Chapter 52 Oh, They’ll Learn
Chapter fifty-two
Oh, They'll Learn
Jo
"There is no way Spider-Man could beat Thor in a fight,” I say to Colton.
The seven-year-old has gone from sitting next to me on the couch, to standing in front of me. "He totally would!'
“Thor is a god. Spiderman is just a kid from New York who happened to get bit by a radioactive spider. That's not all that impressive.”
Should I be arguing with him about this? I don't know, but it’s cute watching him get all worked up. He's a cool kid.
Yesterday, when Ronnie left, she told me I needed to be gone by the time she got back. Thankfully, Drew took pity on me and told me I could crash on the couch while she was away. I could've gone back to Dylan's, but I knew he'd want to talk.
No, thank you.
Drew lets me hang out without getting too touchy-feely.
We continue our playful argument about which superhero would win in a fight before we start having a nerf gun fight. When a foam dart hits me in the chest, I proceed to keel over and die in the most dramatic way imaginable. Colton follows my lead, throwing his body over mine and screaming, "No!"
I'm about to miraculously come back to life when there's a knock on the front door. Drew gets up to open it, and moments later, my mom comes walking in.
"Joanna?" She greets me with a raised eyebrow.
Drew looks between the two of us and deduces that she came here to talk to me.
Alone.
"Hey, Colton," he begins. "Let's go for a walk and get some ice cream"
"Why can't Aunt Jo come?”
"Aunt Jo and grandma need to have a little talk. We will bring them some back." He helps Colton get his jacket on before putting on his own, and then, they are out the door.
Wanting to prolong this a bit, I ask, “Do you want some coffee?"
"Sure, that would be great."
I take my time, but it still doesn't seem to be quite long enough.
When I return, I hand her a steaming mug before taking a seat on the couch next to her with my own.
"So, Mom, did you come here to yell at me?" I ask.
"No. I heard Ronnie already did that."
"Yeah, you'd be proud. She gave a scolding exactly like one of yours.”
"It sounds like you needed it. Maybe it didn't work, though, because you're still here, crashing on your sister's couch."
"Maybe I just like hanging out with Colton. He and I have similar brains."
“Uh-huh.” She sips her coffee.
"Mom, why are you here?
Normally, you’d already be giving me some hell, but instead, you're just sitting there being way too quiet. I know you want to say something, so why don't you just spit it out?”
"Joanna, I came to talk to you about whatever you want to talk about. I know you're going through a hard time right now, and I thought maybe you could use a friend."
"Wow. Okay then.” I reply, unsure of whether or not I believe her.
We sit quietly for a few minutes because I honestly have no idea what to say. It's odd because when we first sat down, I was ready to stay tight lipped and not talk about anything at all. But as we sit here in a comfortable silence, I feel my defenses starting to lower.
I don't know how she does it. The woman is a mind wizard without even trying.
"Mom, what the hell is wrong with me?”
She sets her hand on my knee. "Sweetheart, nothing is wrong with you.”
“There clearly is. I finally have someone really good in my life, and I’m pretty sure I ran him off."
She takes a deep breath. "Look, I don't think you've run Beau off and if you have then he wasn't the one for you."
"You're just saying nice things because I'm your daughter!'
Her eyes narrow in on me. "You know damn well that's not my style. My child or not, I'm going to tell you what I think.”
I laugh. "I guess that's true. So, why don't you tell me what you think?"
She takes another sip. " I think you're exactly like me.”
"Is that a good thing or a bad?"
She smiles. "I guess it depends on the day.”
"Wait, l thought Ronnie was turning into you"
“Ronnie may be getting down the words, but you, my dear, were born like me.
" She pauses for a moment, so I wait for her to continue.
"We both fight hard for the ones we love, and not nearly hard enough for ourselves.
We use sarcasm as a barrier to hide our true feelings.
And we tend to self-sabotage or run away when something good happens because we think we don't deserve it.”
"Mom, I don't think I've ever seen you act like that. You are one of the most self-assured people I know”
"Sweetheart, I wasn't always like that. I certainly wasn't like that before I had kids. Your poor father had to deal with a lot from me in those early years. I'll always be thankful that he stuck around despite my many attempts to push him away.”
"How did you get past all of that stuff to finally make it work?"
She thinks for a moment. “Well, most of the credit has to go to your dad. He was a fucking saint. He met me when I was at the absolute lowest point in my life. He just kept showing me that I was deserving of more. Eventually, I let my guard down enough to believe him."
"You make it sound so easy."
"It wasn't. It was hard, and it took a long ass time, but once we got to that point, things really started clicking.
I realized just how great a relationship could be when it was with the right person.
We were able to really start our lives together, and the rest is history.
But it's still hard sometimes. He still has to get me out of my own head occasionally.”
“I just find that hard to believe," I tell her. "You are the most badass bitch I know.”
She uses her finger to boop me on the nose. "Second most badass bitch. I think you dethroned me a long time ago.”
"Oh, yeah?" I smile.
"Absolutely. I heard about what happened at the bar while we were gone with the guys who were fighting.”
My face scrunches up. "You heard about that?"
"I heard about it and then went back to watch it on the cameras to see it for myself. You really held your own. That's actually part of the reason I wanted to talk to you.”
"Oh, man. This is where you are going to yell at me, isn't it?”
"No. Not yet.” She takes a deep breath. "Your dad and I didn't really go out of town to meet with a new supplier.”
"Oh, no. Did grandma die?"
"No, grandma is fine. We wanted to see how you handled the bar on your own."
"Why?"
"Because sometime, in the not too distant future, we'd like to leave the bar in your capable hands."
"What?" I ask, because I'm beyond confused. "Why in the world would you two give up Andre's? It was a dream for the two of you.”
"Well, it was. But now that we're getting older, we are getting close to our next act in life. We want to have more time to spend with our kids and grandkids. We want to travel and have new adventures. To do that, we need to take a step back from the bar."
"And you want me to take it over?" I question. "Have you met me? I'm not sure my ADHD brain could handle a whole bar.”
"Number one, I think your ADHD brain would be just fine. You did a great job getting Jack's shop in order. You also handled the bar fine for a week when we were gone."
"But that was me just helping out in an already established bar— not running one all on my own."
"Honey, we wouldn't be just throwing you to the wolves.
This would all be a process. We would train you and make sure you were ready before we stepped away.
When we finally decide to, Andre's will be yours.
You can do what you want with it. You can change the name or redecorate.
I don't give a shit. It will be your baby. "
"The thought of that doesn't scare you?"
"Nope. You're my baby, so I trust you implicitly.”
I sit in shock for a moment. I didn't think that after my week working at Andre’s, this would be the outcome.
How do I really feel about taking over Andre’s?
I’ve been harping on how I wanted to have something to call my own.
This could be it. Is there a bit of nepotism involved?
Sure. But one day, the bar would actually be mine to do what I want with.
I look at my mom again. “Do you really think I can run a bar? I mean, I’m not exactly great with customer service. I’ve been fired from way too many waitressing jobs for going off on rude customers.”
“I don’t think you’ll have that problem around here.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because most people in this town know you and know better than to be assholes to you.”
“And the ones that don’t?”
She smiles. “Oh, they’ll learn.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I thought you were going to come over here, yell at me, and tell me how stupid I was being.”
“I don’t think you’ll need me to do that. I think you’re already hard enough on yourself. I don’t need to pile on.”
“Thank you, Mom. For everything.”
She smiles again. “You’re welcome. And for the record, no matter how many crazy things you have done, I am so stinkin’ proud of you, Jo.”
“Mom…you called me Jo. Not Joanna.”
“You’ve been begging everyone to call you Jo since you were old enough to talk. I think it’s about time we do it your way. I’m giving you a whole bar. Maybe it’s about time I start treating you like an adult.”
I lean over to give her a hug. “Thanks, Mom. Maybe sometimes you can still call me Joanna, okay?”
“Okay, sweetheart. Whatever you say,” she chuckles.
“Well, I guess I have the job thing figured out now. I just need to find a better living situation.”
She gets a sly smile across her lips. “I think I have an answer for that too.”