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“Whoa, honey,” Garrett chimes in. He’s never called me “honey” before. “That’s heavy shit you’re saying. It’s totally wrong.”
“Unfair!” Jillian crows. “Totally unfair. We did the best we could.”
“Thatwas your best?” I scoff. “I’d hate to see your worst.”
“It was that Cori kid; she was the one who poisoned you against us,” Jillian says. “Before her, you were a quiet little girl who minded her own business.”
“Her name wasClara,” I grit out. “She was my best friend. My family. What kind of mother doesn’t know her daughter’s closest friend’s name?”
“Don’t be so snotty,” Garrett says sourly. “You had your own thing going on, and we had ours. It was nice, actually. You were so independent.”
“I had to be. It’s not like I had parents who could take care of me!”
“It’s not easy being a parent, you know,” Jillian whines, sniffing into the phone. Crocodile tears if I’ve ever heard them. “You’ll know that soon enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“We know you’re having a kid.”
Goosebumps erupt over my skin. “Who told you?”
She doesn’t answer my question, though. “We didn’t realize how well our little girl was doing for herself.”
“You must have gotten an idea from the checks I send you every month. Is that what this call is about? You want more money, don’t you?”
“Don’t say it like that, Paige,” Garrett hisses. “We looked after you all those years. I mean, it’s the circle of life, right? We took care of you, and now, you take care of us.”
I knew this would happen the moment I set up a separate account for them. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the acidic taste in my mouth. The twist of my stomach at their shamelessness.
Or the plunge of self-shaming guilt when I realize I’m still going to give them what they’re asking for.
“How much do you want?”
“We are thinking about upgrading to a better trailer. Something with a little leg room, you know?” Dad laughs.
Mama has gone silent. I want to believe it’s because she feels guilty for asking in the first place, but I know it’s just because she thinks Garrett is more capable of extorting me.
The fact of the matter is that he doesn’t even have to try. I’d pay them a million dollars to end this call.
“I’ll transfer more money to you in a few days.”
“And it gets pretty cold here during winter. Getting a half-decent heater is expensive, though…”
I should cut them off and hang up. But I’ve never been as good at casual cruelty as the two of them are.
“Is that all?” I ask.
I wait for something. A tiny little gesture of affection, a word of gratitude, maybe even regret. But the silence on the other end of the line just reminds me of why I left in the first place.
There’s nothing for me in Corden Park.
Without Clara, there never was.
“Okay then. That’s what I thought. Goodbye.”
I hang up, fling my phone onto the bed and wrap my arms around my body. I may not know what kind of parent I’ll be, but I sure as hell know what kind of parent I won’t be.
I have Jillian and Garrett to thank for that.
