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“Thank you, Mrs. Jenkins,” I blush. “I love your dress.”
“Oh. This old thing?” she asks, looking down at it briefly and then back at me. “I’ve had it for a while.”
Doubtful,I retort.
When we were growing up, Mrs. Jenkins was always spending her second husband, Hank Jenkins, money any chance she got. Designer clothes, luxury cars, and fancy getaways. Mr. Jenkins was a famous attorney so money wasn’t something they were without.
“You’ve taken great care of it,” I smile.
“Yeah, great care of it,” Jenna repeats, giving her mother a knowing look. If Jenna wants to challenge her mom that’s one thing, but it’s not my place.
“Do you plan on coming to say hello to your mother sometime this lifetime, Miguel? Or do you consider yourself Italian now and no longer have the manners you were raised with?” Mrs. Jenkins’ words make the hair on the back of my neck stand.
Her words come out like a cobra’s venom mixed with sprinkles. How the hell did she even manage to do that? A true talent. One I remember her having even during our childhood.
“Mother,” Jenna whispers, staring her mother down. “You said you’d be on your best behavior.”
“What?” Mrs. Jenkins smiles. “I am on my best behavior.”
“Then perhaps you can say something nicer to Miguel. It isn’t often you get to see him.”
Mrs. Jenkins smiles brightly and looks behind us at Miguel.
“Forgive me. I guess I’m the one whose manners are lacking,” she says, but I have a feeling deep in the pit of my stomach that she’s about to spit more venom. “Guess that’s what happens to a mother when her child abandons her and runs off to his treacherous father.”
And, there is was. The venom.
“This isn’t happening,” Miguel announces. I hear a trunk shut. I turn to find Miguel climbing back into my passenger seat. He closes the door behind him.
My eyes feel the size of saucers. He is actually planning on leaving. I don’t know if I should feel mortified for Jenna, laugh because of the circus I’ve managed to get myself into or cry because I know I’m standing right in the middle of an active minefield.
“Mother!” Jenna shrieks, releasing her hold on me.
“What? Why are you mad at me? He’s the one being childish. I simply spoke the truth,” Mrs. Jenkins declares.
The look in Jenna’s eyes went from mad to furious. Something in her snaps and lights into her mother with a vengeance. She doesn’t curse once, but definitely crosses the line of disrespecting an elder.
“You know what, I just won’t get married! Will you be happy then!” Jenna bursts into tears and runs past her mother and into the house.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Mrs. Jenkins groans then heads inside after her daughter, leaving me standing all alone.
What the hell did I get myself into?I thought, heading back towards my car.
Chapter Six
Miguel
When my mother entered the house, Ysenia’s shoulders slumped. I wasn’t sure if it was from the tension leaving her body or if it was from feeling defeated. I felt bad for getting back in the car; however, I wasn’t tolerating my mom’s shit.
The driver-side door opens and Ysenia climbs back inside the car. She closes the door quietly and then leans her head back against the headrest. Her eyes close and she lets out a heavy sigh.
“Where do you want me to take you?” she asks, faintly.
“You aren’t going to try to convince me to stay?”
“God, no.” Her muttered words make me chuckle. She opens her eyes and turns towards me. “Sorry. That was rude of me.”
“Not even close,” I smile. “I don’t want you to have to go out of your way so just drop me off at any hotel on your way to where you’re staying.”
