"THAT IT has been, Mum." I replied. I opened the car door and enveloped my mother in a warm embrace. I let the smell of her linger in my nose, and when I opened my eyes, I gave Bertie a 'brotherly' hug.

"What's up, Freddie?" Bertie asked, returning our bonding gesture. "Is that the lucky lass called Amelia?" he looked into the car from a distance, seeing Amelia in the passenger's side.

I nodded. Although my heart sank at the realization that I couldn't call her my fiancé. "Yup," I replied. "that's her." I looked back at my younger brother and knitted my eyebrows together. "Does Mum know?" I mumbled under my breath. I didn't want to break my mother's heart by informing her that Amelia was once my girlfriend but now she was just a friend due to the fact she wasn't ready to officially be mine.

Bertie shook his head. "Nope."

"Okay," I said, "good." I then look over to my mother. "Hey Mum? Would ye like me to help you get up to yer room?" I asked. My mother gave me a sweet smile and accepted my invitation. "Can you help Amelia get the luggage, mate?" I asked, taking my mother's arm and swung it around me.

Bertie immediately obeyed. And soon enough, I was inside my childhood home. The memories began to flood, but this time, I didn't bother stressing whether they haunted me or not. I was here for my mother and brother. What awaited for me after that wasn't important.

..

Being inside the home you'd once lived in after so many years becomes foreign yet familiar to you. For me, being in my mother's bedroom was just that. The curtains were still white, the canopy hovering over her bed was still there, the only difference was that there were holes in the wall. I tensed up at the sight of them. The bastard was going to pay.

"Who's that bird in yer car, Alfred?" Mum asked me, referring to Amelia while smiling.

I sat at the edge of her bed, holding on to her hand tightly. "That's my friend, Amelia, Mum." I replied.

"She looks lovely," she replied. "maybe she might become more than a friend." she sniffles, a joyful tear trickling down her thin face. "It would make sense, love. Two friends of the different sexes never just stay friends." she continued. "It's so good to see ye, sweetheart. Where have you been all these years?"

I figured that because I was in a gang, I didn't feel the need to tell my mother that I was running one of my own. If she found out that I had smuggled drugs, slept around, killed people and other types of bullshite, it would make things worse for her than they already were. However, aside from my gang leader lifestyle, I was going to Cambridge University, so I decided to let her know that -- technically I wasn't lying.

"I've been in Uni." I replied, "I'm studying Spanish and Arabic."

"Oh, how lovely." she replied. "Did ye stay with Granny when ye were fifteen? I know living 'ere was hard. Especially with that drunkard." Mum huffed. "Even as my condition is worsening, the asshole still treats me like shit."

"It's alright now, Mum." I reassured her. "And yes, I did. Now I don't want ye to stress Mum. You need rest, ye look tired." I removed a strand of one of her graying blonde locks over her head. "Want me to make ye a cuppa?"

She nodded, her eyes drooping. Immediately I got up, kissed her head, and went to make my mother a fresh cup of tea.

...