Chapter 30 Ivy
IVY
It’s only Thursday, the third full day of my suspension, and I’m bored. Zachary has been avoiding me. Dad is nowhere to be found. And Anthony is asking me every few hours if I need anything. The guy is nice, and I don’t want to be rude, but he’s too clingy.
So, I just drove over to Uncle Shawn’s house to visit.
It’s still exhausting to pretend I’m fine but it’s away from my house and they don’t have a lunatic lingering in the backyard.
The only thing I’ve seen of him the last few days was the brute on the balcony.
And that was plenty enough. It’s almost more concerning when I don’t see him.
Because I wonder what he’s planning for his next shit show.
As soon as I knock on the door, Aunt Kathleen opens it, as if she’d been standing right behind it. Shock then a big smile crosses her face as she pulls me into a warm embrace. “Oh my, cher. How I’ve missed you so very much.”
It’s a few minutes before she releases me and pats my injured shoulder. “How have you been? Your Uncle Shawn will be so happy to see you. He just ran to grab some potatoes from the grocery store.”
“I’m good.” Is all I reply before she launches into another string of questions that she doesn’t wait for answers to. Then she explains their plan for some house remodeling before she says, “Grandma will be up from her nap soon. She’s had a rough go of it ever since Jen—”
Aunt Kathleen stops herself but not soon enough to hide what she was going to say …
Jennifer. Grandma is having a hard time since she lost her daughter.
Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children.
They’re not supposed to outlive them. But as the child who buried the parent, I don’t like the arrangement either.
Why couldn’t I have just passed with my mom?
“Is Grandma alright? I should’ve come by sooner.”
“She’s okay. Don’t apologize. I know you have an exciting life of a busy teenager. Shawn told me about that new school. How fancy!” She checks the clock on the stove. “Why aren’t you at school now?”
“Suspended.”
She lets out a gasp. “Oh no. What in heavens for?”
“Food fight.” Easiest way to explain it without saying a crazy dude was harassing me again so I hit him with a tray, hoping it would’ve broken his nose.
Her delight shows, “Well, that sounds cool. Good for you. Enjoy your senior year while it lasts. You’ll have to adult soon enough.”
The comment brings up my last conversation with Mom, and a knot forms in my throat. I’d felt like I knew everything when I didn’t know anything. Especially what the future was going to bring.
I was lost in my head, but Aunt Kathleen didn’t notice as she was now explaining details about the tile that she picked out for something with the house, but I missed the first part. Then the screen door slams and Uncle Shawn appears with grocery bags in each hand.
His face lights up as he steps over to embrace me after putting them on the table. “Ivy. What a great surprise.” He becomes a little more serious when he asks, “Everything okay?”
“Yes. Just here for a visit.”
Aunt Kathleen starts giving him an animated rundown.
“She was in a food fight. Isn’t it exciting?
Remember when you threw that doughnut at Jennifer and she was so mad she put powdered sugar on your ceiling fan later that day?
When you turned it on, the room filled with a cloud.
” Her eyes tear up a bit, but she quickly hides it.
“No one could stop you two brats once y’all got going. ”
I try to imagine my mom being a prankster. “I only saw the serious side of my mom.”
Uncle Shawn moves his hand to my forearm. “She loved playing pranks on me. I can dig out some old videos and pictures if you want to see.”
“Sure.”
“Let me check on Grandma first. She’ll be happy to see you,” Uncle Shawn says as I follow behind him.
We step into the bedroom, and Grandma is awake. “Great you’re up, Momma. You have some company here to see you.”
A smile stretches across her face at the sight of her son, but as soon as her eyes meet mine, it fades. “No, no. My Jennifer. She’s gone.” She starts repeating over and over.
Uncle Shawn looks a little panicked at first before he takes a soothing tone to speak with Grandma. “Mom, it’s alright. We all miss her.”
He embraces her, worry still evident in his expression as he utters, “I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”
I take the cue and start to walk out but not before I hear a pained shriek from Grandma as she cries, “No. I don’t want her in this house.”
Uncle Shawn is speaking too low for me to hear, but all I can focus on is the hatred in Grandma’s wails. “It was that man. That piece-of-shit man. Things could’ve been so different. She wouldn’t’ve suffered. Just take her back. Take her back. Take her back now.”
“What is she talking about?” I ask Uncle Shawn, but he waves me off.
“Her meds make her loopy sometimes. Go see if Kathleen needs help, and I’ll be there in a minute.”
I leave the bedroom this time but can hear my grandmother screaming.
When I join Aunt Kathleen in the kitchen, she has a bubbly smile on her face, completely different from the scene I just left.
“Grandma is upset.”
She says, “Oh no. She wakes up a little out of sorts sometimes.”
“What did she mean by ‘she wouldn’t’ve suffered’ and ‘just take her back’?”
My aunt shrugs her shoulders. “Beats me. She comes up with some off-the-wall things. Grab a potholder and take out the rolls before they burn.”
I move through the motions, replaying the occurrence until Uncle Shawn enters the kitchen. “She settled down and fell back to sleep. Sometimes if she doesn’t get enough rest, she is a little delirious.”
I ask him, “What was she talking about?”
“Who knows. I doubt she even does. Sadly, she isn’t herself.
And the stress has made it a little more challenging for her.
But it’s life. She loves you, and your mom loved you.
We have no control over some of the trials life throws our way.
” He squeezes my shoulder before he moves to help my aunt around the kitchen.
Uncle Shawn has never lied to me before. So why do I get the feeling it’s more than just lack of sleep or the meds that had my grandmother so riled up. But if that’s true. Then once again, I’m surrounded by someone else who is lying to me. Does the deception ever stop?