It’s because it only took less than five minutes in their presence to know the truth; they love their daughter the way my parents love me. I don’t know why I’d gotten it into my head that their relationship was this strained mess with an overbearing mother who smothered and an indulgent dad who let his wife run roughshod over his kid.
Watching and listening these last few hours has taught me a lot. It would be easy for the two of them to lie, to put on an act in my presence, but that’s my reason for never taking my attention off of Lisa for too long. I may not know them, but her I know. I know her body, her little reactions, tells I think they’re called, and there were no alarm bells going off in my head.
She was pissed but not afraid, and I got the impression that she was more resigned to her fate than she was letting on, which tells me this was not her first time at the Rodeo. Only, I think this time with me there, she had a little more ballast, at least I hope so. I don’t want her feeling cornered or like she doesn’t have choices, which, when you think about it, they’d pretty much taken away from her.
As for her mom, there was no artifice in her. She’s straight up who and what she is without apology, but I guess when you come from the sort of money she does, some things come easier. I like her; I like them both. Though I won’t be telling their daughter that right this second because she was inwardly fuming.
It was the Jess and Alexis thing, I’m sure. That one caught me off guard as well, and though Lisa hated it, I was forever grateful she had a mom and dad who’d made my work easy for me. I plan to carry on as they began, only I’ll do it in a whole other way. I’ma chip both her and my kids’ asses when they come.
Well, maybe not the chip; I don’t trust that AI shit, but there are many other ways to keep track of her and them without invading their bodies, and I’m gonna research every last one when we leave here. For her, the one who’d lived with it all her life, it seems like an invasion, I guess. She probably even thinks that they’re smothering her. Understandable, but I see their point.
Her mother had already answered part of the question, but I doubt Lisa even noticed. It’s like the analogy about the car. If you maintain your vehicle because you know it needs it, then you should do the same for your own body. Since they protect and insure the things they own, things that aren’t worth much in the scheme of things, why wouldn’t they do the same with their own flesh and blood?
Her mom was in the middle of explaining, if you can call it that, why the need for security. It was more like she was telling her like it is with a don’t question me attitude. “Lisa, even your grandfather has had the eldest son from the same family line that protected his father and his before him protecting him all his life. Trust me, Jessica and Alexis were the best choices we could make and still give you your space.”
“Mom, grandpa is a business tycoon; I’m a teenage girl. You didn’t have to put up with it; why should I?” Her mom’s face changed for a second, but that mask was back in place within seconds. Her dad cleared his throat but said nothing as he held his head down.
Lisa was going back and forth with her mom about Jess, and I could tell she was getting frustrated even though her voice never changed. She handles her mother with kid gloves, I realized. As if she knows and accepts her idiosyncrasies while trying to pull away a little bit.
As it turns out, both Jess and Alexis are way older than they were pretending to be, and I have to admit that neither woman looked twenty-three, which is what they turned out to be. This fact, more than any, seemed to push Lisa over the edge. She looked ready to kill.
“How did you get into high school?” She directed the first question of the evening to Jess. She’d avoided even looking at the other woman until now. I didn’t want to put my foot in it, so I kept my mouth shut. Maybe later, I’ll talk her out of being too upset, but there’s a lot to unpack.
“Forget I asked.” She replied when Jess looked at Mrs. Davenport before answering. “Mom, you owe me. I already know which apartment I want.” And there goes a whole other new side to her that I hadn’t seen. She sat back with her arms folded, glaring across the table at her mom.