Chapter 34
The Final Straw
“Want some help with that?”
Randi turned to find her dad coming into the kitchen. She was fixing breakfast - trying to help out around the house before going to work. Her assignment for the day was to clean a couple of offices in Blanton Office Building. It was a job she didn’t mind doing. There was a lot of glass in the building and she had a knack for cleaning glass and not leaving streaks.
“Sure. Would you like to scramble the eggs? I’ve fried bacon and sausage, tater babies are in the oven, toast is ready to go, so that leaves setting the table and scrambling the eggs.”
“Tater Babies? Trying to get on your mother’s good side?”
“Maybe. Just trying to start the day off with her being in a good mood. I thought this might help. I’ve tried to keep the dishes washed so there will be no mess when we’re done.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll do those to help with mending fences.”
“I’m not sure it will help. She has her mind set on pushing her anti-Martin speeches. I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Follow your heart. I don’t want to come between the two of you so I’m not going to say a lot more on the subject. Your mother means well. She’s got your well-being in mind.”
Randi sighed as she set the table. “I know that but it’s like she doesn’t trust my judgment; like she expects me to just take her advice and forget Martin. I can’t do that.”
“I know and I’m just here to mediate.”
“Do you think it’s that bad?” Randi asked, with uncertainty in her voice.
“Your mother is stubborn. You’ll have to stand your ground with whatever decision you make.”
“I will. It’s just hard to go against what she wants. I don’t want to hurt her or make her angry. But I have to live my own life and take my own chances.”
Her dad patted her on the arm and motioned to the right letting her know that her mother was coming down the stairs. “The scrambled eggs are ready.”
Breakfast was nice but there was tension in the air; no one made mention of Martin. There was even laughter when Randi’s dad reminded them of the first time he tried to scramble eggs.
“It was quite a mess,” her mother said, laughing. “He didn’t have any grease in the pan and they stuck. He turned to find an egg turner and they started burning.”
“Yes. Then the smoke detector went off, and that’s what woke me,” her mother said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I came running out of the bedroom but it wasn’t far.”
“No. That apartment was so small,” her dad said, wiping his eyes. “We were never very far apart.”
“We survived but it’s a wonder that I ever agreed to let you fry an egg again.”
“He did a fine job today,” Randi said. “He’s even offered to wash what’s left of the dishes, and on that note, I should change shirts and get ready to leave for work.”
“Everything was great.” Randi rose.
“You did most of the cooking,” her dad said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and if you don’t need the car, I’d like to borrow it today and for a while this evening.”
Before she could leave the room her mother called out, “Where are you going tonight; to see Martin? If so, I don’t think you should use the car for that.”
Randi turned and replied. “I don’t have plans to see anyone. I need to do some shopping.”
“Good. That’s okay.”
“No. It’s not okay,” Randi said. “If you’re going to start telling me where I can go in the car, that’s not okay.”
“Then maybe it’s time you get your own car.”
“There’s no need to argue. I don’t need the car tonight,” her dad said. “We had a nice breakfast. Let’s keep the day going on a positive note.”
“I’m not fighting, I’m just stating facts. If she’s going to continue to see Martin, she needs to get her own car. I’m not having any part in this relationship.”
Randi wasn’t sure what to say. She was in no financial condition to buy a car. She didn’t want to get her dad involved, she wouldn’t put him on the spot.
“Fine. I won’t use the car. I’ll take the bus, or a taxi, or have Martin come and get me. I don’t know why you are so against a man that you’ve never met!”
Randi left the kitchen and went to the bathroom to change clothes. She’d brought a shirt to change into for work. Though she would be cleaning, she didn’t want to show up at work with something that had grease on it from cooking breakfast.
She washed her face, put on a little make-up, changed shirts and combed her hair. What her mother had said had made her angry, but it had hurt more. Truth be known, she was having trouble seeing this as her mother just ‘looking out for her’. It seemed to be turning into more of a control issue.
The last thing she had to do before going to work was make sure the dogs had water. With the mood her mother was in, she might not think to check on them. Her dad was washing the dishes and her mother was nowhere in sight. She was worried that if she spoke to her dad she might start crying, and she wanted to be stronger than that.
Once she saw that the dogs were okay and patted them on the head a few times, she opened the back door and called out, “I’ll talk to you later, Dad.”
“Be safe, Randi,” he said.
She took the keys out of her pocket and walked around to the carport. When she saw her mother standing there, she wasn’t sure what to think. From the look on her face, she half expected her to hold her hand out for the keys to the car.
“Mom, I don’t want to fight with you. I won’t use the car to see Martin.”
“Good, but this is about something else. If you continue to see him, you’ll have to move out. You can do what you want on your own, but as my mother always said, ‘as long as you are under my roof, you will do as I say’.”
Randi didn’t know what to think. She had no idea that her mother would say anything like this. She also knew her mother wasn’t stupid and she knew that, at this moment, Randi had nowhere else to stay. She didn’t have a close girlfriend that she could spend the night with, and she certainly wasn’t going to tell Martin.
Rather than cry, or scream, or yell at her mother, she just nodded. “I understand and I agree. This is your house and I’ll do as you wish, but now, I need to go to work.”
“You can see Martin long enough to tell him you’re not going to see him anymore, but after that, I don’t want you to date him, call him, text him or have contact with him in any way.”
Randi couldn’t answer. She nodded, climbed into the car and watched her mother turn and go back inside the house.