CHAPTER 6

          Brandon got near Annalise. She turned toward her brother and disappeared in his embrace. His arms surrounded her in a hug that nearly squeezed the air out of Annalise. Sometimes her older brother was acting like a giant panda.

“I’ve missed you, Anna,” Brandon said laying a kiss on the top of her head. “How are you?”

“I am okay now that I have you both here with me,” she replied and took a small step back from him, stopping right in the middle.

“And how are things between you and Mom lately?” he went on.

          Annalise lowered her gaze.

“Not bad…”

“Really?” Brandon asked.

“Well, at least, she stopped repeating ‘you should quit your job and get married’ during every lunch we have. Now she’s talking to me about her friends and their grandkids…” Annalise answered and smiled but the smile never got to her gaze.

          Brandon looked at her, then at Jeremy.

“We should talk to Mom about this,” he said to Jeremy. “Reassure her that as long as we are around Anna, she is going to be okay. That what happened in San Francisco was just a shitty accident and that it won’t happen again.”

          Jeremy moved his head. 

“Yeah, we should. But how to convince her that Anna is okay when we are…”

“What the hell! I’m standing right here, guys!” Annalise cut in, waving a hand between them.

          She gazed first at Brandon and then at Jeremy. They were so overbearing and overprotective! Still, they were filled with good intentions and love. They were fierce in their loyalty to her, and Annalise adored them for it. However, sometimes enough was enough! 

“Please, stop talking about me like I’m not present. Stop acting like I’m just a child in desperate need of your help. I messed up once, I agree, but I’m good now… Even if I’m not our mother’s favorite, I can handle her and my life.”

“Well, your begging us to come here ASAP says the opposite,” Brandon went on. 

“I just wanted a break from her nagging, that’s all,” Annalise refuted and raised her voice a little. “And, for the record, you two should come home more often.”

“We have demanding jobs, Anna, a lot of responsibilities… And we live in different cities…” Brandon replied.

“So what, Bran? I’m here every week and I too have a demanding job. Maybe you should make time! Both of you…”

“Anna…” Jeremy said slowly, trying to calm her down.

          Annalise took a deep breath and lowered her tone.

“I’m sorry I raised my voice… We’ll talk more about this later. Right now, let’s not bother Mom with our issues, okay?”

          Both men nodded.

“Good,” Annalise said, stood up on her toes, and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek.

          Then went toward Brandon’s car and took the flowers and the gift she brought for their mother.

“Princess Ann, when did you become so feisty?” Brandon asked and slung an arm over Annalise’s shoulders.

“I’ve always been this way. But I had to tone it down a notch right after you left for college and a lot more after Dad’s passing and Jeremy going to college. Mom was hurting too much and emphasizing her incapability of loving me, of trusting me, of motivating me would not have helped either of us.”

          Brandon took the roses and the little bag from her hands. Jeremy went back to the car and took a huge bouquet of roses.  

“Speed it up a little, Mr. High and Mighty!” Brandon exclaimed. “Let’s not keep Mom waiting for us. John is inside with her, but she won’t remain calm forever.”

“He eventually came,” Annalise whispered. “I’m so glad he did.”

“Oh, our ‘Great Captain’ is here,” Jeremy said, catching up with Brandon and Annalise.

“He said he wasn’t sure he could come. He was supposed to be in Georgia already.”

“Yeah,” Brandon added. “This weekend ‘L.A. Cali FC’ is playing in Atlanta. The team is already there. John told his coach he had to be here so his coach gave him a free pass for today.”

          Annalise nodded slowly.

“Good. I have to talk to him about something important.”

“Important?” they both asked in a curious tone.

          She saw on their faces they wanted to know more.

“That’s all I’m gonna say. Come on, Mom is waiting for us.”

          Brandon opened his mouth but Annalise raised her hand and stopped him.

“Okay, pretty girl,” Jeremy said. “This is not going to end here...”

          Martha Walsh appeared on the front porch.

“Should I move the table here, in the driveway, or are you coming inside any time soon?” she asked.

          All three turned to see their mother leaning against the doorframe, impatience evident in the way she was looking at them.

“We better go inside before she starts with the threats, like when we were little. You know she is still a pro in that department,” Annalise grinned. “Poor John… I bet he went through a long, exhausting interrogation.”

          Jeremy ruffled her hair then tucked his arm over Annalise’s neck so he had her in a headlock. He started walking toward the house, dragging her with him. When they got to the porch, Annalise laughingly stumbled from Jeremy’s hold and gave her mother a nice long hug.

“Happy birthday, Mom!” she said, smiling slightly.

          Martha smiled back then squeezed her slowly and dropped a kiss on the top of her head.

“Thank you, Anna,” Martha replied.

“Where is John?” Annalise asked.

“Where he always is. Since that boy bought me that damn big flat screen, every time he’s here, waiting for you to come, he’s always parked in front of it, watching some soccer game.”

          She hugged Jeremy.

“Happy birthday, gorgeous lady!” Jeremy said to his mother.

“Are those flowers for me, sweetie?” Martha asked him.

“Of course! Beautiful roses for the most beautiful girl in the world! And about the present Anna bought for you… It was my idea…”

“Liar!” Annalise exclaimed and pushed him slightly.

          Then she slipped past her mother while Martha was still making some small talk with Jeremy and entered the house. She went straight to the living room where she found John sprawled in the recliner, remote in hand, flipping through the sports channels.

“Hey, big guy!” Annalise called him.

          John looked at her and got up from the recliner. As he did that, he smiled broadly at Annalise and then held out his arms. She hugged him then took a few steps and looked at her best friend.

“I am so happy to see you here… But you should be in Georgia. You have a big game tomorrow.”

“Martha is very important to me, you know that. I simply had to be here for her birthday. My teammates had my back, and the coach allowed me to stay behind for a day. Tomorrow morning, I must join them in Atlanta or face his wrath,” John replied.

“This sounds quite exhausting…”

“Nah, I’m good… I also wanted to see you. It’s been a while...”

“A couple of weeks,” she added in a sweet voice.

          Annalise glanced back to make sure they were still alone in the room and then talked to John in a lower tone.

“Listen, I really need to talk to you about something. It’s very important. Can we meet later or are you having other plans?” 

“None… For you, I’m free as a bird, little darling.”

“Good… Great…” Annalise said slowly and nodded.

          His eyes narrowed and John’s expression became serious.

“What’s up, Anna? What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”

“I promise you it’s nothing bad. I have a favor to ask, and I would rather not get into it in front of everyone.”

          John frowned now.

“Is everything alright with you, Anna? Are you in some kind of trouble again? Do I need to hit, torture, and kill someone?”

          Annalise rolled her eyes.

“You’re too valuable to go to prison. And your team needs you to win the 11^th MLS title. Besides, I have Bran and Jer, more than willing to cover this part,” she said smiling.

“Anna, I mean it…”

          She looked at John with a serious gaze and calmed him down.

“Everything is alright, I promise. I just want to talk to you about a project I have in mind… Something quite interesting.”

“Okay, sweetie… You’re so mysterious… Well, even if you’ve got me curious, I guess I can wait until later.”

          John came close to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

“I will see you back at your place. We’ll have dinner and talk.”

“Perfect. Thank you,” Annalise replied, and she quickly pulled back when her mother and brothers entered the living room.

          Lunch was a lively affair. Her brothers squabbled and joked endlessly while her mother looked on indulgently. Annalise absorbed every word her brothers were saying since having both boys home was such a wonderful but rare occasion. 

          After the table had been cleared, they all moved to the porch to have the cake and the coffee there. Annalise looked at her mother’s expression while Martha was talking to her adored boys. She was ecstatic, she couldn’t have asked for a better present than to have her kids home, with her, at least for a few hours.

          Brandon was talking about some interesting projects at work and about his life with Alicia, while Jeremy was sharing funny anecdotes about his life in the trenches of the political battlefield. He was quite excited to work for a young politician, filled with new ideas and projects regarding the future of the country.

          Even John told stories about the last game his team won. He even scored two of the four points. His tone surprised her. John sounded so proud of his teammates. And he was so enthusiastic about the bond created between them, during the last year. 

“My boys…” Martha said smiling, looking at all three of them. “You are my pride and joy.”

          ‘My boys… My pride and joy…’

          In front of such words filled with so much appreciation, Annalise felt a bit out of place.

          THEY were Martha’s pride and joy… She was not included in their little club. Annalise kept looking at them in silence, smiling slightly. She knew her mother cared for her, but not in the way she cared for Brandon and Jeremy… or even for John.

          Martha was barely tolerating her. 

          Yes, this was the right way to explain their mother-daughter relationship. Since she was little, Martha always encouraged her to be the perfect girl, to sit straight and speak in the right manner. There was little mention of going to college, building a career, and being a strong, independent woman.

          So, if Annalise was doing great in school, coming home with straight A’s, she would hear a very dry and harsh ‘this is why I’m sending you to school’. What she won’t hear is Martha encouraging her to do better, to be better.

          After a while, Annalise stopped expecting her mother’s approval. Even if Martha didn’t want to hear about it, Annalise was now more determined than ever to go to college. Maybe in New York, since Jeremy was studying there.

          Annalise graduated top of her class. There were four colleges interested in having her: NYU, UCLA, UT Austin, and Stanford. It was a dream come true for Annalise… a dream cut short by her mother’s behavior.

          ‘I agree to let you go to college, but it has to be somewhere around here so that I can have you home every day.’

          For Martha, ‘here’ meant Anaheim. Not even Jeremy’s words or Brandon’s begging helped. She didn’t change her mind.

          Well, it was better than nothing.

          So, Annalise went to CalUMS (California University of Management and Science) and joined their advertising class program. She got her degree and, a few months after graduation, against her mother’s advice, Annalise moved to San Francisco and started working there.

          Joining one of the greatest advertising agencies in the city was like touching the sky with a finger. There was so much work to do, and so many projects to follow, but Annalise was having a blast. The money was good and there was also the possibility of getting a promotion.

          Everything was perfect. Every single part of her existence was finally going in the right direction until… Until the shit hit the fan and her life as she knew it up until that point, went down the hill.