My mom turned around and she looked at me. It was as if she was looking right through me. She said hello and went back to looking through a drawer she was sorting. I stood still and in a littleshock.
“Come on, Ry. Let’s load the boxes,” Chadsaid.
I followed him and stayed quiet. I didn’t know what to say to him about her. I felt like my chest was being squeezed and I couldn’t get enoughair.
“When—when did she stop answering to mom?” I asked Chad as we each carried a few boxes towards histruck.
“It’s been a while. Year or two, off and on.” Without any care, Chad heaved the boxes into the bed of his truck. “If you came around more often, it wouldn’t have happened.” He yanked the box from my arms and slid it next to the other box. “Or at least you would haveknown.”
If I had been around more, it wouldn’t havehappened?
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I said as quietly as I could. “She’s got dementia, Chad. How the fuck is it my fault she doesn’t answer when you fucking call hermom?”
Chad was half way up the porch steps again. He grabbed another box and casually made his way towards the bed of the truck where I stillstood.
“Ever since you left, she’s gone downhill. You should hear some of the fucked up shit shesays.”
“I think I have probably heard some of it in mylife.”
“Hey, can you spot me a few grand before you leave?” Chadasked.
“Fuck, I’m not a bank for you. Get off your lazy ass and get a fuckingjob.”
“Come on, Ry. A ‘then and now’ video would make me lots ofmoney.”
I didn’t answer him and I was already skating on thin ice. I hadn’t wanted to piss him off. I didn’t need him sending videos of me anywhere. Thankfully he didn’t know where Iworked.
Chad had given me a creepy smile and we continued to load his truck until almost 1:00 in the afternoon. Marie came back with some lunch and the four of us sat on the patio for a break and to eat. I kept to myself and pulled my phone out while I ate. I had a text from Russell and eagerly openedit.
Russell: Hey, Ryan. I hope you’re hanging in there. Please make sure to stop to hydrate and eat something. I’m thinking ofyou.
He was thinking of me. I snapped a picture of my lunch and sent it to him along with atext.
Ryan: Just sat down for lunch and abreak.
His reply wasinstant.
Russell: Good, Ryan. Do you guys have a lot to packstill?
Ryan: No, just some odds and ends. Then we’ll takeher.
Russell: What are your plans fortonight?
I glanced up and saw Marie giving Chad a hand job while he ate. My mom just stared out over the yard. I couldn’t stay here at the house tonight. Icouldn’t.
Ryan: I’m going to get a motel for the night. I can’t stayhere.
Russell: I know you can’t. I’d like you to call me thisevening.
Ryan: Okay. I need to go so we can finish. I’ll text you after I get her droppedoff.
I grabbed an empty box to help Mom gather whatever else she had wanted to pack up and take with her. For whatever reason, she seemed really chipper about moving. She hummed some tune as she gleefully dropped a few items loosely into the box on the kitchen table. I’d pull the item out and wrap it in some bubble wrap. I thought she’d have been somber over moving out of the house she had lived in all of her life, but I quickly learned how destructive the dementia had become while she rummaged around the same drawersagain.
“Can I help you find something mo—Elizabeth?”
“Yes.” She pulled out a stack of loose papers that appeared to be of no importance. They were mostly take-out menus, fliers for cleaning services or auto repair coupons in the stack she sifted through. “I’m looking for the death certificate for myson.”
What?
