The Return of the Bad boy

Chapter 38: Summer

"Where have you been?"

Mom jumped out of the couch when she saw me entering the house.

"Out." I kicked my shoes off at the door.

"We need to talk," she said next.

"I suggest we do this tomorrow when I'm in a better mood," I hung my bag on the coat rack and began to make my way up the stairs.

"SUMMER BENNET! You talk to me right now!"

I paused with one foot still on the bottom stair. I didn't know how much I could take tonight. But I also knew if we didn't hash this out now, it would be on my mind for the next couple of hours until exhaustion put me to sleep.

"Fine," I spun, then marched in her direction. "Let's talk. How dare you!"

Mom flinched.

"You were part of the reason Cam's life got so screwed up, and you didn't care. You would have done anything to protect your stupid secret that you didn't care who you hurt. Not even your daughter." I looked her up and down with disgust. I couldn't think of another child that has ever been so disappointed in a parent.

Mom and I weren't that close growing up. I was always a daddy's girl, glued to him like a shadow. But still thought we had a good relationship.

And when Dad passed away, I knew we'd grow closer eventually, and we did. She made more effort to do activities with me and go on trips. But as of the last few months, we grew apart.

I thought maybe I had myself to blame for not trying hard enough. But I see now that it wasn't me. Mom had secrets to hide, and perhaps that made everything easier.

If I hadn't caught them with my own eyes, who knew when I would have caught on.

All the signs had been in front of me. I had refused to see them.

The late-night work hours, the weekend trips, and the photo on his desk. It all should have been obvious.

Mom cleared her throat. "Honey, that's not true."

"Don't honey me, Mom." I crossed my arms. "Did you know why Cam went to talk to him?" I waited for her to answer me, but I continued when I saw that she wasn't. "Cam wanted to speak to the man that raped his mother and lied to everyone about it. He wanted to hear it from his own mouth. Whatever happened after that was clearly unexpected but understandable. Cam was hurting, and his mother's reputation was disrespected."

Mom took a deep breath but remained silent.

"You never asked, did you? I bet you let the mayor convince you it was something it wasn't, am I right? But most of all, your secret was out there, and if Cam had told me, there would have been havoc." It was my turn to take a few deep breaths.

Mom's eyes met mine from across the room, and they were watering. "I knew he would have told you if we gave him a chance. There was no way he would have kept it from you without...." Mom swallowed.

"Without being blackmailed?" I finished for her. There was no nice way of putting it.

"It wasn't my idea, but I didn't stop Paul either. We both had a lot to lose, and...."

I snickered. "And Cam didn't? He's just a teenager with his whole life ahead of him, and you ruined it. For months, he had to go through so much." My voice cracked with emotion.

I thought about his friends abandoning him, the town turning on him, the newspapers bashing him, and that stupid locker prank. Cam took it all in stride, but I spent weeks being livid. I wanted to crush anyone who looked at him wrong. I wanted to protect him.

"To make matters worse, when I look back at all those times you gave him a death glare, I realized that was you throwing those threats right back in his face." I shook my head. "You are horrible." And that was putting it nicely.

A tear ran down her cheek, but I couldn't stop myself.

"But let's put the Cam stuff aside for a second. Mom, you were having an affair with a married man. He has a family of his own. How could you think it was okay to interfere with that? I don't care how you might have felt. That was wrong."

Mom grabbed onto the couch's armrest and squeezed it. I could see her lips quivering from over here as a light sob came out.

I let out a sigh. "I'm disappointed," I finally said. "I didn't expect this, and I don't know what to do here. And I don't know what you could say to make this any better. I just... I want some space." I let out a dry laugh. "Which is funny to say since it's your roof I'm living under, but I respectfully ask that you give me some time anyways. I'm not saying I hate you or anything, Mom. But it's hard to be in the same room with you."

Mom sniffled, wiping her nose with her pointer finger. "I'm so sorry," she mumbled.

"I'm sure you are, but I can't accept that at this moment. Excuse me," I half turned. "It's a school night, and I need to finish up homework before getting to bed. If there's something else you'd like to say, please say it now."

Mom's eyes stayed glued to the couch as she let another soft sob. I almost wanted to go over and hug her

Dang, it.

I walked over to my mother and wrapped my arms around her back. "I meant what I said. I just hate seeing you cry. So yeah."

I felt Mom nod. "I don't deserve you."

I couldn't argue with that logic.

I stayed until I heard her breathing go back to normal, and she had calmed down. Then I silently eased away from her and ran up to my room.

This day... I had no words to describe it.