Chapter 2

Malcolm cleared his throat and tried to steady his voice before answering, “Yeah.” But deep inside, he felt far from okay.

“Can I come in?”

He hesitated for a moment before finally giving in with a heavy sigh. “Yeah,” he gave in, his shoulders slumping.

The door creaked open and Malcolm’s mother peeked her head in, her expression filled with concern. “Malcolm,” she addressed him, noticing his red and swollen eyes. “What’s wrong?”

His defenses instantly went up as he tried to block her out, not wanting to appear vulnerable. “Nothing,” he forced himself to say. “Just had a rough day at school.”

But his mother saw right through his façade and gave him a knowing look. She wanted to talk about it, but the last thing Malcolm wanted was to openly discuss his pain and failures.

Malcolm braced himself, knowing that if he gave his mother an inch, she would take a mile. She had a way of getting what she wanted without him even realizing it was gone. He couldn’t let her sense any weakness or she would see right through him, and most likely figure out everything about his week in an instant. It was only last week during dinner when she had already suspected he was planning to go on a date with at least one girl. Now, as he tried to avoid her questioning, she was sure to put two and two together. But surely she wouldn’t -couldn’t- imagine the devastating news his sister had delivered. All he could do was delay his mom, hoping to buy himself more time.

“Nah,” he refused as politely as possible. “I’m fine.”

“Okay...” she acknowledged with a hint of disappointment. “Well, if there’s anything I can do for you, Malcolm, just let me know.” Her persistent offers were beginning to grate on his nerves. All he wanted was for her to leave him alone at the moment. “After all, I am your mother,” she reasoned.

“I don’t want to be a momma’s boy or anything, mom!” Malcolm blurted out, feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

His outburst caught even him off guard, and his mother looked taken aback. Malcolm immediately regretted his words - the last thing he wanted to do was offend her. She was only trying to help after all. He knew she wasn’t trying to turn him into a momma’s boy, but it just didn’t seem like the appropriate time or place for their personal conversations.

“Sorry, mom,” he apologized quickly, hoping to smooth things over. “I’m just feeling a little stressed right now.”

“It’s alright,” she forgave him with a hug. “I’ll leave you alone for now. But if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.”

“I know,” he replied sincerely. “I just didn’t want anyone to see me crying in the first place.”

“I understand,” she acknowledged, getting up and heading towards the door. “Tell you what, what do you feel like having for dinner tonight? Anything in particular?”

A small smile tugged at his lips. “Lasagna?”

His mother returned his smile. “I think we have all the ingredients for that,” she said. “Lasagna it is.” With that, she left his room and closed the door behind her.

Malcolm lay on his bed for a while longer, thoughts and emotions swirling in his mind. Every so often, tears would slip out of his eyes but eventually they stopped and he was left feeling calm. He was content with being single, but he couldn’t help longing for some companionship with a girl.

The delicious aroma of dinner crept under his door, making his stomach growl. He inhaled deeply, savoring the warm scent of the homemade dish baking in the oven. His mouth watered as he thought about how good it would taste, and he couldn’t help but smile at how considerate his mother was being. He sighed again. He used to think that no matter who ended up being the lucky girl, she would definitely living up to all his expectations of a perfect mother figure. Now, however, he really doubted if he ever would find someone.

“Malcolm, Honey?” The sound of his mother’s voice yanked Malcolm out of his thoughts and back into the present. “Dinner’s ready.”

He slowly made his way down the stairs, feeling a heavy weight in his chest. Carla was already at the dinner table, her eyes glued to her phone screen.

“Honey, can you please put that thing away while we eat?” His mother’s voice held a hint of irritation.

Carla sighed, setting her phone face up on the table before joining them for dinner.

The three of them ate in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Malcolm couldn’t help but wonder if they were purposefully avoiding any mention of his recent breakdown. Was it out of sensitivity or embarrassment? He couldn’t tell, but he appreciated the unspoken understanding between them.

Suddenly, Carla’s phone buzzed and a message flashed on the screen. Before she could grab it, Evelyn snatched it from her hand.

“I’ve told you before, no phones at the dinner table,” she scolded, but then her expression changed as she read the message. Two words stood out to her: “creep” and “brother.” Without waiting for Carla’s protests, she read the entire message aloud: “Did you tell that creep brother of yours?”

Confusion and fear settled over Evelyn’s features as she turned to her daughter. “What is happening? Why is someone calling your brother a creep?”

Carla was frozen in shock. Her mother then turned to Malcolm. “Why is somebody calling you a creep? What have you done?”

Malcolm was also taken by surprise. “Nothing! I’ve done nothing!” he said. His mother’s face told him that she didn’t believe him. Malcolm couldn’t take it any longer. The frustration and hurt inside him erupted into tears as he exclaimed, “It’s not fair! I just wanted a girlfriend! Is that so wrong?” Without another word, he stormed out of the house.

Evelyn stood in disbelief, trying to call her son back but he was already gone. She realized then that something had been happening right under her nose and she had no idea. Turning back to Carla, she ordered “Okay, talk! What did Malcolm do?” Her voice brook no dissent.

Carla couldn’t meet her mother’s gaze as she whispered, “He didn’t do anything, Mom. I swear.” But Evelyn wasn’t having it. “Bullshit!” she shouted. “Tell me everything NOW!”

Carla couldn’t bring herself to speak, she simply started to cry. “I didn’t mean to, Mom, I swear!”

Evelyn remembered the phone still in her hand. She started to read the messages and saw it. It was a picture of Malcom’s list. “My brother’s list, ” the caption said. Several “surprised” and a lot of “angry” emojis reacted to the photo. Comments of “creep,” “dork,” and the like followed it.

She looked at her daughter, aghast. “Do you know what you did? What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t!” she cried. “I just saw it on Malcolm’s corkboard, I thought it was funny and posted it. I never thought the girls would react this way!”

Evelyn kept reading the messages. Then she noticed something: Carla had reacted with laughing emojis to many of those comments.