chapter twenty-six
Jude
Today's vocabulary word: insistent
When my mother arrived,she unhinged her jaw and swallowed Audrey whole.
She blew right past me and devoured my fiancée in a wild monologue that rambled on for minutes. Audrey gave up on trying to respond but she smiled and nodded and let my mother drag her all around the house to look at one thing or another.
"Janet, you're going to suffocate the girl before we get her down the aisle," Rita yelled from the kitchen. "Slow your roll."
"I've been waiting so long to see you two," my mother said, her hands outstretched to me and Audrey. At five feet even, my mother had to tip her head back to gaze up at us. "You've found a way back to each other and it's such a gift to finally see you together."
The way my mother smiled, so bright and raw and hopeful—it sliced right through me. She looked genuinely happy, but more than that, she lookedrelieved. That was the part that hit me hardest. She'd struggled for so long, and not just with the disease. But in raising me alone, scrapping to make ends meet,putting me first again and again. All I could feel was the weight of this lie and how much worse it would be when this ended.
"The real gifts here are the statement shirts," I said through a knot in my throat.
She pulled at the t-shirt that readOf course they're fake! The real ones tried to kill me."I get the best compliments on this shirt. I have it in five different colors."
"I love it," Audrey said. "How are you doing, Janet? I'm so sorry I didn't call to check on your progress sooner?—"
"None of that," Mom said. "I can talk about that bastard all day long. I can give you every ugly-ass story. But I'm not going to. I'm too busy living my life. That bastard is gone, he's not coming back, and that's the end of it."
"Amen," Rita shouted.
Audrey forced a smile and I could see her struggling to meet Mom's badass energy while also checking off the good manners box. "I'm so happy to hear it. I've been hoping for the best for you. Jude's kept me updated along the way, of course."
She gestured to me. I arched a brow. I knew she was asking me to step in and save her but I was running short on sympathy today.
"The best part of the whole ordeal is that I got these brand-new tatas." I turned my gaze to the ceiling as my mother cupped her breasts. "They don't sag! It's like I'm eighteen again. Nice and firm. You should feel them."
"Janet, don't force your daughter-in-law to fondle you," Rita yelled.
"I'm not forcing anyone," Mom yelled back. "I'moffering."
"And you wonder why it took them so long to visit," Rita said. "They're here for five minutes and you're whipping out the tits like they're some souvenirs from your last cruise."
"You look…amazing," Audrey said. "It's great to find that confidence again after going through a painful ordeal."
I bit back a laugh. Audrey stabbed my lower back with her bony little pinkie finger and pretty much skewered my kidney in the process.
"Such a sweetheart you are." Mom pulled Audrey into a squeeze and out of stabbing range. "All right, you two. I hope you're hungry because we're going to one of Gary's restaurants. I've told you about Gary," she said to me. "From up the street? Well, he has a few restaurants and he wants to give you the VIP treatment tonight."
I made a gruff noise that I doubted I'd be able to replicate on purpose. "Gary's at it again, huh?"
"Which one are you goin' to?" Rita called.
"Agave," Mom shouted back.
"That's my favorite," Rita said. "You're gonna love it. Get the mushroom fajitas."
I was beginning to think they came to know Gary simply because he could hear them yelling all the way up the street.
"You really will love it. If you don't see anything you like on the menu, Gary will have them make something special for you. I can't wait for you to meet him," Mom said to us. "I'm going to change and then we can go."
I blinked at my watch. I knew time zones could be tricky in this part of the world but—"Mom, it's four fifteen."
"We've already missed three days together and we have so much to talk about," she said. "We'll start with drinks on the deck so everyone can get to know each other. If you're not hungry yet, you will be after we chat for a few hours."
