Chapter 19 My Way Better
MY WAY BETTER
“Mom, your phone is ringing.”
“I know, Archer.” She reached in and grabbed her purse off the passenger seat and flung it over her shoulder after she pulled her phone out.
Tucker.
Twice in less than a week.
She was hoping he wasn’t going to tell Archer already about the trip. It was too soon in her eyes.
But she wouldn’t be that divorced parent to keep her son from his father.
She put the phone to her ear and answered. “I thought you were going to send me to voicemail,” Tucker said. “I waited until you were out of work.”
“I’m just walking in the door now,” she said. “Archer, go put your stuff away and finish any homework you’ve got.” She dropped her purse on the island. “What’s going on?”
“Homework,” Tucker said sarcastically. “Do you even check it over to see if he’s finished it?”
“Of course I do. But he doesn’t need me holding his hand every night. I ask him, I ask to see it, he knows it’s a spot check, not a military inspection.”
“That’s the problem,” Tucker snarled. “You need to stay on top of these things. I just saw his report card.”
She bit her lip and counted to five. “The one from February? Almost two months ago? Because the next one is coming next week so no way you saw it.”
Leave it to Tucker to be so far behind. He had access to Archer’s school portal. She gave it without him even asking so that he couldn’t ever say she wasn’t cooperating.
If her ex chose not to be that involved, that was on him. It wasn’t like he was here helping with schoolwork and never had.
“So that means this next one is probably worse,” Tucker said. “I want to talk to him.”
“What do you mean worse?” She looked around and didn’t see her son anywhere, which meant he was still upstairs in the loft where he had a desk and did his work.
“Farrah, he only had two A+’s. And one was for physical activity. That’s inexcusable.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tucker. He had three A’s also.”
“And a B+. I’ve never had a B+ in my life. He gets that from you. You need to make sure he buckles down and does fewer physical activities and more learning clubs. And that B+ was science. No, not acceptable.”
She growled. “He’s not us. He’s his own person. His other A+ was math. I was never good at math, but was in science. No one says he has to follow in either of our footsteps. Let him be him. He’s eight!”
“I want to talk to him right now. He shouldn’t be rewarded with games, toys, and activities if he can’t get his grades up.”
“Don’t you dare tell me how to parent our child that you see less than a handful of times a year and barely talk. Then you call to lecture him. No. I’m not going there.”
“Farrah, don’t push me. I can go back to court with you.”
She laughed. “Really, Tucker? You’re going to play that game?
Because you and I both know that my lawyer could have gotten a lot more for what happened and I cut it off because I didn’t want to go through it anymore.
I never did, nor did I want to subject Archer to it.
I believe the judge also praised me and my statement in court for that. ”
Tucker snarled on the other line. “I meant to get Archer more.”
“When you cancel every third time you have him?” she asked. “Sure. Go ahead. Don’t think I don’t have records of everything. Not to mention your schedule. Aren’t you the one who hires people to stay with him because you’re working so much? Do we want to go down this path?”
“Don’t be a bitch, Farrah,” Tucker snapped.
He’d never lost his patience or cool with her until the end. Until she accused him of cheating and he’d told her she was a fool and an idiot to think that.
The minute those insults were out of his mouth, she was dead set on proving she was none of those things.
Maybe she hoped she was wrong, but her gut said she was spot on.
Too bad there were four years of her life that she wasted with him.
“Insulting me isn’t going to get your son on the phone. If you want to talk to him, you’re going to calm the hell down and you’re not going to yell or swear. I mean it.”
There was a time Tucker loved that she wasn’t someone to be pushed around. That she made him work for her attention because she didn’t cave easily.
She’d bet he was regretting it now. He sure the hell didn’t like that she didn’t back down.
“Fine. But I’m telling you right now, he needs to get his grades up and I’ll be telling him that.”
She’d rather it was done in her presence than when she wasn’t around to console her son, so she’d let him get it over with on her terms.
“Remember one thing, Tucker. What you say and do to your son will and can have lasting effects. You hated your father for the control he had over you. For always putting the pressure on you to be perfect and work harder, so put yourself back in those shoes.”
“Yeah, well, it worked. Look at me today, so you remember that too.”
Tucker’s father passed away two years ago, but as a retired surgeon himself, one who had Tucker later in life, she’d heard more than once how her ex was talked down to by his father to work harder and be more, then coddled by his mother for being so good.
The perfect making for the narcissistic prick who gaslighted her that last year of marriage. She wouldn’t let her son be treated that way and she was going to damn well make sure Archer could see the signs of it.
“Don’t go there,” she warned.
“Whatever,” Tucker said. “Put him on the phone.”
Typical response when he didn’t like the truth shoved in his face.
“Archer,” she yelled as she walked to the bottom of the stairs. “Your father wants to talk to you.”
“Now I know why he’s such a heathen. You could have gone and got him.”
“And then get a lecture from you for keeping you waiting. I like my way better.”
Especially if it blew out his eardrum.
Her little payback for the fact that Tucker hated when she got loud and excitable watching sporting events when they were together.
She rarely got him to attend anything unless it was to show off great seats.
“Coming,” Archer yelled back. She ignored Tucker’s snort on the other end.
“Dad wants to talk to you.”
She handed the phone over but put it on speaker. She was going to hear if her son was getting berated or not.
“Hi, Dad,” Archer said.
“Hey, bud.” That was something at least. He toned it down. “I happened to look at your report card the other day.”
“They aren’t coming out till next week,” Archer said. “How did you get it already? Was it better? I’m spending more time on science. I was bummed I only got a B+.”
She grinned over that unprompted response.
Tucker was silent for a second. “No, this is your other one.”
“That was two months ago,” Archer said. “Why are you looking at that now?”
She bit the inside of her cheek. “I’m very busy,” Tucker said, his voice short. “But I wanted to talk to you about science.”
“I had one bad test. I studied but didn’t understand it. I did better this time. I know it.”
“I want to assure that you do. School is important. More important than sports.” She shook her head before she could stop herself, but Archer didn’t see her.
“But I like playing sports,” Archer said. “And I do my work. And my grades are good. Better than all my friends.”
“Then maybe you need to hang out with friends who spend more time studying.”
“Tucker,” she interrupted. “It’s not your place to tell Archer who he can be friends with when you’re two hours away and have met none of them. Now if you’d like to come to town and meet them and their parents, I’ll gladly arrange it.”
“Yeah, Dad. That’d be cool.”
She shouldn’t have said that because now her son looked as if he was excited over the possibility.
“I can’t do that, Farrah. You know better.”
She put her hand on Archer’s shoulder and rubbed it. “I’m just offering a suggestion for you to know more about your son. Is there anything else you need to say to him? He’s got schoolwork to finish and I need to start dinner.”
“Archer, your other grades were good. Keep up the hard work, but put more time into science. I mean it. It’s important to get into good habits now. You’re going to have to prioritize. Fun is for after your work is done, not before.”
“Yes,” Archer said and put his head down. “Can I go finish my math homework now?”
“Bye,” Tucker said. No nice soft endearment for his son.
She picked the phone up that had been on the counter and took it off of speaker.
“Better than I thought you’d be, but still uncalled for.
He’s trying, you heard him. He’s still a kid and you know as well as I do physical and social interaction learning is just as much a part of academics.
Maybe you should take a page from his book and you’d have more friends. ”
“Don’t piss me off, Farrah,” Tucker said.
“Seems as if I do it just by existing. Now, is there anything else you need or want?”
“No. I’ll be in touch once I see his report card next week.” He hung up after that.
She dropped the phone on the kitchen counter where she had walked.
She wasn’t going to hold her breath because she was positive Tucker would forget next week and it’d be weeks or more before he remembered.
Unless Archer got an A in science. Then maybe her son should call his father and tell him.
Best not to start any shit and let it lie.
She wouldn’t be the one to bring it up if he wanted to do it.
After a few deep breaths, she squared her shoulders and pulled out the chicken breasts that had been marinating all day.
She didn’t want to be in a bad mood for Jayce’s visit and hoped Archer wasn’t either.
There was no way she could cancel and didn’t want to.
In her mind, the visit might be the best thing that could happen after Tucker’s call. It’d at least have them both laughing before the night was over.