Second part of the story from the online class

“Mom, are you sure it was Robbie? I mean, you haven’t seen him since he was a little boy?” Beth pressed her mother as they sat at the kitchen table. Catherine had called her daughter the day after the robbery, babbling that she had to find the son she had lost twenty years ago.
“Beth, I know my son!” Catherine said indignantly. “A mother knows these things.”
Beth didn’t argue with her, but she knew that if she hadn’t given her the picture that she had discovered when she was researching her family history, that her mother could have been sitting across the table from her son and wouldn’t have known him. From the information she had dug up, her mother had been a full-on drunk when Robbie was a little boy. Catherine couldn’t remember where she had lived right before the divorce form Robbie’s dad, and the following two years were a blur also. She decided to listen to her mom, and help her, if she could.
“Mom, relax. I believe you. Robbie was the guy who hit you and robbed you.”
“Beth, he didn’t know it was me. If he knew, he wouldn’t have done any of those things.” Catherine’s voice showed how much she wanted to believe what she had just said.
Beth bit her lip, she didn’t know her step-brother, but from her mother’s description of the robbery, she was convinced that Robbie Jr. wouldn’t have acted nobler if he had known the woman he was terrorizing was his long lost mother.
“Beth, I need to find him. He needs me!” Catherine whined.
“Ok Mom, do you have any idea how we can do that?”
Her mother paused then and her head dropped a little. “I don’t know, Beth. He has to be living around her somewhere.”
“Mom, do the police know what he looks like? Did you give them a description of Robbie?”
Catherine’s eyes flashed, “Of course not, Beth, I told them some Mexican robbed me. I can’t have them arresting my baby. I would never be able to take care of him then.”
Beth held her tongue again, but it was getting harder to do. Her mother was so prejudice and maybe a little delusional when it comes to Robbie Jr.
“I know what I can do,” Catherine said, her face shining like she had just discovered a cure for aids. “I could report Robbie Jr. missing. Then, instead of arresting Robbie Jr., the police could help me find him. What about that? Your mom’s a smarty, right?”
Not wanting to burst her mother’s bubble, but feeling she had to help her mother, Beth, sighed and said, “Mom, I think that Robbie may not be looking forward to a visit from the police and the police might already be looking for Robbie, and you don’t want to help them with that.”
“Oh, yeah.” Catherine sighed.
“You could call, Robbie’s dad. I am sure he knows where he is?”
With a look that could slice a person’s throat, Catherine practically screamed, “Never! I swore I would never speak to that man ever again, and my mind hasn’t changed!”
Beth reeled back in her chair. It had been years since she had seen this kind of wrath from her mother, but it still affected her the same way. Catherine sat silent, her chest heaving. Beth looked down at the table, her face a twisted picture of mixed emotions. Finally Catherine broke the silence.
“I am sorry, baby. That man just makes me so angry. I know you are only trying to help me find my other baby.”
Beth did not return her mother’s gaze for a minute. She was trying to avoid the tears that would come if she looked at her mother right away. She knew her mother was trying to be sincere in apologizing, but she also knew that it wouldn’t take much for her to fly off the handle again.
Catherine spoke again, “What about hiring a detective, like they do in the movies? They always find whoever they are looking for.”
“Mom, that costs money, a lot. You don’t have that kind of money.”
“I have a little saved, you know that.” Catherine pleaded.
“Mom, you have saved a little money for Brianna’s college, at least that what you told me when you opened the account.” Beth remarked a little hurt that her mother would throw the money she was saving for her granddaughter for a long shot chance on reuniting with a son that probably did not want to see her.
“You’re right, baby.” Catherine said. “I did promise to help your daughter go to college. She is such a lovely girl. I really love Brianna. Ok, we can’t do that. But there has to be some way.”
Catherine kept glancing at the cabinet over the fridge, wishing she could have a quick visit with her friend in there, Jack Daniels. She knew Beth would not allow it, so she let it go.
Like a light bulb had been turned on in her head, Catherine lit up. “What about that AOL internest thing you used to check on the family before. You always tell me that you can do all kinds of things on that computer of yours.”
“Mom, it is called, INTERNET.” Beth corrected, looking down at the table. She paused a minute. She really wanted her mom to be happy, but she didn’t think Robbie would be good for her. She knew she could probably find out where Robbie was by searching some things online. Reluctantly, she finally responded to Catherine, “Yes, Mom, I can try to find out what I can online, when I go home.”
“Oh, thank you, baby,” Catherine cooed as she stood up and kissed Beth on the forehead. She continued standing, looking at Beth expectantly.
“You want me to go home and do it right now,” Beth asked with surprise.
“If you would, sweetie, I really want to find Robbie Jr. I know he needs me and I can help him.”
Catherine looked so eager and expectant that Beth decided that she wouldn’t try to dissuade her, so she stood up, grabbed her purse and kissed her mother goodbye with a promise to call her as soon as she had any information.
Watching Beth leave, Catherine realized that Beth really didn’t want to help her. As that realization settle in, Catherine began to get angry. Why can’t she be happy for me? Is she so selfish? She wants all my attention on her and Brianna. Well, she can’t have all my love. Robbie Jr. needs me and I will find him.”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Then she saw the picture of Brianna on the fridge and smiled. Ok, I know Beth loves me and she loves Brianna. She is only doing what she thinks is best. I will find Robbie, and I will accept whatever help Beth will give me. But I am not helpless. I know a few guys who might know Robbie Jr. They always hang out at Bennie’s bar. I think I could use a drink and Bennie’s sounds just right.
As Catherine got dressed for her own little bit of detective work. She rehearsed what she would say, how she would act, and what she would do. Slowly, though, she kept thinking about one thing, how she had left Robbie and Danny alone while she went out and got drunk when they were babies. She began to weep. She put down her make-up. The tears flowed freely, and she fell in a heap on the bathroom floor.
“What am I thinking? I have no right to even try to find Robbie Jr.” This line of thinking continued and her crying deepened. She crawled out of the bathroom and slowly pulled herself back to her feet at her dresser. It didn’t take her long to reach the kitchen. She went above the fridge, and grabbed her friend. Screwing the cap off and letting it fall to the Mexican tiles, she took a long drink, and said, “I will go to Bennie’s tomorrow.” No one responded to her procrastination as she shuffled back to the bedroom.
As the numbness washed over her and the bottle falls with no sound onto the thick bedroom carpet, Catherine muttered, “Robbie Jr., where are you?”