Love never Fades

Love never fades.

Growing up.
My name is Aaron Fitz.

For the first twelve years of my life, I grew up like any other child. Going to school, coming home from school, doing my homework, playing with toys, just being a normal child. I was a happy normal child, until one of the most important nights of my life.

My father was one of the smartest people around, CEO of one of the biggest glass producing companies around and a person loved within the company. On the outside, Jerry Fitz was a great man, he made all his workers feel welcome at work, honored in all of the company meetings, but there are things that people do not understand about my father. He was a troubled man, I never got a grasp of what was inside of his head. He kept to himself, goes to work, comes home late, and would not care of my existence.

My mother on the other hand, held everything together. She loved me every single second she could, would help me with everything I had problems with. She was though, not a fan of my father after him earning all the money and fame.


The incident.

I was 12 years old, in 7th grade. I have always been a very good student all my life, my mother taught me a lot of things to do well in school and I did exactly that. Studied hard, took notes, asked questions or help when I needed it from my teachers. I loved my mother, she was the bane of our family, and everything depended on her.

This was a Thursday school night, I passed out quickly a few minutes after my mother put me to bed at 15 pass 10. A few hours into my sleep I was woken up from banging and yelling.

I was still dazed from my sleep but I could make out most of the conversation outside.

“Linda, let me go! I can walk on my own.” My father said loudly.

My father was a successful man, but he had many problems of his own and would drink after work from time to time. Most of the time he would come home tipsy and would fall asleep on the couch. But this particular night sounded and felt different.

“Baby, please, we need to get you to bed.” my mother sounded concerned.

“No, this is…” my father’s voice faded away as they went deeper into the living room.

I could make out a few words of their conversation, but mostly they argued while my mother cried and my father being aggressive with his tone.

In my dark room, I was very scared of the yelling and crying coming through the walls, I could not make out what madness was occurring in the living room. I had never heard my father like this. In my sleepy state, I could not tell the how long they were yelling for, I just wanted it to be over.

As it ended, my mother came into my room. From the lighting from the hallway, I could partly make out her face. She was crying, tears running down the side of her face and she sat down next to me on my bed.
I felt her hand on the left side of my face, and she leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. I could feel her tears dripping around me.

“I am so sorry…I hope you will understand when you grow up, I love you my baby boy.”

Confused, I muffled “what mom, what is happening.”

She kissed me on the forehead again and she left.

I sat there stunned on what just happened, my mother just told me that ‘you will understand when you grow up’. ‘What does that mean?’ ‘Why couldn’t she let me understand now?’

I heard a bang on the front door and my father’s snoring as everything went quiet again.

My mother was gone, never seen again by anyone. As of today, I still have yet to hear a word regarding Linda Fitz. My loving mother dispersed from the world…at least in my world, forever…


Life after.

*ring ring ring* I heard my alarm clock go off as today is a new day and my 16th birthday… Just like any other day for the last 4 years, I did not want to get up. There was no point. My father had been a drunk, living off the money he had made over his last 20 years, which was enough to last a life time.

The last 4 years, I had not seen any reason to do anything. Yes, I went to school… occasionally. I spent my days home, or at the movies. The movies was the only place I could find peace in, I would sit right in the back and spend hours in there alone, watching various titles they put on. I did just enough homework to sustain a C average, just enough to get by without anyone’s notice. I didn’t have many friends, a few from all the years of growing up, but they have gotten tired of me as I never had anything to contribute to their bullshit.

I should give a little information about myself at the age of 16, this is probably what I have been my whole life after my growth spurt at 14 years old. I was around 5’11, 170 pounds, on the lean side to the years of basketball. Basketball was the only thing I found enjoyable other than watching movies. Playing gave me time to be free whenever I shot hoops by myself at the park. I was a good looking guy, according to the girls that would constantly ask me out, but I had nothing to do with girls as I did not want to listen to their crap.


Friday

On that Friday, I decided to go to school because it was almost to the end of the school year and I thought it would be a good idea to be around for the teachers to notice I am an actual student, also there usually isn’t much work on Friday so I can relax. I did not like failing, something my mother had made me promise when she made me study, so I did at least some of the work.

I took a granola bar, ate it on the way to school and went into class sitting in the back, trying to stay away from other students.

I was off in my own world when I heard “AARON! AARON! HEY!” Apparently my math teacher Ms. Lee had been trying to get me to answer for quite a while now…

“I am so sorry, what did you need me for?” I was trying to play it off…

“I was asking you… If you knew the answer to this question on the board, but seems like you haven’t been paying attention…?”

I had no idea what was going on, although I never gave attention to the things we do in class, but I would know how to solve problems and do the work (at least in math and science) as soon as I saw it. I guess it was the things my mother had taught me growing up… naturally smart I guess… maybe it was from my dad as well, not too sure.

“Sorry give me a second…” I saw the question on the board, and it was an easy algebraic question solving for x and y with double equations. I answered “solving for x first with moving everything to one side… plugging it into the other x in the y equation…. x= 7 and y=16?”

“and… that is surprising correct!” my teacher did not expect that, but I knew how to do these from the practice my mother made me do when I was 9 years old.

“Let’s try to pay attention in class everyone. Mr. Fitz there might have gotten it correct, but doesn’t mean that you can sleep in class like he does…”

“I will need to talk to you after school Mr. Fitz.” Ms. Lee gave me an angry look.

Just another day… this would happen to me a lot as I never did really pay attention in class. I would go on my day sleeping, staring at the ceiling, doodling in my folder, there was no point to pay attention.
After school, I went into Ms. Lee’s classroom. She told me to shut the door on my way in. I shyly looked down on the ground as I stood right in front of her, I was afraid she would fail me for not paying attention and not showing up to class.

“Mr. Fitz… Do you mind explaining to me why you don’t pay attention in my class, or any class in school? I have been paying attention to you, and asking your other teachers about you. You are like a ghost to everyone, never doing work, never handing in homework, but yet, you do so well on your tests that you show up for. Tell me… why are you wasting your potential?”

I was baffled, shocked, stunned, whatever I was, I was speechless. I could not believe this teacher spent so much time researching on me, it was like she caught onto me or some sort. I have never heard anyone call me Mr. Fitz before, sounded like I was in trouble.

“I….” I didn’t know how to express myself. So I went to my normal response.

“I… do not know…”

“Let me tell you what I think Mr. Fitz. I saw your father’s name the other day and I had thought I’ve seen him before. He is the CEO of that big glass company, and he had this break down a few years ago? Something happened in your family, disrupted all of you, and you are now just trying to get by feeling that pain every day. I see all the work on your tests Mr. Fitz, you are one of the smartest people I have ever seen, solving these equations without me teaching the methods that I haven’t shown to the class before.” She paused to catch her breath and her thoughts.

“Let me help you through these problems, I see the potential in you.”

Still shocked by the discovery of this girl and all that she just said, I had no idea what to do. I stood there, still looking at the ground, no idea how to answer…

“Mr.