a sinister beast finally vanquished. It was during times like this that he felt eternally grateful for the guardian angel and guiding light that his mother figure was. Leaning against the doorframe, said guardian angel smiled to herself as her son once again set about doing the rest of his homework in the waning light.