Waking the next morning, she was in bed alone.She’d not realized until she’d gotten out of the shower that it was later than she’d thought.Penrod had left her a note in the bathroom about how he wanted her to sleep for a while, and she smiled.It felt like it was the first time she’d had a reason to smile in some time.Today, she was going to see her mother and get that over with.
Tomorrow, her mother was headed to prison to serve some time until her trial was heard.They had to make sure she was healthy enough to be there, and now that she’d healed, it was time for her to move on.As soon as she saw Penrod at his desk, it was all she needed to boost her confidence up enough to face her.It wasn’t going to be pretty, and she wasn’t looking forward to it, but at least she was behind bars, and she’d not be able to hurt her.
“Hello, mother.What is it you want from me?I thought that you made it perfectly clear that you don’t need me in your life when you tried to kill me.”She snorted and said that if she wanted her dead, she would be.“I don’t have time for this.Tell me what you wanted to see me about so I can go home.”
“I want the deal that you offered me.”She asked her what deal.“Where you take care of me for the rest of my life.I want you to have to pay all you make in taking care of me.You’ll also pay the bail money to get me out of here.”
“There is no bail for you.You shot a judge.”She waved her off and told her that there was always bail to be paid for things like this.“Apparently not.And the deal is voided when you tried to kill me.I wouldn’t pay you to have your hair done right now.And it looks like a rat has been nesting in your head.”
“Take that back.As soon as you pay my bail, I’m going to take you for every penny that you have.And that supposed husband of yours.What do you think about him shooting me?I’m betting that you two had a wonderful fight over it.”She told her that the only thing that they fought over was the fact that he had not killed her.“You’re in a mood.What’s wrong with you?And don’t think that I didn’t get you to tell me that you’re going to get me out of here either.I think you having to support me will go a long way in having the judge forgive and forget about what happened in the courtroom.”
“Doubtful.You shot him, too.”She said that she wished that she’d gotten to kill him too forsending her off to prison.“I’m glad that you’re going to be in prison.It’ll make me sleep better at night knowing that you’re not out doing me harm.”
“What makes you think I can’t do you harm from prison?I have all kinds of contacts.”She asked her about the car instead of getting into it with her about the contacts she supposedly had.“That was the best thing I ever did with all that money you gave me.You’re going to be paying those credit cards off forever.”
“No, I won’t.I canceled them all and made arrangements to pay a lesser charge than you put on them.I was able to pay them off with the money that I won in the lottery, too.”She asked her how fifty bucks was going to pay off anything.“I have about thirty billion dollars at my disposal.I won the lottery that was the biggest there was in history to date.”
“You lie.”She said nothing but let her think about that.“You’re an idiot if you think that I’m going to believe you when you tell me shit like that.That was about a year ago now.”
“Six months and counting.I did win, and you know what?The money that you charged to those credit cards isn’t even going to make a dent in what I have with Penrod.”She asked who that was.“The man who shot you.My husband.”
“You’re a liar.”Realizing that she’d had enough of her mother for the rest of her life, she decided to leave.“Where are you going?I’m not finished with you.We still have to discuss what you’re going to do about getting me out of here.”
“I’m not going to do anything.As I said before, I like you being in prison.You have the life you deserve, and I’ll be happily married and someday have lots of children.”She told her that she forbade her to have any children.“Like that means anything to me.”
She felt better when she left.Perhaps it was a cleaning of her soul that made her feel better.Whatever it was, she was glad now that she’d come to see her.She wouldn’t go and see her again; there was no way that she was going to do that, but she’d think about this day for the rest of her life and feel good about taking a stand against a bully.Because when it came down to it, that’s what her mother was.A bully who tried to kill her.
~*~
Audon was glad to be home.He was going to go to bed and sleep until he wanted to wake up, then perhaps take a long nap to feel better about getting a good night’s sleep.He was just going through his mail when he heard from Gilman.He knew that he’d be the first person to welcome him home.
“Did you have a good showing?”He said that he’s sold all but one piece, and he might still sell it as he’d left it behind for the next showing.“Good for you.I’m glad that you’re home.I’ve missed you.I’ve gone over the house that you were looking at, and I can say that it’s not going to need any electrical work in the near future.I might put in more plugs if you were to redo the kitchen, but that suits you just fine now, you said, and I’d not tear out walls to put them in.”
“Good to know.I’ll put an offer in on it tomorrow.I was just headed to bed.”He told him he was sorry to have kept him from it.“No worries.I needed to unwind a little more anyway, and talking to you about the house did just that.One more thing off my list of stuff to take care of.Thanks for that.”
“I don’t mind doing that.”He thanked him again.“I was wondering if you dated anyone while in France?I don’t know that you would have had time, but I thought I’d put that out there.”
“I didn’t have time.I did have dinner with my agent, but that’s not going to come to anything.She’s as old as Mom and is happily married to the man of her dreams.I believe she has grandkids, too.”The two of them laughed.“Really, I’ve not thought about dating in weeks.I have this project that I’m excited to get back to, that’s been rolling around in my head for weeks now.I’ve almost got it all set up.All I need to do is get it set to paint, and I’ll be feeling better about it.”
“I know you lose sleep over things like that.I’m glad you have an outlet for your artwork.I love what I do, too, and I feel better when I can help out the family with projects, too.I’ve gone over Penrod’s house and found that his outdoor outlets are perfectly fine for use.He was worried because they looked so worn out.All I had to do was change out the outlets, and it was just fine for what he has a use for it.I think he wants to put up trees on his front deck at Christmas time.”
“That sounds nice.I have that wrap-around porch at the house I’ve been looking at, and I think I’m going to do the same.I might even just put in white lights and leave them up year-round.Mom and Dad do that when they have the porch lit up; it looks fantastic.”Penrod agreed with him.“It makes it look more welcoming, too.I love that.And since you have the best lawn ever, I’m going to be getting ideas from your front entrance.”
“Go for it.I’m having Mac’s firm do the upkeep of the lawn.It takes them about five hours to keep it looking good, and I’m so glad that they do it.Well worth the money to pull into the driveway and see that.”He told him that it was nice to pull into the yard like that.“I get a good family discount, too, so that makes it worth it.”
After getting off the phone with his brother, Audon took a long, hot shower and went to bed.He wouldn’t be disturbed by any of them.They knew that once he was home from a show, they were to wait for him to call them.Mom might call to see how he was doing, but for the most part, she left him alone, too.The time changes would kill him going back and forth for only a few days, and he would need his sleep.Just as he was drifting off to sleep, he thought of the project that he had left undone and couldn’t wait to get a start on it again.Rolling to his back, he closed his eyes and let the last four days just fade away.
Waking up to go to the bathroom, he decided to get himself something to eat as well.There were always things in his cabinets that he could munch on, and now was no different.Basically, that’s all he had in his place was munch food, as he rarely ate at home anymore and didn’t care for cooking.He could, he just didn’t care for it.
Going back to his bedroom, he got into bed.Lying on his back again, he closed his eyes, but all he could think about was the project.Getting up and getting dressed in his painter’s clothing, he was at his studio in less time than it would have taken him to have a meal.Getting himself a soda out of the fridge, he looked at the outline on the large canvas and saw the finished project.
He could always see the finished work when he did the outline of it on the canvas.It was something that he did with other media, too, like when he was doing his pottery stages of work.Having weighed out the clay, all he had to do was close his eyes and see it standing there ready to be glazed.As he was mixing paints for this one, he thought about all the colors that would go into the painting and was excited.The colors were what made him a great artist.He was never too afraid to use as much color as he could mix.And people loved it.
It was nearly five hours later when he had the first layer of paint on the canvas.Stepping back, he could see the main section of the work and the other elements that went with it.He knew that it was going to take him weeks to get this one done; it was a large canvas, but he felt good about how much he’d gotten done already.Perhaps he’d be able to sleep now and took a shower.He had all the comforts of home in his studio and lay down on the bed in the smallest work area and fell right to sleep.
“Hello?”Sitting up on the bed when he heard his mom talking, he said he was in the bedroom.“I’ve been trying to reach you for days, young man.Where have you been?”
“I’m sorry, Mom.I must have forgotten my cell phone in the house.”She told him it had been four days.“I’ve been out for four days?I must have needed it.I feel so much better.”
