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“You too, Mrs. Briar.”
“Please, call me Marilyn. Mrs. Briar is Diesel's grandmother.”
The nurse finally comes back and unhooks Mum from the IV, and we are set to go. Emory goes back to campus, and when I tried to call a driver, Mum insisted that we take an Uber and Cyrus agreed with her, and they called a majority wins.
The driver is a young guy who both women spark up a conversation with straight away, talking about New Hope University. I know it well enough, my friend Rhys talks it up all the time. It’s not as Elite as Briar University, but it is still a decent school. Cyrus asks loads of questions. I hadn’t considered what she would do once we finished high school. I just presumed that she would come with me.
The thought of us attending different universities has knots in my stomach. Briar University is only an hour away depending on traffic to New Hope University and an hour and a half to Neverland University, but considering that uni is heavily sports based, I doubt she would want to go there.
The Uber driver pulls up to the curb in front of my parents’ apartment in the city. Manny, the doorman, opens the passenger side door for my mum, and she slides out of the car followed by Cyrus. I let myself out of the front, and the Uber driver pulls away.
Manny fusses over my mother and links his arm with hers, leading her into the building. Cyrus and I follow them inside the foyer of the building and to the elevator where Manny says his goodbyes.
My mum is friends with every one of the staff, she hates to treat them less than just because she was lucky enough to come from money. She says people with money should treat the people who basically run their lives with respect, because without them, they would have to do it all themselves. Don’t get her started on teenagers and not even being able to operate a washing machine.
Lucky for me, our housekeeper taught me how when I was thirteen, my father hated that my mum was asking the staff to teach me how to look after myself, but she made it clear that just because you have money today it doesn’t mean that you will tomorrow. Knowing how to cook and clean is a skill set that everyone should have. I’m grateful that I don’t have to do those tasks, but I also do know how.
Pattie, our long term housekeeper, greets us at the door, ushering my mum to sit on the couch. Pattie is in her fifties and has been with us as long as I can remember. Our mutual dislike for my father bonded us, and she makes killer snacks.
“I had a feeling you would be stopping by. I made you some chocolate chip cookies and left them to cool on the rack in the kitchen,” Pattie says, giving me a smile and wink. She knows her cookies are my weakness. “Hold on a minute, boy, who is the pretty girl?”
“Pattie, this is my girlfriend, Cyrus. Cyrus, Pattie is our housekeeper on paper, but my surrogate grandmother.”
Pattie scoffs, she hates when I refer to her as my grandmother, she declares that she is not old enough to be a grandparent yet. Even though she is only a handful of years younger than my father’s parents.
“Nice to meet you,” Cyrus says, offering a hand to Pattie, who slaps the hand away and pulls her into a hug.
“Pattie is a hugger,” Mum says with a laugh.
“Okay, stop suffocating my girlfriend, she hasn’t even tried the best cookies in the world.”
“Fine, fine, go and get them while they’re still warm, but I want to hear how you managed to lock down a beauty like this. I was sure you would bring home a five at best with your attitude.”
“No way,” my mum adds. “I thought for sure a ten but with the personality of a thong.”
They both laugh. Cyrus looks between both of them before I take her hand and lead her into the kitchen.
“The atmosphere without your father is…”
“Less tense, yes, I can actually breathe when he isn’t around.”
Cyrus throws her arms around my neck. “You know, I might not be a ten, but I’m glad you chose me.”
“You are an eleven.” She snorts at my response, but she doesn’t see what I do, she doubts her worth over the way she handled her grief. She needs to give herself a break, I know Zeke is a sore subject, but she didn’t force him to do anything. I would do the exact same thing if she called and asked me for a lift. The reports said that a drunk driver ploughed right into his car, that could happen to anyone at any time. We can’t be afraid to live because other people make bad choices in life. I would be a nervous wreck if that were the case with the amount of shitty choices my own father makes.
“Here, taste this while they’re warm.” I hold the cookie out, and she leans in and takes a bite, the slow drawn out moan has me ready to haul her ass up to my old room.
“Can I ask you something?” She almost whispers. Something is on her mind.
“Always.”
“I spoke to Alex, and he mentioned that they are doing a memorial for Zeke, and at first I didn’t want to go, but I think I should. Would you come with me?”
I don’t know what to say, the asshole in me is jealous that he got all of her firsts, but his life path led her to me, and for that, I owe the guy big time. Jesus, even that makes me sound like a dick. Thanks that you died so I got the girl. Pieces of my father just linger under my damn skin, and I don’t know if I will ever be free of him.
“If you want me there, I will be there.”
“It’s in a few days, I know it’s short notice.”
