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“Hi, Mom,” Esther said, grimacing as she slammed her door shut. She’d ignored her mom’s call the other night, and never gotten around to calling her back. One more thing to feel guilty about.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do about this apartment situation, sweetheart.”
Just once, it would be nice if her mother would call to see how she was doing. Or at least ask how she was doing before jumping straight to her own problems.
“Eric said you had more apartments to look at today.” Her brother had been helping their mom search for a new place, but so far there hadn’t been any she’d deemed tolerable. And the clock was ticking down to the end of the month.
“They were all a nightmare. One of them had a sink in the bedroom.”
Esther went into the kitchen to feed Sally. “I know it sucks, but you might have to lower your standards a little.”
“You didn’t see these apartments, honey. No one would want their mother to live like that.”
Eric had sent Esther the links, and she’d looked at them online. None of them had seemed that bad. They were about as nice as Esther’s place.
“If I could just have a little bigger budget, it might be possible to find something fit for human habitation.”
Esther sank down on the couch and rubbed her temples. “I can’t give you any more money than I already am.”
“But I know you make good money at that job of yours.”
“I’m only in my second year, and living in LA is expensive.”
“Well, if you moved back to Seattle—”
“Seattle’s expensive too,” Esther snapped. “And my job is in LA.”
“You know I don’t like having to beg my daughter for money.”
Esther gritted her teeth. “I know.”
“You’re being unreasonable. I need your help.”
“I can’t help you,” Esther said. “I’m sorry.”
“What did I ever do to deserve this? How did I end up with a daughter who’s so unfeeling? One day I’ll be dead and you’ll regret treating me so coldly.” Her mother hung up angry. She always hung up angry these days.
Esther didn’t know how much more of this she could stand. She went into the kitchen for a beer, and then she called her brother. “I’m offering Mom more money the next time she calls.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“I can’t deal with her anymore. Please let me throw money at the problem to make it go away.”
“How much money are you willing to throw at her? An extra thousand dollars a month? Because that’s what she thinks she needs. She wants this apartment in Maple Leaf that’s eighteen hundred bucks a month, because the light has a positive energy or some feng shui shit.”
Esther couldn’t afford an extra thousand a month. Not and keep her current apartment. She could afford a couple hundred more, max.
“Besides,” Eric said, “it won’t stop there. Not if you give in now. Next year she’ll want a little more, and even more the year after that. You’ll end up fully supporting her. Is that what you want? Is that something you can afford?”
“She’s our mother.”
“She’s not sick or disabled. She is perfectly capable of solving her own problems and supporting herself, she just doesn’t want to. Don’t let her manipulate you, Es. You’re not doing her any favors by giving in.”
Esther knew he was right, but it didn’t make it any easier. It didn’t make her feel any better.
She was getting a stomach ulcer. She could feel the acids churning around like a blender, eating away at her from the inside out. Every time her phone started blaring the ringtone she’d given her mom—“Mother’s Little Helper” by the Rolling Stones—she had a visceral negative reaction. Her heart started pounding and her stomach tried to turn in on itself.
It was all too much. Maybe she’d be able to deal with it better if she had someone else to talk to. Jinny, or the knitting group. Or Jonathan.
