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God. He didn’t know the half of it.
I thanked the doctor and dealt with Mom’s discharge paperwork, since she’d already left the building and didn’t look like she had any plans at all to come back in. When I met her outside, she stood beneath the entry canopy of the hospital with a look of trepidation. I could barely reconcile this woman with the one who had thrown elaborate parties for hundreds of guests and played the perfect hostess to them all. How is this the same person?
I slid my arm into hers, leading her out to the car. We were quiet, but I figured that was probably for the best. I had no idea what to say.
How do people come back from things like that? Is it better to act like nothing at all happened? Or to talk about it?
To my surprise, when we slid into the car, it was Mom who spoke up first.
“Don’t tell your father,” was all she said. “Don’t you ever tell your father.”
Mom said nothing else about the incident, and neither did I.
Her flippant demeanor about it was almost jarring. Aside from the cool way she had told me not to tell Dad, she snapped back into place like a rubber band. She was still far from the radiant, put-together woman of high society that I had come to know her as, but she also didn’t remain shut up in her room either. She was up before I was every morning, up and about, asking me about school and how things were going—I’d taken a few days off to stay with her and make sure she was okay.
It was a confusing switch, especially considering the fact that aside from knowing whether I was making good grades, Mom never showed an interest in my schooling before. She’d never had to; I’d been the perfect student, juggling strategic extracurriculars with a challenging course load and never letting anything fall behind.
Despite my trepidation about what this change in her meant, I tried to embrace it. If she was ready to try to make the best of our situation, that could only be good for both of us, and even though her energy often seemed forced, at least she was trying to accept things the way they were now.
Or at least, I thought she was.
The day before I was due to return to school, there was a knock at the door in the late afternoon. I was sitting at the kitchen table working on a paper I wanted to knock out so I wouldn’t be too behind when I got back to school. I glanced up when I heard the sound, but before I could stand, I heard Mom answer the door.
“Who… are you?”
Disdain and discomfort were apparent in her voice even from where I sat in the next room. And the sound of Bishop’s voice made me sit up straighter.
“We were wondering if Cora was in?”
It was the most politely I’d ever heard him speak. Ever. I hadn’t thought politeness was in his repertoire, but he soun
ded subdued and respectful. I stayed where I was, ears perked as I heard my mother make a sound somewhere between a grumble and a scoff.
“And who are you?”
“A friend from school.”
“Cora hasn’t mentioned any… friends from school.”
“To be fair, she’s a little shy.”
I snorted. I definitely wasn’t that when it came to school and the boys. Not even in the early days—but I supposed that wasn’t the actual point Bishop was trying to make. I closed up my textbook and stood, going to the door. I slipped in beside Mom, giving Bishop a smile.
“Hey, Bish.”
“You know this young man?” Mom asked me, not bothering to look down at me. Her gaze stayed keenly trained on Bishop, suspicious, like he was going to slither in here like a viper and bite something.
“Yeah. Of course I do, Mom. He’s a boy in my class.” I glanced to Bishop. “You can come in—”
“Aren’t you doing homework, Cordelia?” Mom interjected stiffly.
“Yes, but—”
“Then you need to make this quick and get back to it. Education is important, after all. It gets you places.”
I didn’t like the snooty tone Mom’s voice took on. Even when we were living at home, she’d never spoken like that to anyone I’d gone to school with, even people she didn’t necessarily like—usually because of their parents. I knew instantly why she wasn’t giving Bishop the respect she would have given them: because she thought he was beneath her.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Bishop spoke up.
