“So am I,” Molson muttered as his stomach growled in protest. “Let’s have coffee then I’ll walk you to the center.”
“I don’t want to go to center,” Margot pouted as she let him lead her into the house.
“It’s fun at the center. They have books and games,” Molson said calmly. “They have a working cable subscription. You can watch your favorite soap,The Gorgeous and The Botoxed.”
Pulling out a chair, he sat Margot down, getting her a coffee and a bowl of stale, dry cereal. There was no milk. He’d have to pick up a few things today to make sure she didn’t starve. Pouring a bowl of fruity-o for himself, Molson shrugged and poured the coffee directly over the cereal before grabbing a spoon.
Margot picked at her cereal, sipping the coffee. “We should call David and ask him to fix the television. He’s good about getting people to do things.”
Crunching the coffee tasting mess, Molson raised an eyebrow. David hadn’t been anywhere near this house or Margot in twenty-eight years. “The cable wire is cut. I’ll get us a new one.”
He neglected to say how Margot had cut it three days ago. She wouldn’t remember.
“I’m missing my soap,” she complained.
“You can watch your soap at the center,” Molson reminded her. He set down his empty bowl and rummaged through the cupboard, searching for the lockbox.
“All the old people are at the center,” Margot wrinkled her nose. “I’m not old.”
“Where did you hide the lockbox?” he heaved a deep sigh. “Ma, you need to leave it where I put it. Your pills are in it.”
“I don’t need any pills,” Margot said stubbornly. “I’m perfect the way I am.”
“How do I argue with that?” Molson looked upward for patience. He would find the lockbox later. Margot would just have to go without her pills for the day. It was a never-ending battle between the two of them and Molson had to admit that more often than not, Margot won. He grabbed her coat. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Margot asked.
“For a walk. Maybe to the park,” Molson told her, slipping her coat on.
“Could we feed the ducks?” her eyes twinkled in excitement.
“If we find any,” Molson promised her. He knew that if he told her they were going to the center, she’d balk. This would be easier. It was a short walk where he distracted her by talking about the birds or the squirrels that they saw. At the center, he parked her at a table where some older folks were doing a puzzle.
“How’s she doing today?” Gail, one of the workers asked.
“Feeding the ducks,” Molson shrugged. “Not bad. She hid her pills again.”
“Molson, you really need to stay on top of that,” Gail clucked. “It’s important that she gets her correct medications on time.”
“I know it,” Molson tried not to be defensive. He knew what Margot was like when she wasn’t taking her medications more than anyone else. “I had them on the highest shelf in the cupboard in a lockbox, but it was missing this morning. I’d hoped they would be out of her reach. I’ll find them later.”
“Make sure that you do,” Gail remonstrated him. The center was not responsible for any participants taking their medications. They also didn’t tolerate any bad behavior which meant if Margot wasn’t properly medicated, she might get thrown out.
Molson desperately needed them to babysit his mother.
“I’ll find them,” he repeated. He looked at Margot who was engrossed in trying to jam a puzzle piece together with another. “I gotta go, Ma. Clemmy is picking you up later and I’ll drop in for supper, okay?”
Margot ignored him.
She was probably mad about being at the center. Or perhaps she was plotting her escape. Maybe she really was just concentrating on the puzzle.
Who knew?
Molson mentally shrugged and headed out the door. He took the bus to Mercy Hospital. At the information desk, he found out where he was supposed to go.
“Excuse me sir,” a burly security guard stopped him. “Can I ask where you’re going?”
“Orientation,” Molson explained. “Fielding’s class.”
