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“Say what you want, Mother Dearest. But I am over the abuse that you and Marianne dish out constantly. You had a chance to be a decent human being when Dad died, and you ignored it. Hell, you disregarded the chance to be a decent parent when you and Dad split up, and you spat on it. You’ve always been jealous of me, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because dad loved me with everything he had, but that’s what a parent should do with a child. The two of you are narcissistic, and I have no energy left in my life to pander to you.
“You may think humiliating me and revelling in my pain over what happened between me and Slick is fun. What does that say about you taking enjoyment from someone’s pain? Eventually, even a wounded animal turns. Every chance you’ve had, you have put me down; you have humiliated, embarrassed, and made fun of me. I no longer wish for either of you to be in mylife. And I won’t be paying your bills or giving you money for shit anymore. You bled Dad dry, and you’ve tried the same with me. So make the most of your last six weeks with me because once you are gone, you will never see me again. Now get out of my bedroom!” I screeched the last sentence and shoved Marianne away.
She stumbled backwards, and then when she faced me, her eyes were full of hate. “You’ll regret this bitch,” she hissed before turning on her heel and leaving.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Summer,” Mom said. “All the stuff I did for you, and you spit in my face. Whatever you think you’re doing is so wrong. I’m your mother. The very least I deserve is respect.”
“Respect goes two ways, and you’ve never offered me any. In fact, most of what I remember is snide remarks and insults. You undermined my confidence any way you could and then played mother of the year when we had company. Do you honestly think I don’t remember my childhood? How you claimed I was a burden, but you suffered for me? How many people bought that shit from you? You’re toxic, Mom. Dad saw it, and so do I. But you’ll be free of me soon, so just keep plodding along, and you better hurry at finding another schmuck to look after you. It’s what you’re good at.”
And on that, I slammed the door in her face. I really didn’t want to deal with her shit tonight. After I locked the door from the inside, I curled back on my bed and let the pain wash over me. No matter what I did, someone always wanted to hurt me.
???
I was in greenhouse five, moving pots and some stores around the next day, and I thought over the last painful meetingwith Slick. The conversation wouldn’t leave me alone. I kept chewing over it like a dog with a bone. Uncle Brian had returned to work today. He was still sore but enjoyed sitting at the front doing his usual job of meet and greet. His smiles made my heart heal a little, and I was thankful he was getting better.
Uncle Brian had guessed things had gone wrong between me and Slick, but he held his own counsel. All he’d said was that when I needed an ear, I knew where he was. That unquestionable support meant the world to me.
I was moving some water fountains towards the front. I planned on putting them on display when I thought I saw a shadow behind some of the racking.
“Hello?” I called out. “Uncle Brian?”
Nobody answered.
With a shake of my head, I continued to move the fountains. They were heavy buggers, and I could only lift one at a time.
A sudden creaking noise from behind me made me jump.
I turned and had a mere second of horror before the racking fell and buried me under heavy bags of compost.
???
“Summer, can you hear me?” a voice said as I battled the darkness. Someone had been calling my name, and they were getting annoyed.
“Summer, come on, baby girl, open those eyes for Uncle Brian,” he said, but he sounded upset. That wasn’t right. Nobody upset my uncle.
“What?” I asked, drawing the word out.
There were flashes of light, and I realised I was blinking.
“That’s it, baby, open those beautiful eyes,” Uncle Brian urged.
“Hi,” I whispered through cracked lips.
“Nice to see those beautiful peepers open. You scared the shit out of me, girl,” Uncle Brian chided.
“Where am I?” I asked as Uncle Brian held a glass to my lips. There was a straw in it, and I latched on and drank.
“Hospital. You were found under some racking and compost bags. The racking had collapsed and buried you,” Uncle Brian said.
“No. There had been somebody there,” I said, remembering the shadow.
“Are you saying it wasn’t an accident?” a man asked, stepping forward. “I’m Doc Paul. I’m just going to check you over.”
“Okay, and I’m not sure. Remember someone being there, but they didn’t answer when I called out. I was moving water fountains?” I asked, frowning.
“Yeah.”
“There was a shadow. But they didn’t reply. Did they hurt me?” I asked plaintively.
