AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I was born ready,” I growl.
“Good. How is my Reesy Poo? She still working at Publix?”
“Tomorrow is her last day. Between my competition and her increased school work and everything she’s putting in for that internship, she has to stop. But she’s doing great. Getting ready for the big move.”
“You don’t sound too happy,” she notes.
“Well, I’m going to miss her.” Missing her is an understatement, but I’m doing my best to focus on how great this internship will be for her.
There’s some fumbling around followed by some grunts and indistinct mumbles. “Winnifred…” is all I can get out of it.
“Aunt Jacks, what are you doing?”
“Moving this…” She doesn’t finish.
“Are you moving furniture?” I ask.
“I’m at the Spa. The placement of the chairs is all wrong.”
It’s almost ten now. “Aunt Jacks, why are you still there? Go home. Get some rest.”
“I could say the same to you. Why are you still up? I half expected to get your voicemail.”
I sit back and close my eyes, finally feeling the need to sleep. “I came to the car to think.”
“Oh yeah? What about?”
“Lots of stuff,” I say.
“Tell me about it. I have all night.”
For a moment, I wonder if I should voice my question. Would the response even matter? It hasn’t made a difference before. But I ask it anyway. “Why do you think my mom hated me?”
The clanking of chairs being moved around suddenly stops. There is no sound for a moment, then Aunt Jackie appears as she sits in the empty chair. Her face never comes to view, but I can see her signature solid tan shirt and long floral skirt. She’s always loved earthy tones.
“Oh kitten, I don’t think your mother hated you.”
“Then why was she so hard on me? And when I left, she let me go. Phased me out so easily no one else in the family ever tried to contact me.” Not that I’d been close to my other aunts. “If that had been Reese, I would have given her all the support she needed, backed her decision for what was best for her life. I would have held her hand when she was afraid.”
Aunt Jackie wipes her hands on her skirt. “Beatrice was very rigid. Her life was always governed by strict rules of her own making. She had high expectations of herself and others. And when those expectations weren’t met, she let you know it.”
“I understand that. But I was her daughter!” I exclaim.
“Perhaps that’s what made it worse. Kitten,” she says leaning forward, her lovely face finally coming into view. “One of your most wonderful qualities is your charisma. How carefree you are. If I can guess, your mother didn’t see it that way. She saw chaos that she just could not get control of. The more she struggled to rein you in, the more she became aware of her own failures as a parent. So, you see, I don’t think it was you she wanted to shut out. It was her own inability to govern you.”
“I didn’t make it easy either,” I whisper, thinking about my part in it. The many times they caught me smoking pot, or my failing grades because Len and I would sneak to the beach. Or the time I shaved my head right before my first social because it seemed stupid to me. If my mom said black, I said white, just because I liked that wrinkle she got between her eyes when she got mad. No wonder she didn’t bother fighting to get me back when I left.
“It’s never easy, kitten. But we’re parents. Your mother was the one at fault. And your dad, too, for letting her.”
“He tried, sometimes,” I say in his defense.
“Not enough. Now look at what they both missed out on. Their amazing daughter who’s about to take over Key West.”
“You didn’t miss out, though, Aunt Jackie. And I made it hard for you, too.”
“You were a booger, sometimes,” she says chuckling. “But I learned how to manage you, didn’t I?”
“That you did. Have I told you lately how much I love you? Thank you for being my mother when I needed it most.”
“It was an honor, my kitten.” Sniffles let me know she’s crying. “Now, go to bed before you fall asleep in your car.”
“Yes, Aunt Jacks. Good night.”
