Valentina
On Wednesday's, I usually call my mom. It's not because we're really close, we're not. It's because if I don't call her, she throws a fit. And I mean an actual tantrum.
So I go to my room and close the door, getting comfortable under the blankets.
I open my phone and pull up her contact. Here we go. This is about to be very emotionally draining.
~Calling Ma~
She picks up on the fourth ring, just when I think she might not answer.
"Hi, Valentina." She seems out of breath. Odd.
"Ma? Why are you out of breath?"
"That's really how you say hi to your mother when you haven't talked to her in a week?" Her voice is instantly critical. "Honestly Valentina, that's not how I raised you."
Yeah, that's not how you raised me because
you didn't raise me.
My mom was always dating different guys and moving to different states to live with them. We lived in the same house as my Abuela, so when she was seeing someone new, she'd leave me there. My abuela always disapproved of my moms absence, but my mom didn't care.
"Sorry, mom. Hi, how are you doing?" I rub my temples to soothe my quickly growing migraine.
"Thank you for asking." She says very sarcastically. "I'm actually not doing well."
"Well, what happened?"
"You wouldn't believe it. Really, you wouldn't."
I'm sure what whatever she's about to say will actually be very easy to believe.
"Last Saturday I went out. Just casual, nothing big." Nothing is causal when it comes to my mom. "I only got a little tipsy."
That's my moms code for: I was so drunk I'm having a hard time remembering most of it.
"Anyways. You know how your abuela is; always critical of everything I do. She never lets me have fun in peace." I'm scared to see where this is going.
My moms idea of my abuela being critical is reminding her she has a daughter to raise and she shouldn't be acting like a teenager.
My idea of someone being critical is my mom telling me I should put more effort into the way I look or I'll never meet someone who wants to put up with my attitude.
"So, I met this guy. His name is Rick. So cute, I know." Wait, what happened to Shane? I know better than to ask, so I just assume that was over as soon as it began.
"He bought me a couple of small drinks and we got along super well. It was getting late so I asked him if we could go back to his place."
I start calculating the time I have left to spend on the call before I have to leave to meet Connor at the music fair. I've been looking forward to it since I heard about it and convinced Connor to go with me. I wonder who will be performing, maybe-
"But he said he was in the middle of a tricky marriage and he'd appreciate it if we could go back to my place instead. I obviously said yes."
"He's married? And he still asked to go over? Wait. You said yes?" The minute the words leave my mouth I regret them.
"God, Valentina why are you acting like your Abuela? Sometimes I think you've spent too much time with her. I really don't see why you're both so hung up on the fact that he's married. It's not a big deal." Oh, wow 0kay.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please, continue." I sigh deeply, anxiety building up in my chest.
"So I took him back to the house. It was late, your Abuela should've been asleep." Oh no. "We went back to my room and started, just having a bit of fun. He's very good at it too."
"Oh, god, mom. Can you spare me the details?" Sorry if I don't want to hear another sex story from my mom.
"Fine, fine. But then the worst thing happened." Let me guess: my lovely Abuela.
"Your rude Abuela! She came in there, turned the lights on and demanded this man leave her home. She embarrassed me!"
"Were you making a lot of noise?" I scrunch my nose up in disgust at my own question.
"That's not the point, Valentina! It doesn't matter how much noise I was making. Your abuela embarrassed me."
I want to defend my poor Abuela. I want to tell my mom that she shouldn't be sleeping with married men. I want to tell her that she should start acting her age and caring about the other people around her.
But I don't. Because I'm too tired to try. And because she wouldn't let me hear the end of it.
"I'm sorry that happened to you, mom." I force the words out, feeling guilty for not defending my Abuela. But she'll understand.
"I'm so glad you get it, Valentina. So, how are you?" I surprised she's even asking.
"I'm good. Actually I'd love to tell you about- "
"Oh, shoot. I have to go. Maybe next time you can tell me." Typical. She wants me to listen to her life but couldn't give a rats ass about her daughters.
"That's okay mom, I'll talk to you next week." She hangs up without another word.
I pull the blankets over my face and sigh. I remind myself that I should call my Abuela later and see if she's okay. I know what it's like to be around my mother when she's drunk and trying to hook up with some guy. Not fun.
For now, I'll smile and try to have fun at the fair.
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Poor Val 😔
Single POV again this time but coming up soon is a Mark POV where he meets... CONNOR! 😨
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Thanks for reading,
Mia x
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