Page 16 of Unwrapping His Gift

I have to laugh a little, but it’s sad the way Mom thinks sometimes. She’s not making a joke; she truly believes what she’s saying.

I point to the empty alcohol bottle in front of her. “Been drinking a bit tonight, Ma?”

She waves a dismissive hand, takes the remote, and turns the TV back up to an intolerable volume. “Do you watch this show? It’s great. So much drama. See,thatguy, Jeff, was datingher, but now they broke up because she slept with his best friend–”

“Mom!” I snap, snatching the remote away from her.Calm down, Daisy. Don’t get angry. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, then open them again. “I don’t want to hear about your show, I want you to answer my question. Did you drink all that tonight?”

Again, she waves her hand dismissively, then puffs air through her cheeks. “Oh, who can remember? All of it? Most of it? It’s the holidays, right? We’re supposed to becelebrating!”

I can hear the sarcasm in her voice. She’s screwing around with me. If I don’t like Christmas, my momreallydoesn’t like it.

“It’s not good for you, Momma. You know that. You’ve got to cut back–”

“Wait a minute,” she says as she sits up. “Who’s the older woman here? Me or you?”

I see her reach for the space where her bottle of gin was, but it’s gone now, and she’s not sure exactly how she should react to that.

“You’re my mom, sure. But I’m also the one sending you money to keep your heat on–”

“Did you take my gin?” she interrupts, glaring at me, her eyes glazed and angry. “I had a bottle of it sitting right here.”

For a second, I think about just lying and telling her I don’t know what she’s talking about. But then something inside me flares up and tells me not to accept that – tells me not to back down. I don’t know why, but I know Craig has something to do with it. Maybe it was having to justify myself to Marissa earlier. I really don’t know what it is, but I do know that I’m not going to just hide from her on this one.

“That’s right, Mom,” I reply, folding my arms over my chest. “I did. You’ve had enough alcohol, and you don’t need any more. Your drinking has gottenwayout of control.”

A shocked look comes over her face. She wasnotexpecting that response.

“Who areyouto say whether or not I am in control or out of control? You’re barely even here to notice!”

“I’mworking, Mom,” I reply, doing my best not to shout. “Working so I can keep sending you money! And when I do come by, you’re either watching TV, moping around and don’t want to talk, or you’re passed out on the couch like when I came in just now!”

She shakes her head like she always does when she knows deep down, I’ve got her and she has nothing to say. Her next move will be to try and make me feel like I’m just a kid again and I have to listen to her because she’s older than I am and she’s my mom.

“You’re going to give me my bottle back, Daisy. It’smine, and you don’t take things from other people.”

But it’s not going to work on me. Not tonight.

“Am not.”

Quickly, I turn my back on her and walk out of the living room and over to the front door where I’ve left the bottle by my shoes. I know she’s too drunk to follow me, so I simply slide into my shoes and step outside with the gin in my hand – but not before turning the heat down a few degrees on the thermostat.

“I’ll see you later, Mom!” I call out, trying not to sound too combative, despite her mood and behavior. “I’ll come check on you again in a couple days.”

I can hear her shouting something at me as I close the door behind me and walk to my car, but I honestly don’t even want to hear it. It’s probably not that kind, considering the state she’s in right now, and she’ll probably be apologizing to me for whatever it is the next time she sees me. If she remembers, of course.

How did things get to this?I wonder as I drive back to my apartment. At the time, losing Dad felt like it was the worst thing that could ever happen, and maybe it was. But as it turns out, it was just the start to a chain reaction that sent Mom’s and my lives spiraling to where they are now, and I honestly don’t know what to do about turning them around.

8

CRAIG

I’m not goingto take this lying down. I’m not going to just let another gap form between Daisy and me. No way. I’m not going to sit back passively like I did before when I could actually do something this time to keep her close to me.

Maybe she doesn’t trust me. Maybe that’s what her friend told her, and maybe I can understand that. But I have to find a way to make her trust me again, and I’m going to figure out a way, because after all our time apart, seeing her again made me realize just how much of a fool I was to have not reached out to her during those five years.

And there’s only so long you can blame your parents, isn’t there?

Now that I’ve graduated, now that I have a scholarship to law school and am bringing in my own money, I’m not beholden to them. I don’t have to do what they say anymore. If they want to cut me off for dating Daisy, then that’s on them. But that won’t change whether or not I end up becoming a successful lawyer – which I most definitely will.