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“You have three new watches; they’re in your trousseau.”
“I wasn’t in the right head space at the time. Drats, I wish Mitzie wasn’t behind bars right now. I miscalculated.”
“Oh? How so?”
“I didn’t know I was going to marry a billionaire this weekend. That bitch is jealous of my shadow. This ring alone will get her six months on the psych ward.” I held out my hand and admired my shiny new diamond. It’s a real shame that I’m not into this crap, but at least I can use my new luxury shit to make my detractors green with envy.
“What happened with her anyway? You never said.”
“Oh, that was good. I turned her in for her hundred and one traffic tickets that added up to thousands in fines and a bench warrant, had her car towed, and then had her arrested at the airport for trying to leave the country.”
“How did you do that?”
“I called her in as a runaway fugitive. I didn’t invite her to my wedding. How was I to know why she was headed to Mejíco? You can stop looking at me like I have two heads. That bitch made my life hell she’s lucky I’m not leaving her in a swamp somewhere as gator bait.”
I just love these holier-than-thou types who act like you’re supposed to forgive and forget, even when the asshole didn’t ask for forgiveness. “Maybe she had just as hard a time as you did; after all, she did lose her father as well.”
“It’s not my fault her mother is a scabby trollop. Look, before you start your bleeding-heart shit, I don’t forgive anyone who hasn’t asked for forgiveness and shown that they are genuinely remorseful.”
“What if she asks for forgiveness now?”
“Too late. If she only asks when the heat is on, she’s just trying to save her ass, that’s not remorse, that self-preservation. She’s the reason my Dad is going to get his ass handed to him.”
“Why is that?” He thinks I don’t know he’s playing shrink, whatever. I’ve had about twelve therapists because I refused to talk to any one of them. The last one swore I was spawned in hell because of the way I would look at her. She wasn’t right in her damn head, that’s why.
I just had to let her know which of us was crazier, and I guess she didn’t like that. She wanted to have me committed, but my threats to burn down Dad’s house put a stop to that shit. He never tried that shit again.
“Why is she the reason? Because she wanted everything I had. I never got to spend a moment alone with my own father after the age of thirteen because that bitch and her harpy hag of a mother wouldn’t allow it. Now you’re telling me that all this time, he had a way out. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt him, but I wish I could find a way to have his car taken from airport parking.”
I gave him a look, but he pretended not to see me. I kicked him with my toes. “Well? Don’t you know someone?”
HELEN
“What do you mean I have to leave my home?”
“You have to leave, ma’am; your home has a flea infestation.” I knew this was coming after the first visit but I didn’t expect it this soon. It was Sunday, after all and who ever heard of city employees working at this time?
“Well, where am I supposed to go?” I couldn’t tell this complete stranger that I had no money. How would I hold my head up in this town if that got out? I was already doing my best to hold it together. It’s the only reason I haven’t left the house, even though the fleas were as thick as hell in there. I didn’t want anyone else to know what was going on with me.
Even as we stood there outside the door where he’d made me come, I was scratching. The bites and itching were enough to drive me crazy, and I wasn’t sure that I hadn’t already lost my mind completely. I hadn’t slept in days because there was no place to lay down in the house where fleas didn’t bother me, and the feeling of those things crawling all over me was now entrenched in my mind.
Nothing about the last few days makes any sense. From the drive back from the airport to this, none of it. I still haven’t been able to help my daughter, and because it was the weekend, I still have to wait to hear anything about court or when I can see her since they refuse to let me. I’d wasted my time going down to the station after she’d been booked because I wasn’t allowed to see her.
The shame of having to leave her in the hands of a public defender because I didn’t know where or how to find a lawyer was already bad enough. Now, I wish I had paid more attention to other aspects of my husband’s life because I’m sure he has a lawyer somewhere, but I just never cared about that because I don’t break the law.
It's Monday now, but I don’t have the funds needed even if she was allowed bail, which she wasn’t, because the cops claim she was running away when they found us at the airport. I tried to explain that we were going to a wedding, but because there was no invitation and I had no proof, they refused to take my word for it, so now she’s seen as a flight risk.
I didn’t even know she had that many tickets or that it was such a big deal. Whoever heard of people going to prison over speeding tickets? At least that’s what she said they were, but what do I know? That girl has always been a disappointment.
I did all of this, endured other people’s ridicule as the woman who broke up a marriage to give her a better life, and she has squandered it in every way possible. I tried to make her prettier than that bitch Alyssa, smarter, better in every way, but she failed me every time.
I know most people don’t understand, but what mother wouldn’t have done the same? I had looks and a little bit of brains; the only thing I didn’t have was money. I always knew that that was what was needed to get ahead in this world, and when I saw my chance, I took it.
I did have feelings for Charles when we got married, but I learned early on that feelings don’t amount to shit when there’s so much you want and can’t afford. Corbin was supposed to be our ticket, mine and my daughter’s.
That’s why I didn’t mind the scorn and the whispers. I had a beautiful roof over my head, better clothes, and jewelry, and I walked through doors that would have otherwise remained closed had I not married up.
I’m not sure why everyone acted like I had committed some sort of crime when every other person in this town does it. Maybe it’s because they didn’t think that someone like me, from the other side of the tracks, deserved to move in their circles.
