She suddenly burst into tears and starts to sob.
“Stop it. Leave me alone,” she sobs while tears stream down her face.
“Daxton Lemar Hunt! What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” My mother’s voice takes me by surprise, and my lying wife cries harder. “Put her down right now.” I let her slide down the wall and let her go. Mother steps between us and pushes me away before pointing a finger in my face. “Don’t youeverlet me catch you doing that again.” She slaps me upside the head, and I try to dodge her, but she grabs my collar. “Did I raise thetype of man to get in his wife’s face like you just did?” She hits me on the chest this time. “Answer me.”
“No, Mom.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“She took Finch,” is all I say in my defense.
“I don’t care if she took your soul. Don’t you ever. Do you hear me? And she did not take Finch. Your dog was here when we left, and you know that. This sweet girl has been with me all day, showing me a good time and keeping me company. How do you figure she took your dog? Maybe you should learn to be more responsible.”
“Mom, she’s not sweet. She’s evil.”
“Evil? Then why did you marry her?” I don’t offer my mother an answer. “If she’s so evil, leave her. File for a divorce. I bet you won’t.”
“I sure won’t because I’m going to make her miserable,” I growl.
Cori bursts into tears again, and my mother takes her into a hug.
“He’s just been so awful to me,” my wife sobs. “Always in my face and accusing me of things. I’m scared of the dog. I didn’t go near it.” Mom’s arms tighten around her. “And he uses Finch to terrorize me. I’m scared of dogs because of a childhood trauma, and he—”
“Trauma? From a dog barking at you when you were five? If you’re that frail, I’ll lock you up in an institution.”
“You see what I mean, Momma Had? He’s constantly going at me. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’m so stressed, I can’t even design dresses. All I want is to live in peace. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this kind of treatment.” She takes a paper towel and dabs under her eyes. Fresh tears fall, and I raise my hand and do a slow clap.
“You didn’t do a thing to deserve this, sweetheart. My son will get his head out of his ass, or I’m going to stick my foot in it.”
“He scares me,” she lies. Mom makes soothing sounds and runs her hands over Cori’s head. My wife finally lifts her head and looks at me. She raises her hand and slowly lifts her middle finger, followed by a smug look of triumph.
“He won’t do a thing to you, baby. If he so much as raises his voice, you call me, and I’ll come set him straight.” Mom whips her head around and gives me a disappointing look. “Apologize,” she orders.
“I will not.”
She lets Cori go and gets in my face. Unlike for my lying wife, Mom has no hug or words of comfort for me.
“Are you deaf, son? I said apologize to your wife. Right the hell now.”
Cori crosses her arms and slightly rolls her neck before mouthing the word 'checkmate'.
“Mom, I will not. She—” Mom tries to whack me upside the head, but I wrap my hand around her wrist. Her eyes widen right before she hits me with her free hand. After slapping me on the head, she grabs my ear like she did when I was a misbehaving boy.
“Right now, Daxton.” She pulls on my ear, and I wince.
“Sorry,” I say without any emotion. She lets me go, and I take a big step back.
“I suggest you put that nasty energy into finding my grand dog. Go. You get on my nerves.” Mom gestures for me to leave, but all I do is grab myself a plate and set it on the table.
Cori dabs her eyes and lets out a shaky breath.
“Sometimes, I just feel so unsafe.”
I do a slow clap before standing up and bowing. “Your acting is as bad as your cooking.” She gasps and puts a hand to herchest. It’s a lie. Not only is she a fantastic cook, but she takes pride in everything she makes.
“I’m too upset to eat.” Cori rubs her temples, and Mom pulls out her chair. “I’m very sensitive.”
I snort at the obvious lie.
