“You have to face your demons, kid. Can’t run from them.” She looks up at me.
“I did it for you. I thought it would make me a better mother if I, you know, faced my trauma and all that. I wanted to do right by you—tried not to punish you for the sins of the father.”
“Sorry you wasted your effort.” The words taste bitter in my mouth. “You definitely should have just left me here.”
We stand in the overgrown grass and stare at the house.
“You know, Dani came to talk to me.”
“Dani? Is she… Is she okay?”
Mom shakes her head. “You know, honestly, I don’t know what to believe, kid.” There are tears in her eyes.
I force myself to look at her.
“I don’t know.” She sighs.
“I was so worried about you becoming like him that I was worried… I just made you into some sort of success robot.” She makes the robot arm motions. “It never really felt like you wanted to be part of the family.” She turns to me. “And I’m sorry for that.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” I tell her.
“I think—no, I know—that I let Frank mistreat you.”
“He was doing what he had to do,” I argue.
“I didn’t stand up for you, and you never wanted to be around us,” she continues.
“I didn’t belong there. Obviously.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anymore.” She smiles at me sadly. “But it was nice to have you around these last few weeks. To finally hang out with my son, to see you and your siblings bonding. Dani brought out a side of you that I didn’t think existed.”
“Yeah. The monster.”
“No, Graham.” She grabs my hands. “Just like a normal person. Without the suit and the blank expression, hiding behind your money, buying things for your siblings, for me, as a way to push us away.”
Her hands squeeze mine.
“You were always so concerned with doing the right thing—you never did anything exciting when you were a kid. You just went to school and did sports. You didn’t even go celebrate with your team after you guys won your hockey games. You just came home and did homework and sat in your room. You never had fun. You know, when we got rescued, I was like, ‘Finally, my kid can actually enjoy life. He can see the big wide world and see how amazing it is—cherish this short time that we have.’ But you just didn’t. It was like you just got dropped into another prison.”
“It was safer for everyone.”
“Look, kid, anything can happen. Your life can change in an instant.” She snaps her fingers. “Just like that. You think you’re going one way, then the universe is like, ‘Nope. Fuck you.’”
“I’m sorry my father kidnapped you, and I’m sorry I was born.”
“I’m not sorry.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Don’t tell me how to feel.” She sticks her tongue out at me—my beautiful, funny mother.
She deserves better.
I never should have come.
“You know, Dani seems to think highly of you.”
I bark out a laugh.
