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obviously rich, and your mom seems so cool.”
“I kept trying to tell you guys things aren’t all hunky-dory over here. My family has some serious issues. My parents argue so much, it’s wild. Sometimes I really think they’re gonna get a divorce. I swear I’m never ever getting married.” I didn’t mean to sound like some whiny child, but I was really upset.
“Girl, please,” Jasmine said, socking my arm playfully. “Just because they act like that doesn’t mean you and your husband are gon’ do the same. Besides, you should be glad you even have your dad in your life.”
I know she was thinking about her father, who she had just met a few months ago. Their little reunion didn’t go as planned, and she’d been pretty bummed out about it.
“It’s not my dad I have problems with,” I said, snapping back to my conversation. “It’s my mom and all her mess. I mean, my dad gets on my nerves too, but, uuggghhh, my mom, she’s just too much.”
I knew all of them also had issues with their mothers. But I don’t think their problems could even begin to compare to mine. My family was falling apart, and I was caught right dead in the middle.
9
Alexis
I had so much fun last night. After I got over my parents’ fighting, we’d had a really good time. I hated to see everyone leave this morning, but Camille and Jasmine had to go to church. I had planned to be right behind them, heading somewhere, until the housekeeper came and told me my mother wanted to see me. Of course, I had no desire to see her, since I was still mad about the way my parents acted in front of my friends.
I looked up at the spiral staircase and rolled my eyes at the thought of having to face my mother. I finally pulled myself up the stairs and walked toward my parents’ bedroom.
I knocked on the door softly and prayed my mother had fallen back to sleep.
“C’mon in,” my mother said.
When I opened the door and looked around, I noticed my mother on the bed, surrounded by a mountain of fluffy pillows. She wore a pair of silk pajamas that matched the champagne-colored down comforter, and a sleep mask was pulled up onto her forehead.
“Oh, darling.” My mother used her hand to pat a space next to her on the bed. “Come and let’s talk. I’m so sorry about last night. It’s just your daddy can be so impossible at times.”
I didn’t feel like I had any choice, so I scooted up onto the bed next to her.
“I can’t believe you called the police on him, Mama. How could you do that?” I knew nothing my mother said could justify what she did, but I needed some type of explanation of how she could do something so horrible.
“I called them because your father wouldn’t leave like I told him to.”
“But it’s his house, too, Mama.”
“Well, regardless, the cops didn’t even have to put him out, honey. He volunteered to leave. And you know what, I’m glad he did. I just can’t take this stress right now. I think the time apart may do us some good.” She touched my hand. “But I just want you to know that our arguments have nothing to do with you. And I really don’t want you to worry about them.”
Not worry? How could I not worry? They sounded like they were about to kill each other.
“Sometimes I feel like your father just doesn’t understand me,” my mother continued. “For him everything is about the next big acquisition, the next real estate deal. He doesn’t understand the pressure I’m under.”
I couldn’t believe my mother was sitting here talking about pressure, like she actually had a care in the world. She didn’t work. Her days were filled with hair, nails, and spa appointments. Then there was the shopping. My mother didn’t shop like normal people. No, she visited celebrity designers, and had to have top-of-the-line everything.
“I try to tell your father, pumpkin, that home is just as important as work. I mean, what does he expect his girls to do while he travels the country day after