16:58

Chapter Eighteen

Mother looks around the room, her mouth turned down in disgust. But there's a cruel smile when she sees me. And it's strange because she looks human in a sense. She doesn't look like some monster, she looks tired. There's almost something defeated about her face.

"Britney," Dad says.

Mom doesn't say anything, she's staring at me. I swallow. "It's been a while," I say after a minute. I feel Colton touch the back of my wrist in a reassuring way.

"Can we talk?" Mother says.

I frown. "Yeah. Sure."

Mother walks out of the living room into the kitchen. Colton looks at me, frowning and shrugs. I shrug back at him and follow her into the kitchen. "What did you want to talk about?" I ask.

Mother stares blankly at me, no emotion in her face. "I'm supposed to make amends," she says.

I frown. "You're in AA?"

"Yes," she sneers. She seems to catch herself and softens her face. "I'm sorr...I regret...." Mom sighs. It's like she can't bring herself to say she's sorry. "I wish that I could have been less negative towards you."

"Okay," I say slowly. Mother sighs. "I think you should apologize to Dad."

"I have," she says in a strained way. "And now that you're grown up, I need something from you."

"What the fuck could I give you?" I ask.

"I need money," Mom says. I laugh bitterly.

"This is about money?" I ask. "About fucking money?" I pull my phone out and grab a ten dollar bill from the case. "Fine. Here's ten dollars from a broke med-student."

Her face turns sour. "They revoked my medical license," she hisses angrily.

I shrug. "That's not my problem," I tell her. "I'm sorry shit went wrong for you, but I can't say that you didn't deserve it."

"You little—"

I cut her off. "Will you give it a rest, Mom? You've blamed me for shit I've never done my entire life and it hasn't helped you. It's funny because I thought when I saw you again you'd be some monster, but you're not. You're just a fucking wreck."

"Don't disrespect me like that," Mom says harshly.

"Fuck you. I'm an adult. I gave you money. Now, please just let everything go," I say. I walk back into the living room over to where Colton is.

"You all good?" he asks.

I shrug. "I guess. She's still the same." I look at the ground and the bowl is picked up. "Did you eat the olives off the ground?" I ask.

Colton grins. "What? Me? Never."

I look around. Mom hasn't come back into the living room yet. It's just fucking strange. The entire thing with Mother feels fake almost. Anti-climatic.

And I still have the feeling that shit's going to happen. I don't know what. I guess she could still do some damage, but not to me. I really don't have a fucking clue.

"You wanna go look at the presents under the tree?" Colton asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I look at him. "Really?"

"Yeah," Colton says. "I'm gonna go peek at what you got me. You don't have to come with."

Colton starts walking towards the tree and it takes me a minute to chase after him. I manage to grab his arm. "The parents are gonna get mad at you."

"I'm bored though," Colton says. We're about a foot away from the tree.

"Let's go watch a movie or something," I offer. I look at him. "And not act like five year olds."