36. Poundtown
thirty-six
Jack
“What if your mom hates me?” Liz asks as we drive to the retirement community where my mother now resides.
“She’s not going to hate you,” I tell her. “She’ll probably be happy just to meet one of my girlfriends who isn’t a gold digger.”
“But what if she does hate me?”
Joking I reply, “Well, who the fuck cares? She lives thousands of miles away.”
She looks at me with all the annoyance she can muster. “I’m serious, Jack. How close are you and your mom? If she hates me, are you going to ghost me or something?”
“Sweetheart, we live in a town that’s small enough to fit in a thimble. I couldn’t ghost you if I tried. But to answer your other question, sure my mom and I are close. But she’s never been one to try to influence any of my decisions—no matter how dumb they may be.”
When I see her offended face, I add, “Not that I think you’re a dumb decision.”
“Yeah, yeah. Nice save.”
“Will you please try to calm down?” I ask. “My mother is quite possibly the sweetest woman in the world. Even if she did feel some ill will toward you, chances are you would never even know. Hell, I would probably never even know.”
“Sounds like the complete opposite of my mother. If she has a problem with you, it’s going to be written all over her face.”
“Oh, whatever. Your mom has always been super sweet, too.”
Her eyes go wide. “Maybe to you! I’m pretty sure she likes you more than me. Guess that’s pretty par for the course, though. Everyone seems to like you more than me.”
I grab her hand and link my fingers with hers. “Maybe you just need to mend some fences.”
“Maybe,” she mumbles so quietly I almost don’t hear it. “Anyway, tell me more about your mom.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Uhm, how about anything? You have told me she’s nice. Besides that and the fact that it’s her birthday, I don’t know anything.”
“Well, her name is Judith. She raised me all on her own with not a lot of help from anyone.”
Liz interrupts. “Where’s your dad?”
“He passed away before I was born. He was deployed overseas and was killed.”
“Shit, Jack,” she gasps. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. Yes, it’s sad, but I didn’t expect you to know that, and I don’t expect you to feel bad about it. It’s just something that’s always been a part of my story.”
“Your mom never got remarried?”
I shake my head. “Nope. She was a teacher and a single mom to a son who was in every sport imaginable. She never missed a single practice, game, or anything else for that matter.”
“How did she end up in Miami if you grew up in Minnesota?”
“When I signed my contract, she decided to move to be closer to me. Well, she said it was to be closer to me, but I think she was excited about the warm weather. Notice how when I moved to the Pacific Northwest, she didn’t follow me? She didn’t want to give up that sunshine.” I laugh. “But I understand. She moved into this retirement community and has a ton of friends that she hangs out with. She goes to classes and has hobbies. I’m glad that she’s living life on her terms now instead of constantly worrying about if I’m okay.”
“And she doesn’t know that you’re in town?” She asks.
“Nope. I wanted to surprise her.”
“I’m sure she will like that.”
“I hope so.”
When we get to the tiny community of small condos, Liz and I walk down the sidewalk until we come to my mom’s. A lady who is next door, watering her tulips gives us a friendly wave.
“Do you know if Judith is home by chance?” I ask. “Or is she down at the community center?”
Her eyebrows raise. “Oh, I think she’s home. I think she and a friend are playing Bridge, so you may want to knock.”
As we walk away, I mutter to Liz, “Kind of a weird thing to say.”
We get to the door, and I reach for the handle.
Liz asks, “Aren’t you going to knock?”
“It’s supposed to be a surprise, remember?”
We walk through the copper-colored door and into the cute condo. She loved these places the first time that she saw them. She argued that they were out of her price range, but I decided to pay half of it. Of course, she’d never ask for my help, so I worked it out with management that I would just send them my half directly each month.
As Liz and I turn the corner into the living room, I see something that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to unsee.
My mother.
Bent over the couch.
With some random man behind her going to town.
“Oh my God, Mom!” I scream.
Liz and I both shield our eyes as my mother jumps up and quickly tries to find her pants. “Jackson! What on Earth are you doing here? And why didn’t you knock?”
“I wanted to surprise you! Your neighbor said you were just playing Bridge! I thought that meant it was safe to enter!”
The gentleman, who is now buttoning his pants, laughs. “Yeah, that’s a little code word that we all use around here when people are getting it on.”
“Oh, good God,” I say. “I’ll never be able to look at playing cards the same way ever again.”
Liz still holds her hand up to her face to shield her view but looks over at me, mouthing, “Wow! I told you we should have knocked!”
“Not the time to gloat, princess,” I mouth in return.
“Just once, you could listen to me!”
I give her a blank stare. “Do we really have to have this conversation when my mother was just being taken to pound town by…”
“Joseph,” the man offers. He walks over and holds out his hand.
I look down at it. “I think you can understand why I’m not going to shake that right now, Joseph.”
Mom comes over and gives Joseph a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you later, hon. Thanks for the fun.”
Good God!
When he’s gone, Mom says, “Give me just a few minutes. I’m going to go freshen up real quick.”
When she’s out of the room, I look over at Liz, who looks like she’s about to bust a gut if she holds in her laughter for another second.
I point my finger at her. “This is not funny.”
Her lip trembles. “It’s a little funny.”
“Imagine you walked in on your parents doing it!”
“Oh, been there, done that. Have you met my parents? They are all over each other constantly. Have been my whole life. All of us kids knew to knock before entering a room that wasn’t public domain.”
“But your parents are still married. It doesn’t seem quite as weird as seeing your mother—who you have never seen even have a single date—bent over a couch with Joseph behind her.”
“Taking her to pound town?” Liz jokes.
“I was caught off guard, okay? Leave me alone.”
She walks over to me, rubbing her hands over my shoulders. “Aw, baby, I’m sorry. What can I do to make it better? Do you want to have a seat on the couch?”
“Liz,” I warn. “Keep it up, and I’m going to spank your little ass raw later.”
“Would you say that you’re going to pound it?” She balls up her fists and knocks them together.
“You are so not funny,” I say, while trying to hide my smile.
She looks up at me, running her tongue over her bottom lip. “I’m a little funny.”
“Maybe a little,” I say. Not able to resist, I lean down to give her a soft kiss. “But I’m still traumatized.”
“I know, baby. It’ll be okay.”
Mom comes walking back out of her bedroom, readjusting her hair into the claw clip on the back of her head.
“Now, let’s try this again.” She smiles. “Jackson, sweetie, what are you doing here?”
“I came to surprise you for your birthday.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you.” She walks over and gives me a big hug. “I love you, son. Just maybe, next time, knock.”
“I didn’t know I had to knock. I didn’t know that you would have visitors.”
“Yes, Jackson, your mother occasionally likes to get her rocks off.”
“Oh, God!” I cringe.
She turns her attention toward Liz. “Hi there, dear. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m Judith.”
Liz shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you, Judith. I’m Liz. I’m Jack’s girlfriend.”
Mom looks back at me with raised eyebrows. “Girlfriend, huh? I’m impressed.” She looks back at Liz. “How did you get this one to settle down?”
“Mom,” I try to protest.
Liz jumps in, though. “Well, he hated me to start with. But I wore him down.”
“Hey, we hated each other,” I argue. “That really doesn’t sound any better, does it?”
Mom pats me on the shoulder. “Not really. But that’s okay. It doesn’t matter how you start out—only where you end up.”
She gestures over to the small dining room table where we all take a seat.
“So, how long have you been seeing Joseph?” I ask.
She waves her hand at me like it’s a ridiculous question. “Joseph and I are not seeing each other. We just hang out every now and then…sometimes without pants on.”
“You have to stop saying things like that,” I tell her. “But isn’t that what seeing someone is. You hang out…and other stuff?”
She says, “Well, not when you’re doing it with more than one person, I suppose.”
“Who are you?” I practically scream.
Liz is looking back and forth between the two of us like she’s watching the most interesting tennis match she’s ever seen.
“Jackson, you grew up and moved away, and I got a life. Please don’t make a big deal out of this.”
Swallowing down everything else that I want to say at this moment, I decide to just keep my mouth shut. I’m here for my mom’s birthday. No need to ruin it by continuing to harp on her.
Instead, I watch her turn her attention to Liz as the two of them get to know each other a little better.
I spend the rest of the evening completely entranced watching my mom fall in love with Liz. Liz’s wild hair, big smile, and fun energy are all it takes for my mom to see in her what I now see.
I haven’t brought a woman around my mom since I was in high school. None of them were ever serious enough to take the leap. With Liz, it’s different. She somehow has found a way to calm me in a place that is my literal nightmare. Hell, she even managed to make me forget that earlier this very same day, I saw my mom in a position I never hope to see her in again.
Liz and I may have had a rocky start to our relationship, but now that I know her, I can’t minimize how amazing I think she is.
By the end of the night, she and my mom have become fast friends. They even exchanged numbers to keep in touch.
On the way out the door, Mom whispers in my ear that I better not let this one go.
“I don’t plan on it,” I reassure her.
On our way back to the rental car, we walk hand in hand. When I stop walking, I pull her back so that she’s looking up at me.
“Yes?” She says with a smile.
“You’re incredible. Do you know that?”
“Oh, stop.” She rolls her eyes.
“I’m serious. I know that this is probably a really stupid time to say this, but I’m going to say it anyway. I love you. And I’m not just saying that because you impressed my mom. I’m saying it because I’ve been thinking it for a while, and I think it was about time you heard it.”
She looks up at me, and for once, I can’t tell what’s going on in that big brain of hers. My heart feels like it may explode out of my chest as I wait for her reaction.
Finally, she smiles. “I love you, too, Jack.”
I lean down to give her a kiss. When I pull back, in typical Liz fashion, she slaps me on the shoulder. “Now, come on. Let’s go back to the hotel, so you can take me to poundtown.”