Greene:Which time?
Hawkins:Well—ah. Do you want to talk about the first time?
Greene:The first time she left, it was also for a man. So it might be relevant.
Hawkins:Okay. Let’s talk about that first time, then. If you’re comfortable.
Greene:I mean, I should say. Brent—that’s who she left with the first time—he wasn’t like Miles, not at all. Or Lynton. Should I call him Miles or Lynton for this?
Hawkins:Whatever you want.
Greene:Well, Brent was—::pause:: Tegan. Do you care if I talk about him?
Caulfield:::snorts:: Not even a little.
Greene:Brent wasn’t really . . . he was into basically three things. His truck. Fishing. BW3. That’s a wings place, if you didn’t know. Like a sports bar.
Hawkins:I know what BW3 is.
Greene:Right. Right, that was silly. Sorry.
Hawkins:Don’t be sorry. You’re doing fine.
Durant:::groans::
Hawkins:Salem. Leave it.
Greene:Well, anyway. Miles was . . . very different. He drove a Camry. He liked to cook. He loved the library. Cookbooks from the library. He actually took my momout. To places other than BW3, I mean. So it isn’t as if she had a type. As far as I know, Brent wasn’t a criminal. Well, I guess except that he didn’t pay child support. But my point is, they were different.
Hawkins:But was—what I wonder is, was your mom different toward them? Do you think she felt the same about both of these men, since they both convinced her to . . .
Greene:Leave her kids?
Hawkins:::clears throat:: Yeah.
Greene:I guess, the thing about my mom is—probably any man could have convinced her. Any man who wanted to go, and have her go with him, I think she would’ve gone.
Hawkins:Because . . . because you think she didn’t like being a parent? A mom to you and your sister?
Greene:I don’t think she disliked it. I think . . . it’s what Tegan said before. She wanted to be loved. Romantically loved, I mean. When she was with a guy, she—I don’t know. She kind of disappeared into him. With Brent, she went fishing. She ate hot chicken wings. She said his truck nuts were “just a joke.” Even with my dad, he wanted a certain kind of life—house in the suburbs, kids, stability. A wife who’d stay home. She was that, for a while. When I was really young, before they split, she always had dinner on the table when he got home from work. She kept a cleaning schedule on the fridge. That sort of thing.
Hawkins:And then what? She didn’t want to be that anymore?
Greene:It’s hard to say what she wanted to be. My dad left her. Brent left her. Other guys left her, too.
Hawkins:Who was she when she was single? When she wasn’t seeing someone?
Greene:I don’t really know. She was always looking for something. The next someone. I guess I’d describe her as inconsistent. Fun when she was around, but inconsistent.:: long pause::
Greene:That’s all I can think of to describe her right now.
Hawkins:Okay. Would you say she was interested in money? Was she motivated by it?
Greene:No, never. Or not . . . I don’t know. Not when I knew her. When my parents split, it was my dad who really kept offering her more, probably out of guilt. I’m sure his lawyer hated it. But he left her the house; he supported her financially until she left that first time with Brent. And even after, he helped her when . . . ::pauses::
Caulfield:You can say it. He helped when I came along.
Greene:::clears throat:: Right, my dad helped her with some things after Tegan was born, too. But I mean, if you’re asking whether she wanted really nice things, or whether she tried to date men with money—the answer to that is no. Miles certainly didn’t seem as if he had money when she met him. I think he said he was a . . . what did he say he did?
