Something Rotten, Ch. 03
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Not long after I ended the call with my Dad, my phone buzzed again. This time it was Mary, Dad’s wife. I reluctantly answered the call.
“Hello,” I said.
“Jimmy, this is your mother,” she said.
“I’m sorry, my mother is dead,” I told her in a monotone. I heard nothing for a few seconds, then a slight sniffle.
“Jimmy, that’s not even remotely funny,” she said. “I am your mother, and I want to speak with you.”
“That’s Mr. Foreman to you,” I said. “You may have given birth to me, but you’re not my mother. She’s dead to me. What do you want, Mrs. Foreman?”
“So, it’s Mr. and Mrs. Foreman now, is it?” she asked, the bitch starting to unsheathe her claws. “Alright, Mr. Foreman. I was going to apologize to you for the way things went this weekend. I had hoped we could have a nice time, but you ruined it by leaving us. We were concerned that something might’ve happened to you.”
Yeah, right, I thought as I chuckled. “Yes, something DID happen, Mrs. Foreman,” I said. “I saw the truth. I discovered that most of the people I grew up with are nothing more than lying, backstabbing snakes. And I suspect something about the woman I married that I simply cannot live with. So, I decided to extricate myself from the untenable position you all put me in so I could figure out how to deal with things.”
“And what have you decided?” she asked. I could hear the sneer in her voice.
“I don’t believe that’s any of your concern, Mrs. Foreman,” I said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
“Wait,” she said, her tone suddenly changed. “Jimmy... Mr. Foreman. I know you’re upset, and I don’t blame you. If I saw and heard what you did, I would be upset, too. Just know that we all love you. And you have two beautiful children who need you.”
“Is that right? Well, I’ll keep that in mind, Mrs. Foreman,” I said, ending the call. I poured myself a cup of coffee and went back to what I was doing. It wasn’t long before my phone buzzed again. Won’t these people just leave me the hell alone, I asked myself. I looked and saw it was her – my soon-to-be ex-wife. I considered letting it go to voicemail, then realized I had promised her we would talk later. So I answered the call.
