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Teigen came down to breakfast early. She wanted to find a a place she could get phone service as soon as possible. After she finished eating and visiting with her mother, she told her father she was going to find a way to get to town.
Her father’s answer shocked her. “You’re not allowed to leave the property, Teigen. Now that we have you home, we’re not letting you go back to the heathens you’ve been with for so long. Bobby is ready to take you back in his home. For now you will stay here and be with your mother till…” He left the obvious conclusion to the sentence hanging.
Despite the fact that her dying mother was in the next room, she was unable to keep her anger from boiling over. “I am not staying here! I just came to see Mama for a visit! I have a life, and it’s not here!”
She stormed out of the room, but stopped short when she spied her mother in tears. In all her years living in this house no one had ever cried but her. Last night it was her father, today her mother. Her father’s statement confirmed that they hadn’t really changed, but she couldn’t ignore the despair her mother was showing. Teigen sat down on her bed and took her mother’s hands.
“Why are you crying, Mama?”
“Because I need you, Teigen. Your father does too. I can’t bear the thought of you leaving again.”
Teigen gently squeezed her mother’s hands. “You must understand that I can’t come back. I’m not married to Bobby anymore, and I have a job and a home in Washington now. I’ll stay for a while to help care for you but then I have to go home.”
Her mother’s hands shifted to grip hers more firmly than she would have expected. The steely tone she remembered from her childhood issued forth from her mother’s thinned lips. “This is your home, Teigen. It’s enough. It’s time for you to face your responsibilities to your family and your community.”
Teigen attempted to remove herself from her mother’s grasp, but she held on tight.Fine.It didn’t mean she couldn’t make her point. “Listen to me, Mama. I’m not staying here. I don’t owe you or anyone else on the Farm anything. And if you don’t stop pushing me, I’ll get my bag and leave right now.”
“You’re not leaving now or ever,” her father chimed in from the doorway. “You better just settle down and accept it, otherwise you’ll be locked up here till Bobby takes you home and I suspect you’ll be locked up there too.”
Fear crept up Teigen’s spine as she realized that her mother’s illness had been the excuse to get her to return home. She wouldn’t be the first woman confined to the house when she didn’t agree to the demands of the community. She could be kept here forever and no one would know where she was.
She had to settle down like her father said, not because she accepted his dictates, but because she had to lull them into not watching her every move. If she fought them outright, she’d never get away. Being cagey was the only way to win.
Without conceding defeat, which she didn’t think they’d believe right off the bat, she sat quietly next to her mother. Her father sat on the other side of the bed, and no one said a word for a while.
Finally, she asked her mother if she wanted anything to eat or drink.
“I’d like some hot tea and some toast. It’s hard for me to eat anything else.”
“I’ll get it for you.” Teigen rose and went into the kitchen.
Her father followed her. “Just so you know, the doors to the house are locked and your old keys won’t work on them.”
“I get it, Dad. I’m not trying to go anywhere. I’m making Mama what she asked for.” She kept her voice low and respectful, hoping her diversionary tactic would work.
“All right.” He turned and went back into the living room.
Teigen prepared the small meal, trying to keep it together as she worked. She’d have to portray the dutiful daughter until she could figure a way out. After all these years of being able to be herself, it was going to be torture to kowtow to her parents and Bobby again.
As though summoned from her brain, Bobby appeared in the kitchen, putting his arms around her, startling her so that she almost spilled the tea she was pouring. It was all she could do to keep from slapping him for taking such liberties.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to keep her tone deferential.
“I came to see my mother-in-law…and my wife, of course.”
Don’t argue. Don’t. Argue. Those words would become a mantra she’d have to live by.
“I’m making my mom breakfast.” She extricated herself on the pretext of taking the toast out of the oven. “It’s good to see you.”
A broad smile lit up Bobby’s whole face. “I knew when you had some time to think that you’d realize you made a mistake.”
Mistake? By seeking out therapy and finally getting a degree and a job? How was that a mistake?But she couldn’t tell him that. She merely smiled and continued to butter the toast.
Bobby moved toward her again, but when she involuntarily moved back a step, he stopped.
“Let me help you take this out to Mama,” he told her, picking up the teacup.
Mama. She wasn’t his mama anymore. They were all walking around in the delusion that nothing had changed. But actually it was she who was delusional. In this community, in this house, nothing had changed.Uuuuuuggggghhhhh!
