The Homewrecker Series ™

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L C felt she did not visit her mother often enough, and she always seemed to need an excuse to visit. This was an excuse, though she was not sure she wanted to hear the answer. Her mother’s house was always neat, tidy, and everything perfectly in its place, as though her mother had stepped out of an old TV show made in the fifty’s or sixty’s. L C was sure her mother had obsessive compulsive cleaning disorder. Nothing was ever out of place. Except for L C herself. She had always felt out of place in her mother’s house, even as a young child, and she still felt out of place.

Today she was here, sitting in her mother’s kitchen looking at the petite woman she called “Mom.”

L C’s mother was a “brisk” woman, “curt” if you wanted to be a little more accurate and a little less flattering. As a child she had heard one of her aunt’s refer to her mother as a “sharp tongued old hag,” and quickly decided it was not a loving remark.

Mrs. Amethyst Grainger, once Davenport, nee Reardon, was born to a pair of long haired hippies from the ’60s. They in turn had been born rich and full of privilege, but somewhere in the middle of college they gave up their social standing for long haired ideals of love and brotherhood.

They had seven children, one died.  They had five girls in a row. Amethyst, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, and Topaz. Their father called them “Daddies little gems.” When they were expecting a sixth she was to be named Pearl. Pearl never happened. Paul did. L C would have expected her grandparents to name him Garnet, a good solid man’s name in keeping with jewelry but perhaps they were just surprised and gave him the first name they could think of that sounded like Pearl. In any case Paul seemed quite happy being Paul.

Amethyst somehow managed escape any of the concepts her parents had tried to bestow on her. Loving kindness towards all stood no chance against her ability to get to the point with no preamble. The worst part was she was almost always right. She had a habit of sticking a stiletto into the heart of the truth. A very unhippy like thing to do.

“What do you think?” L C asked, telling her mother the story.

“Phfoot. Its obvious. He is in love with you. He wants to marry you and he doesn’t want one of his employees competing with him. He would be a good catch for you, especially seen as you do not want to go to college.”

“Mother, lets not get off the subject. I do too want to go to college and you know it.” She realized once again she had fallen into a verbal trap. She should not have added the last sentence because now she was off the subject.

“Then let your stepfather pay for it. He can certainly afford it. Actually your father could too but he would rather spend his money on any woman other than his own. Anyway your stepfather has said over and over that you can stay here and attend the local college.”

“And hear about it every damn day how good he is being to me and how much more I owe to him than my real father. No I won’t do it. Your husband may not be an asshole but he is an ass. I want nothing from him.”

“All he wants is a little gratitude for what he does. Why is that such a bad thing?”

“If he wants me to be grateful then do it and forget it. If he wants something specific for doing it then write me a contract so I know what it is I owe. What he wants is to do it and then take it out in emotional bullshit later. Forget it.”

“How did I ever raise such a hard-headed woman? He is a man, it is as simple as that. He is willing to do things for you for whatever reason. That makes him a better man.”

“What about Raymond? Is he a better man too? He fired Trevor for talking to me and bullied the rest of his workers into avoiding me. That is what we both think he did, isn’t it?” She paused realizing she had always known this…She had simply wanted her mother to say it first. It wasn’t the answer she wanted so she made her mother say it first so she wouldn’t have too. “Isn’t it?” she repeated softly.

“Honey, a man who isn’t aggressive isn’t worth having. He’s just proven to you he knows what he wants and is willing to do what it takes to get it.”

“Me.”

“You should feel special.”

“I feel like I got a good man fired by an asshole for no reason at all.”

“You can’t go through life worrying about the consequences of every thing you do. When the light says “go” you go. You can’t sit at the crossroads forever for fear some idiot’s going to run through it and broadside you. Pretty soon the people in back of you are going to get fed up and push you out of the way.”

“I’m not sure I like that picture.”

Somewhere in the middle of all of this L C realized she had forgotten to mention to her mother she was no longer dating Raymond. She was now engaged to Nathaniel Norman.

She decided now would not be the best time to mention it. Not unless she wanted the rest of her visit to be a row of contention. One that would get her sanctimonious stepfather involved. So far he had managed to stay in the front room while she and her mother remained in the kitchen.

She wanted it to stay that way.

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