“Hmm,” she muses. “I have your schedule. Your next game… I think I can make that.”
I grin and close my eyes. My family comes to my games from time to time. Most of them. Not Saff because she’s far too self-centered. Seriously, you’d think she’s the baby or something. She’s not, which she resents Steak for.
“Great.”
“Listen. Your sister’s wedding is in a month. I’ve emailed you the details.”
I glower. “I’m not going. Not only is the invitationin an email,but it’s disrespectful and inconsiderate of her to do that to Steak.”
Mom sighs. “Honey, you shouldn’t take sides.”
“Going to her wedding would be taking sides too.”
She doesn’t answer, but with amusement, she admits, “You’re right.”
I frown. “Well… good. I guess.”
“In ten years, Steak will be married to another wonderful young woman and have a kid and the date will no longer matter. It’s all about timing.”
“You’re wrong. How would you feel if she got married on Dad’s death day?” I ask. “Would you still feel it’s all about timing?”
Dad died when I was eight. Mom remarried a decade later, but she still gets sad and visits his tomb every year on his birthday and on his death day.
“That’s not fair,” she says.
“It’s the same thing. The only difference is that Steak didn’t have a chance to marry Becca. But Mom, hewouldhave. They had everything ready. Just because you actually married Dad and had some years with him doesn’t mean it’s any different.”
She sighs. “I’m not sure what’s to be done at this point, Lem. She’s already got the whole thing booked.”
“Which says a lot about her and what she thinks of us,” I counter. “Why do you think I want to support someone like that?”
“Because she’s your sister.”
“Some of the most toxic people you’re ever going to meet are related by blood. She’s selfish and spoiled and so fucking self-centered that she chose to have her wedding day the day after Steak’s would have been, knowing how he feels about it. They didn’t break up, Mom. Becca died!”
“She’s not going to want to change it.”
“She’s not going to change it,” I correct. “And that’s why we’re not going.”
“So you’ve talked to your brother and sister.”
“I’ve talked to Sugar. I talk to her all the time. Steak and I work opposite schedules, so we don’t often catch each other. But Sugar’s talked to Steak, and he has expressed how upset and angry he is. He has every right to be. And it’s kind of shitty that you’re supporting Saffron.”
“She’s my daughter too,” Mom says. “I think you all forget that.”
“Trust me when I tell you, we’ve never forgotten that.”
She sighs.
“I need to get to practice,” I tell as I glance at the football field and see my team already there. I’d have been right on time if I’d leftafterI sprayed all over myself. My cheeks heat as I glance at the couch. But talking to my mom has made me late. I hate being late for anything having to do with my kids.
“We’ll talk later. Please, just think about it.”
I roll my eyes. “Already have and already decided. Maybe if Saffron acted like a decent human being, I’d consider otherwise.But literally the only thought she’s ever had is how to make literally everything about her.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really? On Steak’s first birthday, she broke her leg as she threw a tantrum because he was getting presents and she wasn’t. He might not remember that day because he was one, but the rest of us do. On his fourth birthday, she had a sleepover because she was feeling sad that he had friends over and she didn’t. Her sleepover, by the way, was a bigger party than his. His eighth birthday, she?—”
