Daddy Issues

73 - You don't need anybody

'Did he let you in here?' Mom asks as she hurries down the rest of the stairs. She sounds immediately offended. 'What is this, Emma? Did you come here together to... what? Trick me into giving you that video?'

'No,' I say, backing up a few steps to create some more distance. 'No, we didn't come here together. Believe it or not, but this is a crazy coincidence.'

'How did you get in here?' she demands.

'I used the key under the flower pot.'

'What key under the flower pot?'

'The one I put there years ago.'

'You hid a-'

It takes visible effort for her to swallow the rest of her sentence. She pinches her nose while she tries to gather herself. I watch her nervously until she speaks again.

'Give me the damn key,' she says finally, holding out her hand to me.

I suppose that's only fair, so I reach into my pocket and hand it to her.

It's strange to see her again. She looks a little tired. Probably from her conversation with Dan.

I feel tired too. After months of trying to piece myself together, these past few days have been a total whirlwind. I was finally moving on from Dan and from her. Now I'm facing them both in one weekend.

'Have you been here the whole time?' Mom asks me sharply. 'Did you hear me talk to Dan?'

'I did,' I admit. 'I guess we both decided to come here today for that video. Only he decided to talk to you and I broke in to try and find it. I heard you come in before I could leave, so I hid behind the kitchen island.'

My mother takes me in with her scrutinizing eyes that always make me nervous. Then she scoffs and shakes her head softly.

'Why am I not surprised,' she mumbles as she walks past me, back into the kitchen. I follow her and shoot a nervous glance at the backyard. Fortunately, Mel has disappeared.

Mom walks over to the fridge now and grabs a bottle of white wine. Silently, she pours herself a glass and takes a large swig. I wait nervously by the entrance to the kitchen until she's done. I expected her to scream at me. And I kind of expected that I would be screaming as well when I'd face her again. But strangely, we're both sort of calm.

'So,' she says, not bothering to turn to look at me. She leans onto the counter and stares at the wall.

'He told you.'

'No, he didn't,' I say, taking a step into the room. 'He did everything you told him to do. He broke up with me and made me believe that it was coming from him. I never knew about any of this until yesterday.'

'And what happened yesterday?' she asks in a strained voice. 'Did he miss you too much? Did he come find you?'

'I ran into him by accident on Friday night,' I say, ignoring the spiteful tone she used. 'In a bar. He was with the band and Yuki said some things that didn't make sense. So I went to see her yesterday and made her tell me what she knew.'

'Fucking Yuki.'

Mom turns around now to rest her back against the counter and finally lands her eyes on me again. I shift uncomfortably on my feet. Staying behind was probably a bad idea. But I didn't like the thought of just running off with the flash drive either. Especially if she was really going to delete the video.

'She told Dan that she told me,' I tell my mother. Since I've already got the video, there's no real risk anymore. So why not just tell the full truth about everything for once?