“Oh, Annie.” She snuggles up to me, rolling deeper on her side. “He won’t be. That’s where you are very wrong, missy. If he finds out from someone other than you, he will be hurt.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. He’s given me everything and sacrificed so much and I just ruined it all.”
“Annie, you’re a smart girl, but I’m going to be brutally honest here. You’re being dumb. Completely stupid. Just do the math. Your age and your dad’s. Life happens, it’s the way you handle it that matters. Pull your shit together.”
I groan, my tears beginning to dry up. My courage building with tiny pebbles creating a foundation that I’m going to eventually have to leap off. My phone dings over and over, alerting me to a few texts. I don’t even roll my head to look at it. Mom takes it upon herself, reaching over me to grab it from the pillow.
“Braxton texted.” She clutches the phone.
“Fuck him,” I spit.
“Language.”
“I’m not going to even apologize for it. He’s gone radio silent. He made up a damn excuse to not come home with me and hasn’t responded to or answered any texts or calls. He’s made his position crystal clear.”
I peer over, seeing Mom reading the texts. I don’t even care, but when her face reddens and lips twist, I know something is wrong.
“What did he say?” I ask, not wanting to know because I can guess what he’ll say.
“Honey, I’m going to block his ass and if you trust me you don’t need to know.”
“He asked me to get an abortion, right?”
“Oh no.” She fiercely punches at the phone with her finger.
“What is it?” I try to swipe the phone from her hands, but she’s on a mission. “Mom!”
“He’s a no-good cheating son of a bitch!” She pounds at the phone a few more times leaping from the bed. “I’m going to cut his nuts off and feed them to him.”
I wince at the last statement, then flinch when she throws the phone at the wall. It shatters into pieces on the floor.
“What the hell?” I round the end of the bed.
“That fuck boy is going to get a taste of his own medicine. I swear.”
“Mom!” I yell. “Don’t say those things again. My hell. It’s just wrong coming from your mouth.”
She collapses at the end of the bed, tears welling up in her eyes. I sit next to her, confused and putting all the puzzle pieces together at the same time.
“He sent the wrong text to the wrong person.” Her tears continue to roll down her face.
I stare at my broken phone on the floor, the same one I just had enough courage to turn back on, and back to my mom. I’m wondering when I got sucked into the Twilight Zone. Shouldn’t I be the one as upset as her? What in the hell is going on?
“It’s okay, Mom.” I rub her back.
“Bullshit.”
“Mom?” I asked confused.
She dries her tears the best she can and looks over to me. “You’ll understand one day when you have kids. When someone hurts them you’ll want to kill him. And right now I could beat the shit out of that…”
/>
I laugh, cutting her off, not needing to hear her drop any more terms that shouldn’t be coming out of a mother’s mouth.
“I’m okay, Mom.” I lean my head on her shoulder. “I think I came to grips with it in the last few days. It is what it is.”
She looks at me, stunned with her jaw slackened. “Isn’t your heart breaking?”