In the Woods, Bears

Chapter 29 - Home Sweet Home

"Mom, I'm too tired for this. Can I explain in the morning?"

When her mother's response was to sternly cross her arms, Kennedy gave in and joined her in the living room. She dropped into the armchair next to the couch instead of heading down the hall toward the basement stairs. Her Mom would just get up and limp after her if she tried to escape to her room. No need to cause her extra pain.

Voice icy, her mother said, "I bet you didn't know I still have family in the hills, and that they call me once in a while."

Kennedy winced. She hadn't known that. Her mom almost never talked about her childhood. When Kennedy had previously asked, the woman had avoided the topic. When pushed, she'd admitted they were poor. For years, she'd avoided any details about her family by saying that Kennedy's dad had rescued her from that life and she had no desire to think about the past. On the rare occasions Kennedy had gotten her to talk about anything personal, she'd talked about Kennedy's dad. They used to visit his family, but never hers. The story was that they had met in high school and been sweethearts. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mom."

"I'm talking about the hills you were roaming around this last week and a half. My cousin works at the diner and recognized you from the pictures I've sent her over the years. 'She wasn't sure,' she said until she saw the name on your credit card." Her Mom rested her hand on the tabby that sprawled on her lap. "I've worked so hard to shelter you from that world. Didn't you figure there was a reason for that?"

She was screwed. Kennedy pressed her fingertips to her temples. "You never told me you were from the same place as my birth parents."

"What did I do wrong by you, Kendie? Haven't you had all you needed?"

Leaning forward, she touched her hand to her mom's forearm. "You don't like questions about the past. When I found the picture, I kinda wanted to see, you know. I went to the lake."

"I should have known you wouldn't have enough sense to leave things alone. When you snuck off and got that tattoo, I should have paid more attention then. I could have said something. I never should have let you keep that picture when you found it."

"You knew?"

"I'm your mother, and you aren't exactly very good at keeping secrets. Didn't you realize that your suddenly wearing pants all the time would seem weird to me? You didn't even close the metal box all the way when you stole that picture."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I was waiting for you to speak, girly. You should have come to me."

Kennedy thought about the mountain and everything she had seen and done. "I should have."

With a deep sigh, she warned, "Jesus, Kendie, you gotta stay away from those people. There is a reason that I ran away from there as soon as I could. I grabbed your dad's love like a passing star." Her mom settled her hand over hers. "It's past due to tell you some things. I wouldn't show you the adoption paperwork, because there was no clinic. There was just a lawyer. Remember my friend, Shanda? You used to call her auntie."

Kennedy remembered. She'd visited a handful of summers. Kennedy had the idea that Shanda and her mom had been friends for a long time.

Her Mom patted her wrist. "I caught her trying to talk to you about the mountain ways, and all their craziness. All the things I was trying to protect you from."

"Is that why she stopped visiting?"

"Of course it is." She took Kennedy's hand and squeezed her fingers. "Babies have to be protected. Where I come from, that isn't always how it goes. She knew your ma. Your ma was friends with Shanda's little sister. You know that me and your dad couldn't catch pregnant, even though we tried. There are a lot of babies that find their way out of the hills. Life can be hard there and people sometimes die young. When your folks died, the family was hoping to get you to a better life where what happened to your parents wouldn't happen to you." Her mother took a deep breath. "Did you find out much, wandering around with your picture?"

"A little. I met a Veterinarian."

Her mother turned her hand over and noticed the sweet grass rings. Brows coming together with confusion, she pulled Kennedy's hand toward her face. "Who gave you these?" She pressed the fragile rings down against her finger like she was touching an ugly bug that was stuck to her.

"Does it matter?"

Her Mom startled her when she brought Kennedy's hand up to her face and smelled her. All the color left her cheeks. "You turned?"

Kennedy tried to pull her hand back, but her mother's grip had become a claw. "I had a bad trip, Mom. That's all. I was foolish and had this fantasy about what I might find out about my parents."

"I'm your parent. They didn't raise you. I kept you from all that hill trouble. How could you go looking for it? I protected you and prayed for you every day. We went to church like sheep. I learned to believe in their God. It's not possible for you to change. I had you baptized." Her mom's eyes had a crazy light catching fire in them. "You strayed from the faith, or this couldn't have happened."

Kennedy hadn't been to church in a while, but her Mom went faithfully every week. Between her parents, her Mom was the more religious one. Kennedy had a vague idea that there was something bigger than herself, but her mother's church had mostly been a social thing for Kennedy. She'd never fully bought into the idea of the big sky daddy. Her mom began rocking back and forth, and two of her cats abandoned their stations. Her clasp on Kennedy's hand was so tight it hurt.

"I got you baptized." One of Kennedy's knuckles made a popping noise from the increasing pressure. "Did you bleed?"

"Mom, I'm a woman. I bleed every month. "

Her mother pressed Kennedy's hand to her bony sternum between her flat breasts. "You are too old. We got you through safe."

A strange fire was burning in her mother's eyes that Kennedy had never seen. She felt prickles of fear dance along her shoulders.

Her mother asked, "What did you do?"

When her mom began digging her nails under the grass rings to break them, Kennedy instinctively yanked her hand back and held it protectively against herself.

Her Mom's gaze narrowed. "You gotta leave my house. Little girl, you've turned bad and gone sour. That ain't no fault of mine."

"Mom, nothing has changed. I just wanted to see the lake where the picture was taken. They were a bunch of crazy hillbillies. I came home because I wanted to be home."

"No matter. You have been ruined, and there is no denying it. The curse is on you, and that's something I lay at your feet. That is none of my doing. I did all I could." She slapped her own chest for emphasis. "MY family don't have that taint anymore. We are clean. You can't stay here."

"Mom, where will I go?"

"Don't matter. You just can't be here anymore."

"Mom, I'm still me. Your daughter."

Her Mother's gaze leveled on her. "No. You are something else, too. And you don't know, but I've seen what destruction can happen." Her face twisted. "Do you wanna wake up soaked in blood, my half-eaten carcass pulled apart all over the floor? You are cursed, no matter that I tried to save you. You are lost to me."

"I would never hurt you. I love you."

"You gotta leave. Tomorrow."