Cyn clears her throat and grimaces a little. The heat of my gaze finally got to her, I suppose, or maybe she’s trying to get me to engage with my parents so they don’t think anything’s up. But I cannot break my trance with her. Does this woman still love me? Is she in love with me? Is she seeing someone else? Am I wasting my time while at the same time breaking my heart even more than it broke the day she packed a suitcase and walked away from me?
“It’s the macaroni and cheese for me, Pops,” she says.
“And the dressing,” my mother adds.
I still haven’t taken my eyes off Cyn.
Ignoring my gaze, she says, “The ham is sweet. I love sweet ham.”
“Me, too, Cyn,” Mother says with a mouthful.
My mother glances at me, then at Cyn, probably because she sees that I’m staring at Cyn, but I don’t care if she thinks something’s up. This morning, she said I wasn’t there for her emotionally, which is partly true. But as for her assertion that I wanted a trophy wife – I can’t believe she’d think that about me. I didn’t parade her around. Show her off and then dump her when we got home, like I was done with her. I simply don’t know how to manage my time, and because of it, my relationship suffered.
Before Mom starts questioning the reason for my silence, I say, “I’m glad we’re all here together because I want to let y’all know something.”
“What’s that?” Pops asks after he wipes his mouth and reaches for his glass.
“So, I’ve been working at the hospital for six years, and while I enjoy it, I’ve decided it’s time to move on.”
My eyes are still glued to Cyn while I’m talking. I say, “I’m going to start my own practice—a small family practice right here in Christenbury Hills.”
A small smile dons my wife’s cheeks. She’s genuinely happy for me. She had suggested I do that years ago – said it would be perfect for me, but I was too wrapped up in the hospital to give it any consideration.
“That’s good news,” Pops says.
“Well, wait, hold up now,” Mom says. Now she’s wiping her mouth. Can’t say I don’t know what to expect from her because I know what’s coming. She says, “Hold up a minute, now. What’s your thought process on this? That hospital has been good to you.”
“It has, but—”
“And do you realize how much money it takes to start your own business?”
“I do. I have savings, and—”
“So, you’re going to wipe out your savings to open a new business and start from the ground up. The hospital pays you well, Brixton.”
“Mother, if you would allow me to get a word in–”
“You were one of the few doctors there after that place opened. You made it what it is now.”
“I realize that, but—”
“I don’t think you do,” she says. “I’m not going to let you throw away your career. This is your life you’re talking about. What you went to college for. What you worked so hard for.”
“Mother,” I say as calmly as I can. “I didn’t say I was abandoning my career. I said I was starting my own practice. Did you hear me say that part?”
“Yeah, but Brix, it takes years to get a business off the ground.”
“Ma—”
“Most places operate in the red for the first five years. Is that what you want? To lose your house, and—”
I stand up, placing my hands behind my head. “Stop! Just stop!”
“Dear, let him speak,” my father says.
“I—I didn’t want to be a doctor to begin with.Youwanted me to be a doctor, so I lived by your rules, Mother. I was the good son who did everything my parents wanted me to do, and look where that got me.”
“It got you this house,” she bellows.
