And how could she marry without even saying anything to me? Did she even consider me? Before I blew up at her, I asked, trying to suppress my tone, “Answer me, Mom? Did you hook up with this man right after my father’s funeral?”
Her expression was all wide-eyed innocence and she said, “Well, it happened when I was out with my friends. He seemed really nice, and he was such a gentleman. I thought it would be a mistake if I missed him, so we started seeing each other, and he proposed.”
Man! She was talking so much that I was gonna blow up, but I asked, straining my voice, “Did you not think of me, to ask me before you decided to marry him? Or you thought I was also dead, like my father?”
“Lucas!” she shouted as she got up.
“Yes, Mom?”
Then there was that invisible man, whom I had been trying to ignore from the moment I entered the house. He interrupted and said, “Son, try to listen to your mother and see what she has to say.”
My eyes turned to him, and I said, in a quiet, menacing voice, “I am not your son, and it would be better for you to keep your mouth shut.”
“Lucas!”
I looked back at her as her hand slapped my cheek. She slapped me on the left cheek, in front of that man, who was now looking smug. What the fuck!
“Don’t you dare talk to my husband like that!”
“DAMN IT, MOM, what the hell happened to you? Husband? What about my father?”
“He is dead.”
“How can you say it like that?” I don’t know if I was making any sense, but the way she was dismissing my father felt really wrong. He had given us everything—this house, the insurance money. Everything we had now was thanks to the man, her dead husband, my father.
“Lucas, I have needs, and I also desire the affection and touch of a man. I can’t stay like this forever.”
“What about me then? Didn’t you feel like asking me?”
“Lucas, it’s my life, and I get to decide what to do with it. I don’t need your permission.”
Whoa! Who was this woman? I know she looked like the woman I loved, but she sure didn’t sound like her. She was getting defensive now, using her needs to defend ignoring mine.
“So, you want to do whatever you like and live your life as you see fit?”
She stayed silent. I didn’t understand why she was so angry with me. Was I not her son? Wouldn’t she at least ask me if I wanted another man in the house? After all, she knew exactly how much I loved my father, even if she didn’t know how I loved her. Okay, so over the past few years, we hadn’t really seen eye-to-eye on things, and we didn’t really talk to each other. Seeing what she was doing now, it felt like she was doing this with the purpose of hurting me.
I was angry—so angry I could break everything in front of me.
Then she said, “Robert will live here with us from now on, so I expect you to behave properly and show respect to him, as he is now your stepfather.”
“Stepfather. Fuck off!”
“Even if you don’t like it, it’s the truth. You have to learn to accept it.”
“So he is all the man you need now, is it?”
“Yes!”
“Fine, then.” I went to my room, packed my things, and came back down.
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