Vacation With my Mom’s Boyfriend

Ever had that vacation of a life time, but it still had that one thing that made it imperfect? Ever wanted to slap a guy right a across the face even though he was giving you everything you never thought you’d experience? Ever happen all in one summer?

My name is Marhi Swain and three years ago, I had the most amazing summer spent in Canada, Maryland, Washington D.C., and North Carolina.

My family is poor, so having a summer like that being stated as the highest class of royalty.

The only problem was the person who was providing my mother, my sister, and me with this vacation was my mother’s boyfriend, Rick. I never understood why I hated him like it was a hobby, but I did. It might have been because I was young and I thought he was trying to steal her from me, but I can never be sure. All i know is that I had something against him so much that I even talked to my mother about “crossing the line” with him.  I guess that says it all.

When we arrived at his house, I groaned. Of course, he had a big beautiful house in Maryland that wasn’t very far from Washington D.C. My mother, Linda, and my sister, Jennah, were swept away by the large house and the gorgeous views.

I rolled my eyes when Rick greeted us. He squeezed my shoulders and I quickly shrugged out of them. Looking back on that moment, I heavily regret my bratty behavior. He made my mother happy, so I should have stepped aside long enough to see my mom smile.

It wasn’t until I met Rick’s son, Steven, that I figured out that someone could be as annoying as Rick. Steven was irritating, loud, and perverted. Every time I said something he’d say, “If you say so, crazy lady.” I never understood why he said that. And he’d pick his nose, shove his finger in my face and say, “I found a moon rock in my nose!”

I’m not going to mention how many times I came close to punching that smirk from one of his stupid jokes from his face.

The most annoying thing about it was that Rick encouraged him!

It was a relief when we left that lunatic named Steven behind and headed for Canada. Rick had some business to do up there, so our family went with him.

We arrived in a small apartment in Toronto. The view was amazing. It looked over Lake Ontario.

I asked my mom where Jennah and I were supposed to sleep when I realized it had one bedroom. Rick ignored the fact that my question was meant for my mother and answered it anyway.

He pointed to the hall closet and I glared. There was a perfectly good couch in the living room, but the doors to the bedroom were made of clear glass so I guess they didn’t want my sister and me to see them fooling around.

My sister and I slept on sleeping bag and blankets in a hallway closet for the nest couple of weeks.

Everything in between coming back to the apartment to Rick was amazing. We discovered the best ice cream shop we’ve ever come across, we went on tours, and we went site seeing.

When we started on our journey back to Rick’s house, I wondered if there would be at least one whole day in this entire summer when I wouldn’t have to see Rick or his family.

I was relieved when we came back to an empty house. Completely vacant of Rick’s son or any of his other kids. I wanted to scream with joy when he said that he was going to be in and out because of business, so he’d be gone for the next two weeks.

In his absence, I met a good friend that I still send letters to these days. Her name was Nykiesha.

Rick had many empty rooms that he doesn’t need, so he rents them to other people, including Nykeisha and her mother. We went for walks, played on the playground, and both developed crushes. We had become really close.

I was excited to go with her and her mom, Robin, to visit some family, while Rick took my mother and sister to Six Flags. I was never one for the rides and roller coasters.

I got to spend the weekend away from Rick and with my friend’s very friendly family. We watched tv, played basketball, and went for walks to the gas station to get icy drinks.

I was upset when I had to go to North Carolina for camping and leave my friend behind.

We arrived to the camp site around noon if I remember correctly. It was right on the beach. I had to admit that Rick did a good job finding the perfect spot.

Although, I had to rush off to the bathroom building to prevent myself from having a panic attack when I heard that Rick would be sharing a tent with my mother.

If you don’t inculde catching my mother and Rick in romantic moments, it was one of the best parts of that summer. The swimming on the beach, the warm sun, and the shirtless boys on the beach was a huge plus.

It really made me angry when Rick made me so terrified I couldn’t enter the water. He teased me with stories of sharks eating children right up along the shore. For the last couple days of camping, I couldn’t get over my fears and swim.

The ghost crab hunting was the funnest thing I’d ever hunted for.

When we finally got back to Rick’s house, Nykiesha and I rejoiced. I was also happy to hang out on the playground with the guys we’d “fallin in love with” on the playground. I still laugh when I think of Spencer falling off the swingset, leaving his pants on the swing. He was laying on the ground in his Garfield underwear with his cheeks burning.

I have to admit that the relief of relaxation was almost overwhelming when we finally came home to Ottawa, Illinois. There was two weeks of summer left before school began session, so I soaked up the sun in the yard as much as possible before that dreadful day of schooling.