"I think it would be best that I go in alone. There's not much to pack, and I can be in and out in thirty minutes, tops." When his hand tensed, I headed off the protest I knew was coming. "Please, Dirk? It's my mother. It should be me telling her I'm leaving, not you. Plus, it's embarrassing, and I need to stand up to her once and for all. The support is appreciated but not needed."
Dirk was quiet long enough that I began to worry he'd forbid it, and then we'd be having another argument because there was no way in hell I was taking him near Mama when she'd be in a snit.
Why not? He'll run for the hills, and then we'll be free from his high-handed bullshit.
I can make my own decisions, thank you very much!
Well, marrying that man is a poor one… dumbass.
There wasn't any point in arguing, so I didn't know why I bothered. Apparently, I had a knack for attracting thickheaded people, considering Mama and now Dirk. Although my crazy entity wasn't really a person, likely induced by dealing with my mother. When she'd first popped up, it had been someone to talk to and commiserate with when Mama had one of her episodes, or if I was lonely at the old clapboard house in the middle of nowhere. Back then, I had been 'little one,' maybe something my subconscious had picked up from Mama when I was too young to remember, but at some point, around puberty I think, it morphed into 'girly' and other things, things that weren't so nice. Like dumbass.
"That's the compromise, darling," Dirk said as I came back to the here and now. And with heat suffusing my cheeks, I realized I hadn't heard a damn thing he'd said. "Use your words, Shelby. I want to hear that you understand. Half an hour, not a minute more. I'll drop you at the usual spot. If you're not back, I'm coming up the drive, your mother's sensibilities be damned." I couldn't quite blame him for his ire, especially as I was getting off scot-free with my inattention.
"I understand, Dirk. I'll make it quicker if I can." My lips turned up at the corners in a mockery of a smile as I tipped my head to punctuate my agreement.
"Good, glad that's clear, then. If you need me, call. You have your phone, yes?" I nodded again, and that time he let my nonverbal answer go.
I knew he'd overheard at least some of the messages Mama had left. It had come as a surprise that she'd even attempted to call; usually, she waited for me to come home before laying into me. The first message was her cajoling voice attempting to get me to come back home. The second… well, my thumb hit the button to delete it about the time she got started on her fire and brimstone spiel. It was something she'd picked up at the last church she'd joined.
Mama went every Sunday, usually the morning service, and she'd dragged me along until I was old enough to start working at the diner and she couldn't say no to the tips that the churchgoers brought in. I had to be there to open to get that shift, so she'd switched to the evening service until I talked my boss into letting me work doubles. After that, with money no longer being so tight, she laid off for the most part. I didn't miss the hard pews under my butt, the little black and blue marks on my side from Mama's cruel fingers reminding me to sit up straight, or the sweltering heat in the summer when even the AC couldn't combat the crowds that would come in. No, church wasn't something I missed, but I would miss my job. I'd have to ask Dirk to swing by there before we left town again so I could put my resignation in.
Smiling over the memories of all that my boss, Sylvia, had done for me, like making sure I didn't have to go to the ‘Bible-thumping hall of shame,’ as she referred to it, I wondered if Dirk's family was overly religious. I decided right then and there that I'd find a way out of it if they were. Mama wasn't a good example of a Christian. Hell, she wasn't even a good example of a Sunday Christian. No, she was worse. She was a zealot and a hypocrite, and I wouldn't subject myself to it again. Pushing all that aside for another time, I relaxed back in my seat and tried to enjoy the drive.