“With you, son. Unlock the car.”
“I don’t think—”
“Unlock the car, Maxwell.”
Maxwell….
I hit the unlock button on my key fob, tossed my bag into the backseat, and removed my jacket while I tried to think happy thoughts and not how I’d be nagged for a six-hour round trip.
“Sweetheart, since we can’t get down for lunch, we should stop at Buc-ee’s. What do you think about that?” she asked when I climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Whatever you want, Mom.”
She grinned and tossed her salt and pepper curls over her shoulder, elated that she would get her way. I looked away from her because if I looked too long, she started to resemble Kiyah. Thankfully, Kiyah had enough of her father in her that I didn’t feel like I was fucking my stepmom. However, the two women still shared subtle similarities, such as their smiles and eyes.
“I meant to ask—what happened to your forehead?”
“I was sparring with Kieran, and he’d gotten the better of me,” I said, absentmindedly touching the bandage on my forehead.
“I don’t know why you thought that was a good idea.”
“Me neither.”
We’d only made it two miles down the road when she launched into her tirade. “Maxwell, I wanted to talk to you about your behavior at dinner last—you’re getting an incoming text message from Do Not Answer. Who is that?”
“Don’t answer that.” It was too late. My mother let out the loudest, bloodcurdling scream I’d ever heard, forcing me to pull over to the shoulder and throw the car into park. I closed the text and waited for her to calm the hell down.
But how can she when she unknowingly saw her daughter’s pussy with my cum dripping out of it with the message, “Your cum looks so good leaking out of me.” Thank God it was just a pussy shot.
“Grant Maxwell Baker… I-I-I—what kind of women are you laying with?” she screeched. “We raised you better than that! This is disgusting behavior! And you’re not using protection? Grant! Oh, my God. Oh, my God. You need to stop messing with this girl. This is broken home behavior!”
I felt my cheeks redden as Mom laid into me.
Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.
“No wonder you didn’t give that poor girl a chance last night because you’re too busy laid up with porn stars,” she chastised.
“She’s not a porn star, Mom.”
“Nobody gets their clit pierced for nothing. What the fuck.”
She’s really mad.
“Okay…I think you need to take a deep breath and calm down before you stroke out. Don’t bite my head off for saying this, but this is your fault for not respecting my privacy. I know you’re my mother, but that doesn’t grant you access to every facet of my life—including but not limited to my personal correspondence in whatever form it may be.”
“Grant, I was 3000% in the wrong, I’ll admit that, but I need you to be safe out here. Next thing you know, there’s a kid you have to pay a crap ton of child support for, or you have an STD you can’t get rid of. Why do I have to have the safe sex talk with you at your grown age?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Obviously, I do. Cut this… this… cut her off and get you someone you can bring home to meet your mother and father. You know what? I think I’ve had enough for the day. I’m feeling a little weary. Please drop me off at my car.”
“Sorry,” I said, throwing the car into drive. “I can’t afford to double back. I don’t want to be late for my meeting. It looks like you’re stuck with me.”
Chapter Ten
Kiyah
As I approached the luxury retirement home, I smoked a cigarette down to the filter to calm my nerves. I hated coming here because I felt it was the last stop before the Big Goodnight. Dad tried to convince Grandma to stay in their residence with hired nurses to help with her and Granddad’s activities of daily living, but she adamantly refused, stating she didn’t want to die in their home and leave behind painful memories for the next generation. She also wanted to socialize with her friends and remain active. Grandma put their estate in an irrevocable trust with Dad as the beneficiary and moved her and Granddad into the Bellagio of retirement homes, where she enjoyed cocktails by the pool and Bridge with her friends and where Granddad moseyed around in a state of constant befuddlement.