the time factor. I thought it would be easier to explain if I had to rush through it. “My parents divorced when I was seven. My mother left my dad for Phillip. I stayed with my dad. It was my choice. We lived close to his parents, my grandparents. I didn’t want to leave my friends. But mostly, I was just really angry with my mom for leaving. There was no way I was going to go with her. Anyhow, a few months later, we found out Dad was sick for the first time. He’d actually been sick for awhile but with everything going on, he ignored it.”
“Cancer,” Eric filled in.
I nodded. “To make a long story short, he fought it off once, he was in remission but a few years later it came back. He wasn’t so lucky the second time. If I’d had my way I would’ve lived with my grandparents. I hadn’t seen my mom much over the last decade.” I cringed, realizing juts how long Mom had been out of my life. “I mean, I always had to do the mandatory holiday visits and a visit over the summer. But I hated it. I felt out of place with her and her new family. We’d grown apart.” I shrugged. “After Dad died, I stayed with my grandparents for about a month. But then they insisted that my place was really with my mom. And my sisters.”
He nodded but didn’t interrupt.
“There really is a point to this,” I said with a self-conscious laugh. “Mom was worried I wasn’t going to bond with them.
“I started applying for summer jobs, and even had a few interviews, but I never got hired. I realized later that’s because Mom has a lot of pull in the community, she was probably able to be sure I didn’t get hired. She’d told me no daughter of hers was going to be a waitress or even scoop up ice-cream at the mall. When I realized I was not going to get hired anywhere, she conveniently offered to pay me to watch my sisters over the summer.” I shrugged. “I wasn’t thrilled with it. But I did want to make some money. My own money. I’m not too happy that the money comes from her and Phillip but I was kind of out of options.”
“Sneaky,” he said in a light tone. “But it doesn’t sound like too bad of a job to have.”
“I was pretty irate at first,” I admitted. “It was just another way for them to control what’s going on in my life. But to be honest, I’ve really had fun watching them.”
“So you’re bonding?” he teased.
“Guess so,” I said with a small laugh.
“I hate to cut this short,” he said, “but I really don’t want to be late getting back. The last thing I need is to lose another job.”
“Right, sure, no problem,” I agreed. We gathered up our trash and he walked it over to the bin.
“Thanks for lunch, by the way,” he said as we headed toward the car.
“Thank Phillip,” I said sarcastically.
“I will, if I see him again,” he said with a laugh. “It’ll probably take us the rest of the afternoon to finish. Then I guess we’ll be back again next week.”
“When you come back I hope you still consider me to be a friendly face,” I said, repeating his words from several days ago.
He didn’t say anything as we got in the car. I drove for awhile as silence filled the air. I thought our lunch had gone well enough. But maybe he had just wanted to get through lunch. I didn’t like the idea that he might think differently about me.
As we neared Phillip’s house, I finally had to say something.
“Eric, you know what? Until last fall I just lived in a middle of nowhere town, in a middle class neighborhood. My dad was an accountant. No one at my school had ever even heard of Phillip Calhoun. Life was simple. It was nice.”
As soon as the words were out, my expression soured because while I might have painted myself that pretty little picture in my head, it was a lie. “Actually, my dad was sick on and off for as long as I can remember. A lot of my old life wasn’t nice. It was…,” I faded off helplessly, not wanting to sound melodramatic.
“Pretty damn
“Cancer,” Eric filled in.
I nodded. “To make a long story short, he fought it off once, he was in remission but a few years later it came back. He wasn’t so lucky the second time. If I’d had my way I would’ve lived with my grandparents. I hadn’t seen my mom much over the last decade.” I cringed, realizing juts how long Mom had been out of my life. “I mean, I always had to do the mandatory holiday visits and a visit over the summer. But I hated it. I felt out of place with her and her new family. We’d grown apart.” I shrugged. “After Dad died, I stayed with my grandparents for about a month. But then they insisted that my place was really with my mom. And my sisters.”
He nodded but didn’t interrupt.
“There really is a point to this,” I said with a self-conscious laugh. “Mom was worried I wasn’t going to bond with them.
“I started applying for summer jobs, and even had a few interviews, but I never got hired. I realized later that’s because Mom has a lot of pull in the community, she was probably able to be sure I didn’t get hired. She’d told me no daughter of hers was going to be a waitress or even scoop up ice-cream at the mall. When I realized I was not going to get hired anywhere, she conveniently offered to pay me to watch my sisters over the summer.” I shrugged. “I wasn’t thrilled with it. But I did want to make some money. My own money. I’m not too happy that the money comes from her and Phillip but I was kind of out of options.”
“Sneaky,” he said in a light tone. “But it doesn’t sound like too bad of a job to have.”
“I was pretty irate at first,” I admitted. “It was just another way for them to control what’s going on in my life. But to be honest, I’ve really had fun watching them.”
“So you’re bonding?” he teased.
“Guess so,” I said with a small laugh.
“I hate to cut this short,” he said, “but I really don’t want to be late getting back. The last thing I need is to lose another job.”
“Right, sure, no problem,” I agreed. We gathered up our trash and he walked it over to the bin.
“Thanks for lunch, by the way,” he said as we headed toward the car.
“Thank Phillip,” I said sarcastically.
“I will, if I see him again,” he said with a laugh. “It’ll probably take us the rest of the afternoon to finish. Then I guess we’ll be back again next week.”
“When you come back I hope you still consider me to be a friendly face,” I said, repeating his words from several days ago.
He didn’t say anything as we got in the car. I drove for awhile as silence filled the air. I thought our lunch had gone well enough. But maybe he had just wanted to get through lunch. I didn’t like the idea that he might think differently about me.
As we neared Phillip’s house, I finally had to say something.
“Eric, you know what? Until last fall I just lived in a middle of nowhere town, in a middle class neighborhood. My dad was an accountant. No one at my school had ever even heard of Phillip Calhoun. Life was simple. It was nice.”
As soon as the words were out, my expression soured because while I might have painted myself that pretty little picture in my head, it was a lie. “Actually, my dad was sick on and off for as long as I can remember. A lot of my old life wasn’t nice. It was…,” I faded off helplessly, not wanting to sound melodramatic.
“Pretty damn
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