Page 85 of January
“I know. I’m sorry. You know how she is…”
“What exactly did you tell her?”
“Just that she left the houses to us and that–”
There was a loud knock at the front door. Kyle froze. The knock didn’t stop, though. It was a pounding now.
“Kyle, I know you’re in there!”
“She’s here,” Kyle stated.
“Shit. Ky, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think she’d just–”
“I’ll call you later. I’ve got to deal with this now.”
Without waiting for a reply, Kyle hung up the phone, tucked it into her back pocket, and headed toward the door.
“Hi, Mom,” she said, pulling it open.
Her mother burst through the door, looking angry and fired up. Then, she paused as it hit her, Kyle guessed. She’d grown up here and hadn’t returned to this house since the day she left. Kyle watched as her mother’s head went on a swivel, seeing pretty much the same living room she’d left behind all those years ago.
“Kyle, why didn’t you tell me my mother left you the money?”
“Because I didn’t want you to know,” Kyle answered honestly.
“That should bemymoney,” her mother said, turning back to Kyle now as Kyle closed the front door.
“She didn’t leave it to you.”
“Yes, I discovered that. I was waiting on that money, Kyle.”
“What? Why?” Kyle asked, confused.
“She didn’t have anyone else left. I assumed it would come to me.”
“I didn’t even know shehadmoney, Mom. You always told us you grew up poor. You wereanything butpoor. I’m honestly a little pissed at Dad for not telling us that.”
“He didn’t know about the money. I never told him. And you can see how my parents forced me to grow up here, even though they were wealthy and we could’ve lived in the other house. They didn’t like showing off. Do you know that they sent me to a rich kid school and lived here? Any idea what it was like to go to my friends’ houses, see all they had, and then have them come here and think I was a charity case?”
“Mom, you had a good life.”
“How would you know?” her mother spat out at her. “I just want my money, Kyle. It’s mine. It should’ve been mine.”
“She left it to Jolie and me. We saw the lawyer, Mom. None of it was left to you. I don’t know what you were expecting or why, but–”
“I should’ve fucking known,” her mother interrupted, running a hand through her dirty blonde hair.
“Known what?”
“That she’d leave this shit to you!” the woman nearly yelled. “She’d spite me one more time with that one. It wasn’t enough, to send cards with money to you but not to me. Never to me.”
“Cards?” Kyle asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing. I want my share, Kyle. I want out of that trailer, and I want to stop working. I deserve it.”
“You don’t deserve anything,” Kyle stated loudly. “Are you kidding me, Mom? What iswrongwith you?”
“Don’t talk to me like that. I’m your mother.”