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“Y
ou’re slacking off on the issue!”
The voice was loud and the foot stamping even louder. Benjamin ran his hand through his hair and stared out the study window, his eyes fixed on nothing but the slow-moving clouds and the gloomy sky.What I would give for decent sunshine,he thought.
“Why are we even having this argument in here?” he asked and moved away from the window. “Why are we even having this argument at all?” he glared at his mother.
“You’re slacking off!” her voice was harsh and firm.
“You’ve said that already.” He hoped she’d simmer down, but she somehow looked relaxed and angry at the same time, her body coiled on the couch next to the cozy fireplace, a glass of wine in her hand, but angry in her face, every muscle tense.
“I’ll say it again,” she hissed through clenched teeth and sipped her wine, wincing as if taking a sip out of a glass of poison or lava. “Her game of playing the innocent savior of the homeless seems to be getting to you, I’m sure. You’re young and naive… you’re just a man, after all.”
Benjamin let out a long, exasperated sigh. “A man after all?”
“I’ve known a few cunning gold diggers in my life, son, and I can tell you this for sure. I know when I come across one, and that Ava girl is definitely one of them. How else would you slip into someone’s will when you aren't even part of the family?” she leaned back and shrugged, mumbling, “Who knows what she had to do to get your grandfather to—”
“Jesus…” Benjamin interrupted her, throwing his face into his palms.
“What? It wouldn’t be his fault. He was old and demented in his final days,” she defended herself.
“I can handle this, mom. I’m serious. Please stop.”
Benjamin moved over to a stack of books, trying to avoid his mother’s scowl. He stared at the hardbacks, reaching out and touching some.Latin books,he thought,Grandpa’s favorite. For a moment he was distracted, even as his mother’s voice droned on in the background.
The books were huge and old, and in near-perfect condition. There was one on ‘Modern Art’, whatever that was all about, and then there was a book with a red cover that caught his attention. It had his grandfather’s name on the spine.
I didn’t know Grandpa wrote a book.
He was about to reach for it when his mother’s voice stopped him.
“You aren't even listening to me!”
He sighed and his shoulders dropped. “What do you want me to say? At this point, mom, you are draining me emotionally more than my marriage.”
A gasp escaped his mother’s mouth and she shook her head. Without wasting another second, she bolted towards the door dramatically, only pausing to mutter loud enough for him, and perhaps the whole house, to hear:
“She has turned you against me—”
“It’s not like that.” He turned around to face her, but his mother continued shouting.
“I knew you’d be weak, Benjamin. That she would implant doubt into you with fake smiles and flirtatious eyes. You are just another man after all.”
She paused for a moment, looking at her son who was clearly close to throwing himself out the window to spare himself another word from her, but Lucy got right back at it.
“Which is why I’ve decided to take things into my own hands. She has no place in this family, even though you keep giving her more than enough room.”
“Mom! Don’t you be doing anything stupid.”
She shook her head. “Stupid? That’s not what I would call a long-overdue family reunion with your uncle Barney.” She grinned.
“What?” Benjamin yelled.
“Yes, you have heard me right. He will come stay with us for a while… to reconnect. Be a family again.”
“Uncle Barney? You hate him.”
Lucy crossed her arms. “Don’t be absurd. I don’t hate my brother. He is just a little…well, he is… you know what I mean. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get a lock installed on the wine cellar and extra smoke detectors in the bathrooms before he gets here.”
