I hadn’t been kidding when I asked her to move in. I’d been prepared to beg. Not only had I gotten fired from the bar, but bills were coming due and I’d been surviving on canned soup for longer than I’d cared to admit. This weekend at my parents was the first time I’d had anything home cooked since Christmas.
I could have asked my parents for help, but there was no way in hell I wanted to hear my dad bitch about how much money I was wasting living in a different city going after a useless education when I should have been helping him. The guilt and shame of having the gall to go to school when they were struggling was already overwhelming.
My phone rang as I jogged to my truck. I answered it, breathing heavily. “Hello?”
“Willy, you forgot your good jacket at the house. You’re gonna have to turn around and come pick it up so you don’t catch a chill,” came Grandma Dorothy’s voice through the crackling line. She must be on the house phone. It had a lot of static on the connection. My parents didn’t want to get rid of it because Grandma Dorothy liked to call her friends when she was of a mind to.
“Hey Grandma, it’s Liam.”
“Liam?” she asked, her voice breaking in the middle of my name in a way that made me stop before I unlocked my truck and lean my head against the window. She’d always been the strongest person I’d ever known and to watch her deteriorate before my eyes was worse than if she’d been taken without warning like my grandfather had.
I swallowed back the choked feeling in my throat and told myself to stop being such a fucking pussy. “Yeah, Grandma, it’s me. How are you doing?”
There was a lengthy pause as she sorted through the labyrinth her mind had become, but I was patient. Even though I’d been in a hurry to get to the gym, everything had ground to a halt when she called. If I’d learned nothing else from being friends with Charlie, it was that each moment with your loved ones was precious, and there wasn’t a chance in hell I was gonna miss out on any of them.
“I’m doing fine, sugar. You should come by and see your grandma sometime. I sure do miss you.”
I didn’t remind her that she’d seen me just a couple days ago, but it still stung like a son-of-a-bitch that she didn’t remember because I knew there’d come a day when she wouldn’t remember me at all.
“I’ll try to come up this weekend when school lets out. I promise.”
She made a humming sound that was as much a part of my childhood as the taste of her sugar cookies. I urged myself to hold it together as she said, “How’s school, honey? Are the other kids playing nice?”
Laughter burst free, but I choked it. I rubbed at my eyes. “It’s going pretty well. Passing all my classes and the other kids are treating me just fine.”
“Good. That’s good to hear. You’d tell me if someone was bullying you, right? I won’t have none of that nonsense with my grandson. You hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said obediently. I was reminded of all the times she’d been forced to discipline me for one harebrained scheme or another I’d concocted while under her care. For such a small woman, she should could sure as hell be intimidating, even though I towered over her, both then and now.
“I’m glad you brought that Charlie over. I’ve been thinking about her. She seemed upset, though. Is everything okay?”
I thought of Andrew and considered, not for the first time, what I’d like to do to his ass if I saw him again. “She and her boyfriend broke up, so she’s having a bit of a rough time.”
Grandma hummed again. “That poor girl. I’m glad you brought her by, then. People need to be around family when they’re hurting, and I’ve always considered Charlie to be part of our family.”
“She feels the same way,” I said.
“Alright now, I think it’s about time I put on my stories. You call me tomorrow, okay, honey?” For as long as I can remember, Grandma Dorothy could be found watching her soap operas from morning to afternoon. It was good that some things hadn’t changed. Yet. “Here’s your mom, she’d like to talk to you.”
“Okay, Grandma. I love you.” I used to feel awkward saying it. My whole family loved to say “I love you”. It didn’t matter the reason or occasion. There was always a chorus of them when we got together. I didn’t get it until the day I visited Grandma in the hospital for the first time and realized she might never hear me say it again. Ever since then, I’ve made it a point to say it every chance I got.
“Love you, baby doll. I’ll talk at you later.”
“Later,” I said with a laugh.
“Liam?” Mom said as she fumbled with the phone.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?” It had to be important if she was calling the day after I saw her.
“Sorry about that, honey. Your grandma hasn’t been feeling well lately and she’s been antsy all night wanting to talk to you.”
“That’s alright, mom. You don’t have to apologize. I wish I could help out more, but I couldn’t miss anymore classes this semester.”
“Don’t you think on that for a minute. We were glad to see you. I was going to talk to you about everything this weekend, but Charlie seemed upset and I didn’t want to intrude.”
My stomach dropped. “What is it?”
“Your father mentioned he told you about the plan to sell the land?”
