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He put his stuff away and waited about ten minutes, but when he didn’t hear the front door open and close he went down to do what he was here for.
He wasn’t going to let her presence stop him. It’s not like his presence in her life ever stopped any of her actions or decisions.
He found the TV and mount in the den where his grandmother would have moved them. They weren’t heavy, but he’d told her to leave them by the front door. She never listened.
His grandfather’s tools were also in there and he told himself not to get annoyed. At least she didn’t move the furniture.
He did that, pushing the old couch against one wall rather than having it be in the center. The chair went into a corner. He’d put the TV over the couch, then when his grandmother popped her head in to check on his grandfather, he’d be facing the TV and the door. It’d be the easiest in his mind. Plus the room was next to the half bath.
A good thirty minutes went by while he pushed the fact his mother was in the house out of his head.
Guess she couldn’t do that and came in.
“I’m making food for Grandma to have here. I got back in town last night and went to see Grandpa. She looks like she’s lost some weight.”
His grandmother looked the same to him as she had when he saw her almost a month ago when he first found out about his grandfather’s heart problems.
“When was the last time you saw your parents?” he asked.
His mother shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been busy. I talk to her now and again.”
Which meant it’d been a while. “Where do you live now?” he asked. “Is it close by if they need you?”
“Ten minutes away. They hardly ever ask for anything.”
He turned from where he was measuring. “That’s right,” he snapped. “They never ask for shit from you, but when they do ask you should get your butt here and find out what is going on.”
“Don’t you dare talk to me that way,” his mother said. “I’m still your mother.”
“Get over yourself. You lost that right a long time ago.”
His mother was staring at him, but he turned to go back to work. “The phone works both ways.”
He’d had enough. It seemed they were going to have it out and maybe it was what he’d needed in his life.
“That’s right,” he said. “It does. But you’re the one that left me. You’re the one that walked out without a word and left it to Dad to tell me.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No,” he said. “You shouldn’t have done that and so many other things you did in your life, but never once have you apologized for anything. It’s not your way because you don’t think you’ve done anything wrong.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Tim bought this trip months ago as a gift to me and he’d already taken the time off of work. There was no way he could change it. I’m here now.”
“I could buy that if you were here any other time. But you haven’t been. Dad has been around more for your parents than you’ve been.”
His mother almost growled. “Do you think I wasn’t aware that your father’s parents didn’t think I was good enough? That they felt I ruined his life? You try living up to that. My parents adored your father because they felt he was the best thing for me.”
“That means nothing to me,” he said. “You put things in your head that you want to be true. Dad probably was the best thing for you, but he was a sucker too and you knew it. You treated him like shit and threw his love in his face. You made him look like a fool in front of everyone. But did that stop him from coming back and helping your parents out? No,” he yelled. “Because he’s loyal that way and didn’t blame them for the way you turned out.”
“You don’t have the right to judge me,” his mother said.
“Oh, I think I do. The kid you left behind. The one you pushed off while you went from one man to the next my whole life. Even when you were married you were fucking anyone that batted their eyes at you. It’s a game to you and you know it.”
“Sawyer!”
“What?” he yelled. “You know I’m right. I’m not stupid. I know women like you. How do you think they are so easy to spot now that I’ve lived with it?”
He knew he was mixing shit up in his life, but so much had to be said. He had to get it off his chest. Things he wanted to say as a kid that his father told him not to. That it was disrespectful.
