Page 103 of Broken Romeo
I couldn’t argue with that. Mom was right. Whatever nice girl she was, my Dad destroyed that. Ruined her. Turned her into one of the many bitchy Stepford wives who would stop at nothing to take down someone in their path.
But deep down, that woman wasn’t my real mother. My real mother was kind. She was thoughtful. She was caring.
“I should call her,” Mom said. “Apologize to Megan—”
“No! Jesus, no Mom” I winced at the volume in my voice, then tried again, softer this time. “Mom, Megan doesn’t need you to call her. If anything, I think that will just hurt her more.”
There was a quiet sniffle.
Fuck. No.
“Mom, please don’t cry…”
“I want you to be happy. And now, it’s been years and you haven’t dated anyone. I’m just… I’m so scared you’ve closed yourself off.” Another sniffle. Her voice cracked as she said, “I wouldn’t have gone along with your father if I’d known—”
“There’s a girl here I like, Mom.” Fuck. Why’d I say that? I had just needed her to stop crying and I would have said just about anything to get my mom away from the thought of calling Megan.
The line was silent for a long moment. If not for the even breaths on the line, I would have thought we’d gotten disconnected. “You like a girl? Who is she?”
“We’re not dating or anything. I just… I like her. She’s a freshman in my acting class and she’s great. The most talented girl in the class.” Hell, probably the most talented girl in the whole school.
“You like her,” Mom repeated, but her words were still slightly slurred. “But you’re not dating her. Would you date her?”
Yes, I thought. My heart raced at the fact that I answered so quickly in my own head. “I don’t know. Maybe. We’re just friends right now.” Yeah, some fucking friend I am. With a friend like me, Katherine won’t need a single goddamn enemy.
“Friends…” Mom said, dragging the word out. “I miss having friends.”
“You have friends,” I said, relieved for the change in conversation. “What are they up to tonight, Mom?” I’d do just about fucking anything right this second for a change in subject. “Any of your friends around and want to pick you up for a girls night?”
I started running through the list of Mom’s friends at the club and who might be available to go sit with her.
“They’re all busy,” Mom said. “Busy with their husbands who take them to their client dinners. Busy at the theater tonight because they had season tickets. Everyone’s busy!” she shouted.
A glass smashed in the background and Mom hissed a string of curse words.
Fuck. It was worse than I thought. “Mom,” I tried again gently. “Did you take your Lexapro today?”
She sniffled. “No. I needed to pick up the refill this week and I forgot.”
“From the Walgreens, right? The one in the shopping center with the Starbucks?”
“Yeah. I can go now—”
“No,” I snapped. The last thing I needed was her climbing behind the wheel when she was this drunk. “I’ve got you, Mama. You know that. I’ve always got you.”
She gave a little whimper that came out like a sigh. “I know you do, baby boy.”
I put my mom on speaker phone, then texted my godmother… Anne Marie. My mother’s best friend from childhood.
I hadn’t spoken to the woman in years.
Not after the unspeakable happened.
But right now, there was no one else.
Holden:
Can you pick up my Mom’s prescription and sit with her tonight until my dad gets home?