Chapter 3 #3
“Not easily, if I had to guess. Also, did you notice the kitchen? It’s sort of laid out funny as well.
Like it was a galley kitchen, and they turned it into what it is now.
But it doesn’t work all that well either.
The stove is right next to the refrigerator, and when you open it, it is in front of the stove.
That doesn’t seem all that safe to me.” She said she’d not noticed that until he mentioned it.
“It’s a lovely house, but it’s laid out funny.
And if you were to use the kitchen for all that long, say to make a large meal, it would really bother you in the way that things are laid out in it. ”
“I guess when I was looking around, all I could see was that I had a house. Now that you’ve pointed things out to me, I do wonder how they lived in it for as long as they did with all the problems. I noticed, too, that the addition is nice and smoothly laid out, but the connection between the addition and the house itself is way off.
” She thought about the rest of the house and shook her head.
“I don’t know now that I could live in the house the way it is.
I’m glad you pointed things out for me. I would have noticed them after a while, but like I said, all I saw was that I had a house of my very own.
I guess I should look into having it remodeled or buy something better. What do you think?”
“Maybe that’s why they were forever having the house tinkered with.
They were looking for a solution to the problem that we’ve noticed.
” She said she’d have to look around better when she got home.
“But for now, we’ll have a nice dinner and have a good time out.
I love that they left you a house, however. It’s really generous of them.”
“I’m beginning to see lots of things that I didn’t before.
Not about the house, though that is one of them.
I’m thinking about my mother and the fact that she and her brother never got along.
I remember things from my childhood that didn’t go over well with Uncle Robert.
He would get into huge arguments with Mother and they’d not speak for weeks on end.
Then, when she hit me, it was years. I don’t know that they spoke at all when I was away at school.
Do you suppose her hitting me had anything to do with that? ”
“I would imagine, yes. He seemed to be pretty protective of you all the time. Then, when she did hit you that time, he sent you away so that you wouldn’t be around her as much.
” She said that she also noticed that she’d not be home for the holidays, but at her uncle’s house.
“Could be that he figured that he paid for school, that you should be spending the holidays with him. That I can’t help you with.
I didn’t know either one of them before they were killed. ”
“I’m remembering a lot more as time goes on.
It’s not like I tried to forget all the things that had gone on in my life, but things are starting to make sense now.
Like, my mother is a bitch. I think I might have always known that, but she’s always been about what I could give her.
Even going so far as to take money from my accounts when I wasn’t forthcoming about things that she wanted from me.
” She looked at Ivan and smiled. “We really are getting to know me in all this. How about you? I know you have a horrific childhood. Tell me when there were good times if you had any.”
“I did when we were living with the Wilkins. They never treated us any differently than like we were their own children. I remember my first birthday with them watching over us. I had my first gift and cake. It was wonderful to be able to celebrate all our birthdays with them. They were the best couple that we’d ever had anything to do with.
” She asked him if he remembered what he’d gotten.
“Yes, a sweater. Mrs. Wilkins had knitted each of us a new sweater for the colder weather. I think I might still have mine. I wore it all the time. It was such good memories to be able to look back over and remember. They were good to us. And for us too.”
“It sounds like it. My mother was never about the holidays. I think she didn’t like that she had to buy gifts for other people.
She would just hand out cash when she got something from someone.
I think she hated that as much as she did getting something for them.
She’s very selfish, I’ve only just noticed.
” He asked her if she’d ever figured out who her father was.
“I know his name. It’s on my birth certificate.
Howard Bash. I remember that because there was a Howard at the parties that my uncle gave.
I did wonder at one time if it was him or not, but I never asked.
I wish I had now. I’d like to meet him.”
“What would your mother say?” She told him she didn’t know, but she’d more than likely be upset with her about it. “Did you ever ask her about your father? I mean, there has to be something out there about him, don’t you think?”
“I think I will now that I’m older to see if she’ll tell me anything about him. I deserve to know, don’t you think?” He just smiled at her, and she grinned back. “Is that your way of telling me that I should do it even if it pisses my mom off?”
“It’s up to you, but I know that I’d like to know more about the man who stayed out of my life since I was born.
Even with his name on your birth certificate, it tells me that he was there during some point of your life that your mother felt comfortable enough with him to put his name there.
Perhaps he’s died or something, and she never wanted to talk about the love of her life.
I don’t know, but if you want to look for him, I know that Devlin can help you.
He’s pretty good at searching out things like that.
For that matter, so are you. You have a name, the rest should be fairly easy. ”
“Knowing my mother, things will not be easy.” He had to agree with her there.
The little bit of time that he’d spent with her mother hadn’t been good.
She seemed to like it when things were full of drama, too.
Something that he never cared for in all his life.
He’d had too much of it as a child, he’d thought, and that was more than enough for him.
He took her hand into his as they were being seated.
“I’m excited to do this tonight. I love getting to know you.
Or I guess you’re getting to know me. I’ve been talking nonstop about myself.
Tell me something about yourself, and let’s talk about that. ”
Ivan talked about his adulthood, not his childhood.
It was depressing to talk about when he was a child, and he thought that they could get more knowledge about each other if he stuck to his college years.
And they had been fun. He’d met a lot of people then and had made a lot of friends.
Then, when he graduated at the top of his class, he’d come back home to work with the vet who had wanted to retire.
It was a good time for him, and he enjoyed telling her of some of the things that he’d gotten into as a teenager with his brothers.
They had a wonderful dinner, and he hated to see it end.
“You really enjoyed the salmon?” She said it was wonderful and that she’d love to have it again.
“I’m glad. It’s one of my favorite all-time dishes.
I can cook it at home too, but it’s never the same.
I keep trying, and maybe someday I’ll get it, but for now I know where I can get a good dinner of it so that I can have it when I want it. ”