Chapter 3--Matt


Matthew woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the day that was ahead of him. He was going to spend most of the day with the girl who had moved in next door the day before. He had only known her for less than a day and already he felt as though he had known her his whole life. He couldn’t believe that such a person existed.

When he finally decided to get out of bed, he got dressed and went down stairs to eat some breakfast. His mom was already in the kitchen cooking. There was eggs, bacon, toast, and fried potatoes, his favorite breakfast foods. He sat down at the table and began to eat. It was delicious. Matthew thanked his mom and went into the living room.

While in the living room, he sat on the couch “watching T.V.” The whole time he was in there, all he could think about was Kile. He wanted more than anything to be near her. She was the most amazing person he had ever met. All of a sudden, in the midst of his thoughts about Kile, he began thinking about their conversation the night before. When he got to the part when Kile asked about his father, his spirits dropped. He missed his father terribly. It had been years since Michael Mitchell had passed away, but it still hurt them to think about it. Matt had been extremely close to his father. He remembered exactly how he had felt when his mother had told him what was going to happen, and how he felt when it did. It may have been a long time ago, but he still remembered it vividly.

*****************************************

On September 14, 2006, Michael Mitchell was lying in the hospital bed, waiting. He didn’t know exactly what he was waiting for. He just knew that he was supposed to wait for something. He had been in the hospital for months on end for the last two years. Between going for check ups, follow ups, and chemo therapy, Michael was exhausted. He knew his time was coming. He knew the Lord wasn’t going to make him suffer much longer, and he could feel it. He could tell that he was getting weaker and weaker, and it was happening much faster than before.

He heard the door open and saw his wife and five year old son walk through the door. Seeing them, the people he loved the most, walk through those doors made him smile. He knew he didn’t have much time left with them, and that was the only thing that made him sad. He loved his wife. They had had ten years and a beautiful son together. It hurt him to think that he would leave his only son without a father. It made him wish he had more time with them, as it would anyone else.

Stephenie and Matthew walked to the bed where their beloved father and husband lay there completely helpless. Michael could see the pain in the eyes of his wife. He knew his son didn’t know what was going on, but he would soon enough. Stephenie hugged and kissed him, she did this with a smile on her face. She knew too that it wouldn’t be long. She knew that soon enough Michael would be out of pain and happy, but she wasn’t quite ready to let go.

Stephenie lifted Matthew onto the bed. Matthew hugged his father. Michael could see a hint of a tear in his eyes. Stephenie must have talked to him before they came into the room. Matt must know a little of what’s going on right now. Then his son’s question answered his thoughts.

“Daddy, what’s going to happen to you?”

With pain, fear, and hurt in his voice, he answered, “Matthew, buddy, I’m not going to be here with you much longer.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, it means that I’m going to heaven soon.”

Matthew’s eyes began to tear up. “Why?”

“Well, Matt, I’m very sick. You know that. I’ve got cancer, and the doctors can’t do anything else to help me. They have tried everything. They aren’t giving up, they just ran out of options.”

“Daddy, I’m going to miss you.”

“I know, buddy. It’ll all be okay. I promise. Your mommy will take good care of you, and just know that I’ll always be in your heart. ALWAYS remember that I love you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy.”

“And, Stephenie, I love you. Remember I will always be in your heart, too.”

“Oh, Michael. I love you, too.”

That night, after Stephenie had sent Matthew home with his grandparents, Michael passed away. It was extremely hard on the entire family. Stephenie wasn’t sure if her or Matthew could handle it. But, somehow, knowing everything Michael had said helped them through it. They never stopped believing in what he had told them.

*****************************************

Just thinking about the day that all of that took place, made Matthew sad. He felt wetness on his face. He must have been crying. He looked around the room, and luckily his mother hadn’t seen him. He had been telling himself everyday after the death of his father that he had to be strong for his mother. He was afraid if she saw him sad or unhappy, that it would make her sad and unhappy, and she didn’t need that right now. She had enough to worry about.

Just then the doorbell rang. Matt wiped his face and went to answer the door. It was Kile. Boy, was he glad to see her.

“Hi, Kile. Do you want to come in?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

“No problem. What’s up?”

“Nothing really. I kinda got tired of all the unpacking and thought maybe you’d like to hang out.”

“I’d like that. I need to get out, too.”

“Where do the kids in this town go to hang out?”

“Well, there are a lot of places here to hang out, but most of us go either to the park or the arcade.”

“The park sounds like fun.”

“Okay then. I know the way. Do you have a bike or do you want to walk?”

“Well, my bike’s still on the truck,” she said pointing to the huge 18-wheeler parked in front of her house.

“Okay, we’ll walk then,” he said to her. “Mom, I’m gonna go to the park with Kile. I’ll be back before lunch!”

“Okay, sweetie. Have fun!”

They walked out the door and onto the sidewalk. They talked the whole way. Mostly about the most random things that anyone could ever imagine talking about. Matthew had fun, and he was hoping she did, too. They ran around and played for two hours. When Matthew looked at his watch, he saw that it was almost time for lunch.

“Hey, Kile. We should head back. It’s almost time for lunch.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Once again, they talked the whole way, and again it was about the most random things that a person could think of. Like cars, animals, school, friends, and Kile’s old school. It was quite the conversation. On the way home they passed by my house. I was outside. He yelled a quick hello, and continued walking. He began telling Kile about me.

“That was my friend, Nora. We’ve been friends since we were in diapers. And, every year since preschool we’ve been in the same classes.”

“I had a friend like that in Michigan. Her name was Katie. Our mom’s were friends when they were in high school, and I guess we kinda carried on the tradition. We had ideas for our future and everything. We wanted to get married and have children at the same time, so that our children could grow up together just like our mom’s had..”

“That would be fun.”

“Yeah, it’s what our mom’s did. Our birthday’s were so close together that we shared birthday parties. It was great.”

“That sounds awesome. I bet you really miss her.”

“I do. In some ways, I wish my parents hadn’t moved us here. If they hadn’t me and Katie would be starting Jr. High together.”


“It must be really hard on you. I don’t know what I would do if either me or Nora moved. She was one of the things that kept me from falling apart when my dad died. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

“Same with me and Katie, but it wasn’t my father that died, as you already know. It was hers. It wasn’t too long ago actually.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That must have been hard on you, too. I mean being so close to her family.”

“Yeah, it was, but we got through it together.”

“That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Before he knew it, they were already back to their houses. They said their goodbye’s and made plans to get together later that afternoon. Then, they both split up and went into their own homes.

Matt went inside, and his mom had lunch ready. She was just sitting down when he walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, mom. Sorry I’m late.”

“Oh, it’s okay. I just finished making lunch.”

Matt sat down and ate while his mother asked questions about his morning. She asked what they did, and if they had fun. He told her that they went to the park and ran around, and that they had a lot of fun. Stephenie told him she was glad he had found a friend in the new neighbors. She suggested that he call me and ask if I wanted to hang out with him and Kile. He thought that was a great idea.

When he finished eating, he went upstairs to his bedroom to call me. He dialed the memorized number, and waited until I answered.

“Hello?”

“Nora? It’s Matthew.”

“Oh. Hi, Matt. What’s up?”

“Nothing much. Actually, I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out with me today.”

“Sure. Is that girl you were with going, too?”

“Yeah. She’s new in town, and doesn’t know anyone. She lives next door to me. My mom invited her family to dinner last night, and we kinda became friends.”

“Oh, okay. That sounds like fun. What time?”

“Around two?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Okay. We’ll come by and get you.”

“Okay. I’ll be here,” she said laughing.

“Okay. See you then!”

“See you then! Bye!”

“Bye!”

He got off the phone with me and went back downstairs. He let his mom know that I was going to go out with them today. She said that it was fine, and asked where we were going. He didn’t really know where we were going. He would figure it out later.

Him and Kile were hanging out when it was time to go get me. Matt went into his house to let his mom know that they were leaving. She asked them to be back by five. So, with that taken care of, they walked the two blocks back to my house. It didn’t take them long.

“Hey guys. Come on in.”

“Nora, this is Kile, my new neighbor.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” Kile responded shyly.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked.

“Well, I was thinking that we would go to the arcade or something,” Matt said.

“Okay. The arcade sounds fun. I haven’t been in a while,” I told him. “Let me just go tell my mom.”

“Okay.”

“She seems really nice,” Kile said to Matt when I had left the room.

“She is. Like I said, she’s my best friend.”

“Okay, my mom said to be back by five.” I said when I returned.

“That’s when we’re supposed to be back, too.”

“Let’s go then.”

We left my house, and walked the three more blocks to Phoebe's Arcade. It was fairly new. It was a tallish building that was painted with vibrantly bright colors. It was our favorite place to hang out. It had the best of both worlds: pizza and video games. So, you can only imagine why we liked it so much.

It was a Tuesday in the middle of June, so Phoebe’s wasn’t really that full. Most of the kids in town were either on vacation or just getting home. That was one of the best things about Phoebe’s during the summer. None of us knew that this would be the place that so many different life changing events for us would take place.

We messed around for almost three hours that day. We all had so much fun, and I really liked Kile. She was a cool and fun person to hang out with. We had so much in common that I could tell we were going to be great friends. Time flew while we were there. Before we knew it, it was 4:30. We decided that we should probably walk back to my house. We wanted to make sure none of us were late.

When we got back to my place, me and Kile exchanged phone numbers. Then, they went to their own homes.

Once Kile and Matt were back at their houses, they said goodbye for the night and returned indoors where their parents were waiting for them with dinner on the table.

“Did you have fun with Kile and Nora?” asked Matt’s mom.

“Yeah. We went to the arcade,” replied Matt.

“That’s good. When are you all going to hang out again?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe tomorrow depending on what everyone’s doing.”

“Well, you can’t go with them tomorrow. We’re going to see your grandmother.”

“Okay. I’ll let Kile know. She’s probably got unpacking to do, and that’ll let her catch up.”

“That’s a good idea.”

When Matt finished eating, he went upstairs to his bedroom. Kile was in her bedroom, too. He decided that they could easily talk from their bedrooms through the windows, so he tried to get her attention, and it worked.

“Hey, Kile. What’s up?”

“Hey, Matt. Not a lot. Just thought I would unpack a little. How about you?”

“Nothing really. I wanted to let you know that I’m not going to be here tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

“My mom said we’re going to go see my grandma.”

“Oh, okay. That ought to be fun.”

“Oh, yeah. Listening to my mom and grandma fight the whole time will be great,” he said sarcastically.

“Ha ha. That must suck. Is it her mom or your dad’s mom?”

“My dad’s mom. Which explains her and my mom fighting. Ha ha.”

“Ha ha. Yeah. My mom and grandma are the same way. Why is it that parents always seem to hate the people their kids marry?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s just some kind of unwritten rule. ‘You must dislike anyone that is in a relationship with your son or daughter.’ Ha ha.”

“You’re probably right.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Matt, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I’ve gotta go so I can get some unpacking done.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sounds good.”

“Later.”

And, they both closed their windows and began doing their own thing. Matt decided to keep from being distracted he would just close his window. He knew that if it was open and she was in her room, he would never get anything done, and he had been supposed to clean his room for like two weeks. If he didn’t get it done soon, his mom was gonna have a cow.

Later that night, as he laid down to go to sleep, he began thinking. He had had a lot of fun today, and hoped to have more fun with his friends soon. He was beginning to think that maybe Kile had a crush on him, too. Maybe something would amount to all the time he was spending with her. He knew he was going to dread the next day, but he was tired. He had barely closed his eyes when sleep came.