Chapter Thirty
Colton squeezed my shoulder.
I swallowed and blinked. I needed to focus, to breathe, to do something.
My mom opened the door wider, and I went to step inside, but instead, a man in only boxer shorts came out. He was holding his clothes and shoes, practically running out of my mother’s house.
I watched him walk gingerly across the gravel and make his way into the trailer across the street.
Awesome.
She half closed the door again. “Can I help you?” She asked, her voice cracking.
I clenched my jaw, sure that I was going to explode from anger. “Are you serious right now?”
Her glossy eyes glazed over my body, giving a glance at Colton, but staring at my face. “Are ya sellin’ somethin’?” Her accent was as thick as ever, the cigarette butt barely clinging to her lips as she spoke.
I was shaking, my legs ready to give out on me.
I was grateful I had worn a tank top; I was sweating horribly already.
Colton cleared his throat and reached his hand out toward her. “Good afternoon, ma’am. My name is Colton Nash, and I’m your daughter’s boyfriend. We’re in town for the rodeo, and Ally here happened to mention her mamma lived in Amarillo. She wanted to introduce me to you, if now is a good time.”
My mother’s pencil-thin eyebrows shot up in surprise. “My daughter’s boyfriend?”
That’s what she got out of that?
“Yes, ma’am.” He said, lowering his hand slowly. “Do you mind if we come in?”
Gosh, I was so lucky he was here.
This time, she plastered on a smile, letting the cigarette butt fall on the stairs. She stepped back and opened the door, holding her hand out for us to come in. The smell of smoke was overwhelming. “Well, please, come in, I’m Ida. You’re lettin’ all the cold air out.”
I cautiously took a step inside.
She shot Colton a look and leaned forward toward me, her arms open wide. I gave her a weird look, not sure what she was doing. Her bony arms were fully around me before I realized she was hugging me. I took another second before I awkwardly put my hands on her back.
I looked at Colton.
He was still standing in the doorway, holding his cowboy hat in one hand. He gave me a soft nod, his face asking the question, “You okay?”
I just stared at him until my mom finally released me.
“Y’all just make yourself comfortable on the couch, and I’ll see what treats we can find in the kitchen!” She practically sprinted away.
The house was in almost complete darkness. I went to the front room window and pushed back the yellow blackout curtains. Light flooded the house, along with at least a pound of dust. I coughed as quietly as I could.
The old green floral couch I had grown up with was still against the window. Colton took a seat, both of us ignoring the loud creak it made under his body.
The couch was facing two brown armchairs, their fabric ripped and stuffing starting to spill out. I picked up a bright red bra off of one of the chairs and tossed it behind the furniture, praying Colton didn’t see it.
The T.V. trays we had used as end tables were littered with old cans and picture frames lying on their backs.
I leaned over the end table to look at the picture.
It was Dad.
My mother was using a picture of my dad as an ashtray. I picked it up and shook it off, rage flooding my body. I stomped back to the couch and sat by Colton, holding the picture tight.
Something made a crumpled noise under the cushion. I leaned over to peel back the fabric and sighed in disgust.
“Apparently, I need to go to the grocery store!” She announced as she set a plate of old Chips Ahoy on the coffee table we had found on the side of the road when I was thirteen. She ran back to the kitchen and brought back two plastic cups full of…coffee, I think?
Colton grabbed a cookie and popped it in his mouth before I could warn him not to. It was all I could do not to burst out laughing when he bit into it. His face contorted in disgust, but he coughed and did his best to cover it.
“So, my little Peach here didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend!” Mom said as she collapsed in one of the armchairs. “And she didn’t tell me how sexy he was!”
“Mom,” I scolded.
She pursed her lips at me. “Oh, Peach, it’s a compliment.”
Colton leaned back and put his hands in his lap. “Uh, thank you, ma’am.” He cleared his throat. “If I may, I’d like to tell you what a wonderful daughter you have here. She’s a true joy in my life, and I am so lucky she took a chance on a guy like me.”
I looked at him as he talked. How could he say such beautiful things in my childhood home that was as covered in dust as it was in sorrow? I wanted to grab him, to hug him, to tell him that he didn’t have to say all that just to make me feel better.
My mother laughed, a disgusting, mocking laugh. “Peach here? You should’ve seen her in high school. You wouldn’t have called her a joy then!”
I took a soothing breath. “I had a hard time in high school, after Dad died.”
Mom looked at Colton as she lit another cigarette. “She likes to blame everything bad that’s ever happened on her dad’s death. She fails a test, ‘My daddy died, it’s not my fault!’ Gets a speedin’ ticket-not her fault, her daddy died!”
Colton cleared his throat. “I’m sure that was life-altering for you both. I can’t even imagine. I’m truly sorry for your loss.” He was so quick with his responses, and so calm. I needed a smidge of his peaceful demeanor, or I would truly have a heart attack before we left today.
“Well, he was never here anyway, so it didn’t change much,” she said, rolling her eyes.
Oh boy.
“Mom, can we talk about the eviction notice?” I asked, changing the subject before she could get on her “I was married to the world’s worst husband” kick.
She was leaning over the T.V. tray, presumably wondering where her ashtray/picture of her dead husband was. “What about it?”
“How did you let that happen?”
“We talked about this already,” she responded, seeming bored with the conversation. “There’s no money left.”
I hated that I had to bring this up in front of Colton, but what else could I do? Ask him to leave?
Actually, maybe that’d be best.
“Mom…” I hesitated and threw a glance at Colton, who was peering inside his plastic cup.
“What about the money I’ve been sending you.
That was more than enough for the mortgage, utilities, and everything.
You were adamant that it got sent on a certain day, so I assumed that’s when the bills were due! ”
She was chewing the inside of her cheek and staring me down. “I used that money; it’s gone.”
“Where did it go?” I asked in desperation, my voice cracking. I closed my eyes and tried to force the ringing in my ears to quiet down. “Mom, what happened to the life insurance money?”
“I told you, dummy, I used it to get you all your things when you were a teenager. I gave you a cushy life with your daddy’s money,” she retorted.
Colton grabbed my hand.
“All of that is gone?” I asked quietly.
“Yep.”
“Okay, so what have you been doing with the three grand I’ve been sending once a month?”
I could feel Colton’s body react in surprise.
Three grand a month. It adds up over five years.
That’s one-hundred-and-eight thousand dollars.
That’s how much money I have sent my mom since I got my “cushy” job.
That’s how much she demanded she needed to keep afloat in a crumbling trailer park.
I didn’t question it. I had the money, kind of, and felt like I owed her something after leaving Amarillo.
“I’ve been livin’ my life, Mom,” she groaned like a teenager. “I’ve had to buy food, and the old car broke down, so I needed to get around-”
I stood before I could tell my body not to. I was losing my mind.
“She’s always been like this,” Mom decided to tell Colton.
“She always had to have the perfect grades, the cleanest room, little OCD if you ask me.” She took a long drink from her own plastic cup.
“Anyway, after Clay died, she went off the rails for a few years! She went to this honky tonk every night, line dancin’ and hittin’ on guys.
She even dyed a few little pieces of her hair pink! ” She laughed hard.
I crossed my arms and stared at her, worried my teeth were going to snap in half from clenching my jaw.
“Barely saw her that last year of high school. But, Peach, I gotta give it to you, through all your phases, you always stayed a little freak who had to have the most perfect grades and the cleanest room. I bet your house in Boston has those little lines you get when you vacuum and blue cleaner in the toilet,” she cackled.
“Chicago, Mom,” I shot back. “I live in Chicago.”
Colton was throwing me helpless looks, trying desperately to help, but my jacked-up family was way past help.
“Why are you here, Peach?” She asked, turning to face me when Colton didn’t answer. “You here to judge me and then go back to the penthouse in New York?”
My gosh, was she not listening to a word I was saying? “I’m here to help you, Mom.” I threw my hands up. “I don’t want you to be evicted, so let me help you. How much do you need to stay another few months, just until you can get back on your feet?”
“Back on my feet?” She asked, standing. “You think I can go work? Allegra, what about my ailments?”
It was all I could do not to roll my eyes. “Can’t you work at the market or-”
“I need ten grand,” she answered my first question.
“Ten grand?” Colton asked in surprise.
We both looked at him. He raised his hand in apology for jumping in, but I wished he would say more. She was getting a mood that nobody wanted to see.
“I can’t give you ten grand,” I said softly.
My mom’s hands were shoving me back before I realized she had gotten so close to me.
Colton was on his feet and beside me in an instant. “Woah, okay, let’s just talk about this.”