Randy took in the sights and smells all around him in wide-eyed wonder. It was his first trip abroad and it was all so amazing. Seeing all the strange and wonderful places he'd never imagined before. He was wandering off towards a stuffed wild boar at a butcher shop when reality came down hard on him.
"Randy!" oh yeah. Mom. "What are you doing. I told you to stay right beside me!"
Randy looked sheepish and made his way back. "Sorry. I just wanted to see..."
"When I tell you to do something young man, you do it!"
Why did she always have to be such a drag? Man oh man. He just wanted to...well, live a little. "Yes mom. I'm sorry."
"You're always sorry. You'll be a lot sorrier... do it again...when are you..."
Randy pulled into himself and shut the world out for a bit. He thought about what he might like to have for lunch. If they went back to the hotel in the afternoon, perhaps he could go for a swim. If she'd let him. He would promise to be really careful, and she could sunbathe and read a book and keep an eye on him. Yeah, maybe it would work.
"...and another thing, you have to be careful around here. There are pickpockets, and god only knows what else..."
Randy looked up at her and smiled. She stopped in mid sentence. "Oh, Randy, you know I love you, don't you?"
"Yeah mom, I know. Please don't say it so loud though, ok?"
She shook her head. "So what would you like for lunch?"
"Oh, i dunno...could we have pizza?"
She smiled indulgently. "Sure thing. Look, there's a pizza place over in that cute little square, let's give it a try."
They sat at a table outside with a big red, white and green umbrella over it, which was nice since it was such a hot day. Randy fidgeted in his seat while his mother looked at the menu. He played with the silverware, trying to flip the fork by placing the handle on the spoon and tapping it.
"Randy! Can't you sit still for even one minute?"
She was giving him that look. Oh brother. He sighed and looked down at the pigeons milling about looking for crumbs. He imagined they were raptors hunting for food and the sparrows were their prey, running in terror, just trying to stay alive. Cool. He looked up as his mother ordered lunch. When the waiter left he asked if they could go for a swim later.
"Oh, I suppose so. But you have to stay in the shallow end, you hear me?" She was wagging her finger at him. "If I catch you in over your head you'll get a spanking you won't soon forget."
He nodded his head. "I'll be alright, mom." God, she could be such a bitch.
They ate their lunch, with Randy getting told off for making too much of a mess and refusing to eat the crust on his pizza. She promised him gelato if he finished it all, so he chewed for all he was worth.
They wandered around the hot smelly streets of Rome for a couple more hours, visiting the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps, his mother telling him stories about the statues and such. He quite liked the one of Neptune at the fountain, and he daydreamed about mermaids and chests of gold and rubies and that awesome monster in the Jason and the Argonauts movie he'd seen once. What was it called? Oh yeah, the Kraken. Then there was that cool scene with the skeletons...
"Randy, are you listening to me?"
He looked up. "Yeah, mom. I was thinking about the Neptune statue."
"Yes, that was quite impressive. Anyway, as I was saying, it's getting pretty hot, we can go back to the hotel for that swim now if you like."
He grinned and she hailed a taxi, for which he was grateful. His feet were killing him. The driver practiced his English on them and flirted with his mother, which he could see she quite liked. It made him a bit angry. His father hadn't been gone but a year or so. He thought some more about how she treated him like such a baby. He was twelve, for godsakes. Why did she always have to smother him? She was always making him feel like such a kid. All he wanted was to have some fun. He hadn't made a fuss about this trip, had he? He was entitled to some freedom.
They went to their room and changed. She was taking too long and he asked if could go down to the pool.
"Just you wait for me, young man, you're not going in that pool by yourself."
"Aw mom, i'm not a baby. I promise I won't get in the water till you get there."
She relented, and he raced down the stairs and out to the pool. He sat on a lounger and waited for her. The water looked so inviting. A man came and sat next to him.
"Hey there young man. Going for a swim?"
He looked old. He had grey hair that was slicked back, and he wore a speedo and had a gold chain around his neck.
"Yeah, pretty soon I guess." He looked around to see if his mother was coming.
The man started to ask him a question and stopped when Randy's mother suddenly appeared. He said hello and then got up and went inside to the bar.
"Who was that?"
"Dunno. Some guy."
She gave him one of her concerned looks. "Well go on, then. You wanted to play in the water."
He ran to the ladder and climbed in. He thought about how cool it would be to just dive in, but he knew he'd get in trouble. He practiced swimming under water, seeing how long he could hold his breath. The water was nice and cool, perfect after the long hot day of sightseeing. He splashed around for the better part of an hour and then got out. He layed down on the lounger next to his mother and noticed she'd fallen asleep. He was about to wake her when the old man came walking up again.
"Hey there, sport. Why don't you let your mom have her nap, she looked pretty tired."
"Yeah, I guess so."
"So how long have you been in Rome?"
"A few days. Been sightseeing."
"It's nice here, eh? Listen, do you like model cars? I've got a really cool red ferrari upstairs. Would you like to see it?"
Randy hesitated. "Well, i'm not supposed to..."
"Oh, don't worry about her, you'll be back down here before she wakes up. I promise."
He really liked Ferraris. They had gone to the Ferrari shop, and there were lots of cool models there, but they were expensive and his mom wouldn't buy him one. "Well, ok."
They went upstairs, the man was on the same floor they were, so it didn't seem like a problem. They went inside and he showed Randy the ferrari.
"Wow, this is cool!" It was one of the really expensive ones from the shop.
They sat down on bed and Randy rolled the car around on it, pretending he was a race car driver. The old man encouraged him to play with it all he liked. He put his hand on Randy's knee.
"You know, you and I could be good friends..."
Randy jumped up. "Hey, whatdya doin'! I just wanted to see the car!"
"Now look, kid, i've been good to you, why don't you just..."
Randy threw the car and hit the old man in the head, knocking him back.
Swearing, he sat up and Randy ran to the door and out into the hallway. He raced down the hall and rounded the corner and ran smack into his mother.
"Randy! Where the hell have you been! I dozed off and when I woke up you were gone! I thought you'd drowned or something!"
He took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Sorry, mom. I...I was gonna get a drink of water, but I forgot the key."
She shook her head and glared at him. "Young man, don't you ever leave without telling me again, do you hear me?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah, mom. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
She sighed and smoothed his hair. "I love you Randy. I don't know what i'd do if anything happended to you."
"I love you too, mom." He thought for a minute and then said, "Thanks, mom."
