“Should she not have said hello?”Fuck. I pound the side of my fist against my forehead. I should not have asked that. Now I’m going to get sucked into more interaction with mom than I want to deal with today.
“Of course she should have. But she didn’t even thank me again for all that help I gave her when her husband was sick a few weeks ago. I brought them dinner every day for a week, you know.”
I hold the phone away and let out a quiet sigh. “She did thank you, I thought. Didn’t she bring you that angel food cake and a beautiful thank-you card?”
“Yes, but she still should have said thank you again. A whole week, Rebecca. That’s a lot of meals to make for someone. And it’s not like I’m made of money. Lord knows you haven’t helped me since you moved out on your own.”
“That was fifteen years ago, Mom.”
“Hmph. Well, I still don’t see why you couldn’t have stayed with me. After everything I did for you after your accident. Remember how I took care of you? Remember how everyone looked at me like I was the worst mother in the world? I did everything for you. And you don’t even care.”
Shit, not this again. I hate talking about the accident, and I hate trying to make her feel better about it. She’s not the one living with the lifelong consequences. I am.
Time to try distraction.
“You know what? How about I grab dinner and come over for a visit? My client cancelled on me at the last minute, so I have an unexpected day off. I’d love nothing more than to spend it with you.” Not true. I can think of many things I’d rather do, including going back to my apartment and checking on how Pukey Mcbucketface is doing with her hangover. But if I don’t do something to appease my mother right now, she’ll subject me to weeks of guilt-inducing phone calls, and I don’t want to deal with that.
“Oh. Are you sure, dear? I don’t want to put you out. I know you probably have much better things to do than spend time with your mother. I wouldn’t want you to feel obligated just because I’m still suffering from your accident.”
I roll my eyes so hard I wouldn’t be surprised if Mom could hear it over the phone. “I’m sure, Mom. I insist. I’ll see you in about an hour, OK? I’m going to run to my place and change out of my suit first, but then I’ll come over with that sushi you like. Sound good?”
“That sounds fabulous, Rebecca. You always know what to do to cheer me up. See you soon.”
She doesn’t even wait for me to say goodbye before hanging up on me, which is typical. She got her way, so no need to be polite. I know I should stop letting her run all over me like this, but I can’t just leave her to fend for herself. She is still my mother, after all. I need to remember I owe her everything.
Not that she’d ever let me forget it.
