the air above his head and said again, “Stay in your room, Mercy. Let me do my job.” With that, he walked out of the diner, leaving me sitting with my mouth gaping open and a knot in the pit of my stomach.
Chapter Seven
“Unbelievable, right?”
“Mom, there are so many things wrong with this whole scenario. I don't even know where to begin. Why don't you just replace your phone and glue it to your person until you get home?”
I got where she was coming from, but she had obviously never spent any time in this neck of the woods. One, there was a blizzard outside. Two, I wasn't the one who wanted me to get a cell phone in the first place. And, lastly, I was here to find Nubbin, not go shopping.
“Mom?” Diana groaned. “You're not going to do it, are you?”
“Maybe when I get home. I just can't right now.” I said, meaning it was too much to think about at the moment.
“Fine. Don't listen to me. I guess, I should just call Charlie and tell him that you're at it again.” Diana enjoyed dragging Charlie into things at every opportunity. How the two of them became like two peas in a pod, I'll never fully understand, but for whatever reason, they'd latched onto each other with no end in sight. I was doomed as far the of they were concerned.
After all that had transpired between me and Charlie over the last couple of days, I was not at all interested in seeing his face, let alone hearing his name. Especially when his name was coming out of my daughter's mouth. “Don't say Charlie! I don't want to hear anything about that awful man. I...”
“Awful man? What are you talking about? I love Charlie.” Diana protested.
In what world is it appropriate to side with your mother's mortal enemy? What? Too dramatic? Well, that's how I felt. Charlie was no friend of mine.
“Listen, I already have enough to deal with; I don't need the likes of Charlie meddling in my affairs.” I sounded incredulous, but the truth of the matter was, I was hurt by his actions as of late and even worse, I was mad at myself for feeling that way.
“Do you hear yourself?” Diana asked. “You sound like you got your heart broken. What happened? Did Charlie forget to call you last night?” Diana giggled, thinking that I was acting like a teenage girl who'd created a scenario in her head, where a beau jilted her.
“I'm serious, Diana. I don't want him involved. To tell you the truth, he doesn't want me involved either. He told me that earlier. In fact, he said to stay in my motel room and behave. Whatever that means.” My anger grew by the second as I recalled Charlie's harsh words.
Diana sighed heavily. She'd dreamed up this elaborate scenario in which Charlie and I would one day marry and spend the rest of our days, basking in the glory of our new found love. If you ask me, all that syrupy love stuff was nothing but drivel that sold romance novels. None of that actually applied to my life or to my hopes and dreams.
When she didn't respond, I knew it was my turn to comfort her and mend her broken heart. This was the story of my life. Mom gets hurt. My child feels the pain. I offer comfort, while my wound becomes infected and threatens my bloodstream, nearly rendering me helpless and close to death. That, my friends, is what I call, parenting 2.0 .
“Honey, Charlie is really busy these days and is short on temper, so let's just leave him out of this, if we could. I think I can handle this on my own. I mean, I made it this far, right? Barring this disease I've contracted from killing me, I think I should be just fine in a day or so. In the meantime, I have work to do and it will be easier to just take care of it myself. Isn't that what I taught you? Self-sufficiency is the key to everything, am I right?” I did my best to sound chipper and ready to take on the world, but my heart ached and my sinuses were raging.
“Yes, that's what you taught
Chapter Seven
“Unbelievable, right?”
“Mom, there are so many things wrong with this whole scenario. I don't even know where to begin. Why don't you just replace your phone and glue it to your person until you get home?”
I got where she was coming from, but she had obviously never spent any time in this neck of the woods. One, there was a blizzard outside. Two, I wasn't the one who wanted me to get a cell phone in the first place. And, lastly, I was here to find Nubbin, not go shopping.
“Mom?” Diana groaned. “You're not going to do it, are you?”
“Maybe when I get home. I just can't right now.” I said, meaning it was too much to think about at the moment.
“Fine. Don't listen to me. I guess, I should just call Charlie and tell him that you're at it again.” Diana enjoyed dragging Charlie into things at every opportunity. How the two of them became like two peas in a pod, I'll never fully understand, but for whatever reason, they'd latched onto each other with no end in sight. I was doomed as far the of they were concerned.
After all that had transpired between me and Charlie over the last couple of days, I was not at all interested in seeing his face, let alone hearing his name. Especially when his name was coming out of my daughter's mouth. “Don't say Charlie! I don't want to hear anything about that awful man. I...”
“Awful man? What are you talking about? I love Charlie.” Diana protested.
In what world is it appropriate to side with your mother's mortal enemy? What? Too dramatic? Well, that's how I felt. Charlie was no friend of mine.
“Listen, I already have enough to deal with; I don't need the likes of Charlie meddling in my affairs.” I sounded incredulous, but the truth of the matter was, I was hurt by his actions as of late and even worse, I was mad at myself for feeling that way.
“Do you hear yourself?” Diana asked. “You sound like you got your heart broken. What happened? Did Charlie forget to call you last night?” Diana giggled, thinking that I was acting like a teenage girl who'd created a scenario in her head, where a beau jilted her.
“I'm serious, Diana. I don't want him involved. To tell you the truth, he doesn't want me involved either. He told me that earlier. In fact, he said to stay in my motel room and behave. Whatever that means.” My anger grew by the second as I recalled Charlie's harsh words.
Diana sighed heavily. She'd dreamed up this elaborate scenario in which Charlie and I would one day marry and spend the rest of our days, basking in the glory of our new found love. If you ask me, all that syrupy love stuff was nothing but drivel that sold romance novels. None of that actually applied to my life or to my hopes and dreams.
When she didn't respond, I knew it was my turn to comfort her and mend her broken heart. This was the story of my life. Mom gets hurt. My child feels the pain. I offer comfort, while my wound becomes infected and threatens my bloodstream, nearly rendering me helpless and close to death. That, my friends, is what I call, parenting 2.0 .
“Honey, Charlie is really busy these days and is short on temper, so let's just leave him out of this, if we could. I think I can handle this on my own. I mean, I made it this far, right? Barring this disease I've contracted from killing me, I think I should be just fine in a day or so. In the meantime, I have work to do and it will be easier to just take care of it myself. Isn't that what I taught you? Self-sufficiency is the key to everything, am I right?” I did my best to sound chipper and ready to take on the world, but my heart ached and my sinuses were raging.
“Yes, that's what you taught
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