“Okay, I can dothat.”
* * *
Ihad just walkedin the door from a long day at work when my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I hadn’t recognized the number, but answered itanyhow.
“Hello?” I said into the phone as I headed to the kitchen to start something fordinner.
“Ry,” my brother’s voice stopped me in midstride.
“Chad—”
“We need to do something withMom.”
“What do youmean?”
“She’s getting worse, man. She left the stove on and burned whatever she was cooking. The home care people got there and a smoke detector was goingoff.”
“What? Where was she? Maybe asleep and just forgot the stove was on. Or maybe she fell and couldn’t get up on herown.”
“She was sitting in the living room watching oldshit.”
I put a cup of soup in the microwave and leaned against the counter.Old shit?Had he meant just old shows of TV, like stuff she’d remember. Or old shit of mine? I didn’t want to ask, but I felt like I needed toknow.
“What was shewatching?”
“Some of your old college day shit. Stuff with herfriends.”
Suddenly my stomach hurt and I had no desire to eat anything. I rubbed on my stomach as Chad told me about how Mom flipped out at the home health care workers. How the fuck is she even capable of operating the damn DVDplayer?
I felt like I was going to explode. I only partway heard Chad as my mind flashed back to me voluntarily going to my mom’s and agreeing to do that shit for money. God, I was so stupid backthen.
“Pussy, are youlistening?”
Pussy.I let go of my shirt that I had been clutching for the last several minutes and balled my hand up in afist.
“I’mlistening.”
“Yeah, now you are. I should have called you that when you first picked the phone up. Maybe your ass would have been payingattention.”
“Fuck, I’m listening,Chad!”
“She can’t stay on her own anymore. We need to find a place for her, unless you can takeher.”
“What? Are you out of yourmind?”
“Pussy, you know she’s always loved you. Maybe you can makesome—”
“Shut the fuck up! I will help find a place, but she’s not living withme.”
“Yeah, that would probably be hard to explain to whatever girl you’re fucking if your mom came in with a videorecorder.”
I fucking hatedhim.
“I’m going to go stay at the house with her until we can figure something out. Marie’s pissed at me again anyhow. Look into some places tomorrow, wouldyou?”
“Yes. I’ll text you someinfo.”
I got off the phone and felt as though I could crush the phone in my hand. In anger and frustration, I knocked all of my mail off the counter and watched it spill around the kitchen floor.Like fucking hell was she moving in withme.
