Kendra...

Click. Clack. Click.

That was the sound of my son's thumbs hitting the buttons of his new PSP. The PSP I spent a lot of money on as an attempted bribe.

Now, why would I have to bribe my 11-year-old son?

To eat his vegetables? To do his homework? To finish his chores? No.

It was a bribe to get him to move all the way to Washington with me.

See, Kyle was not thrilled about moving to DC and leaving his friends, and he made sure it was known. I didn't want to leave him behind and tried to sell him the dream that was Washington DC, and the new friends he was going to make. But he was not here for it, coming up with counter-arguments to everything I said. He even came up with a plan to stay with my mother while I moved.

But I wanted him with me and resorted to the old tactics of buying him something he wanted so he could do what I wanted.

He accepted the gift, played with it for an hour and concluded that he still wasn't moving to DC.

I was disappointed and was seriously considering letting him stay with my mother. But then I remembered something.

I'm his MOTHER!

He didn't tell me what to do.

So I went into his bedroom and said what needed to be said.

"I am the parent, you are the child!"

"Do I look like one of your little friends? Am I Jacob? Am I Craig?"

"Do you pay bills in this house? You got bill money? Exactly! So you don't have a say in anything!"

"Your narrow behind is gonna be on that plane to DC, whether you like it or not!"

You know, the usual stuff parents say to their kids show authority.

Now here we were, sitting at the dinner table, him ignoring me like he's been trying to do for the last three months.

I had accepted it for a while, thinking he would get over it soon enough. But as time went on, nothing changed. When he started to his new school about a month ago, it felt like it got worse. I wanted to blame it all on the move, but this had been going on long enough for me to know that it was much more than that.

He was becoming different, turning into someone that I couldn't recognize. He didn't talk to me like he used to and seemed to always want to be with his friends and not with me. He's growing up, I get that, but did it mean that he had to shut me out like this?

Oh, how I missed the days where I was everything to him.

I remember holding him for the first time in the hospital. I was overjoyed and terrified all at the same time. Overjoyed that he was finally here, terrified that I would have to raise him all on my own. Yes, I had my mother to help, but he was my son, his well-being, sanity, happiness and future all depended on me. My seventeen-year-old self wasn't sure she could provide all those things.

As he got older, raising him wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. He was a sweet, loving little boy, who rarely disobeyed his grandmother and I. And he was so helpful, always wanting to do chores on his own or help with a paper I had to write for class. He would get in the way sometimes, but I never sent him away. I took all the time with him I could get.

Now I wish he could get in my way.

And to make things weirder, he was looking more and more like Anthony by the day. That "light skin", curly hair, wide smile and strong nose were all Anthony. All he seemed to get from me was those chocolate brown eyes.

"How was school today?" I asked, trying to make conversation

He didn't answer, his eyes still glued to his device.

"Kyle!"

My voice raised, and the click-clacking stopped.

"Can you put that away please."

He slowly looked up at me, and I gave him the best mama glare I could muster. He knew what that meant. His game was going away if he didn't listen.

He turned it off and put it to the side.

"So, how was school today?" I asked again

It took a moment for him to speak.

"Good," he simply answered, picking at his food with the fork

I wanted more than just a good, but I'd have to work harder for that.

"Are you going to try out for the basketball team tomorrow?"

"I don't know," he shrugged

He was part of the basketball team at his old school, and I thought getting on this team would help him settle in and make some new friends.

"Why don't you know? You like basketball. And you're really good at it."

"I just don't know mom," he said tensely

"Can you please give it a try?" I asked and he stayed silent "For me?" I added

His attitude and behavior may have been changing, but deep down, he was still a mama's boy. Kyle would do anything to make me happy, and I was using it to my advantage.

You know that face kids pull with their parents when they want something from them? With the big eyes and the quivering lip? Well, parents have those too. And guess who was using theirs right now to get what they wanted.

"OK," he finally said with a sigh, after staring at my face for the longest while

"Good," I said, sending a wide smile his way

But he didn't smile back. He just looked down at his food with a strange look on his face.

"Sweetie, you OK?" I asked

I had been asking that question for the last six months since his behavior started to change.

"I'm fine," he answered, not looking my way

"Are you sure?" I asked, hoping he would change his mind and tell me what was going on with him.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he answered

Dinner went on silently. As soon as he was done, he went straight into his room and locked the door. He didn't kiss me on the cheek like he used to. It had been months since he did it. I kept telling myself that it was all apart of him growing up.

After clearing the table and putting the dishes in the dishwasher, I pulled my phone out and called my mom. She was always the right person to go to when I was having a hard time.

"How've you been baby?" she asked, her southern twang showing itself

"I'm OK. You? Taking it easy like I've been telling you to?"

"I'm a grown woman Kendra, I'll take it easy when I'm too old to walk."

I shook my head and smiled. She was always a spunky woman, quite the opposite from me. Sometimes, I wondered if I was even her daughter.

"So, to what do I owe this call? Is Kyle acting out again? Or do you just miss me?" she asked

"Both" I answered with a chuckle," But mostly Kyle. He's getting more distant mom. I know there's something going on with him, but he doesn't want to tell me."

"He's growing up Kendra, and he wants to figure things out on his own."

"What if it's something big? What if he needs me for this?"

"Maybe it is big, and he does need you. But he needs to figure that out on his own too."

"I don't like being shut out," I groaned in frustration

"Neither did I," she said "You did the same thing to me. Preteen and teen years were hard. You were trying to figure out who you were and that's not something I could have taught you. I didn't like it one bit, but I had to let it happen."

My mom and I were a lot like Kyle and I. My dad left us when I was a baby, and she, a medical intern at the time, had to raise me on her own. Our relationship was the best when I was little. But those teenage years came around and everything changed. I was very independent, and at that age, I thought I had it all figured out. We got close again when I got pregnant and Anthony left me. I needed her, and I knew I couldn't keep pushing her away.

"How did you get through it?" I asked as I walked to my bedroom

"I prayed," she answered "And read your diary."

"You read my diary?" I stopped in my tracts

"Yep," she giggled "How else was I supposed to know what you were up to?"

Instant dread fell over me. I wrote everything in that diary.

EVERYTHING.

"Oh my god," I said resuming my walk, head hanging in shame as if she was right there

"There were things that I read that I probably shouldn't have known about."

"You don't say."

"Look, just give Kyle some time," she said wanting to change the topic "He'll come around. You did."

"I'll try," I say, finally entering my room

"Hopefully he doesn't run off and get a girl pregnant."

"Mom!"

And there you have it, chapter 2! Hope you all enjoyed it. Don't forget to vote and/or comment if you liked it. Next chapter should be posted this weekend, so look out for that.