Page 114 of Roommate's Guide to Love

“You know, no matter what I did, your father never loved me as much as he loved this bar.”

"Gee, shocking," Quinn says. "With your sparkling personality, I can't imagine why."

The two have another stare down before Bonnie turns back to looking at the wall, this one filled with pictures of Pops and I, and bar regulars, over the years. And the newest additions, pictures of myself, Grace, and Quinn.

"You know, when I left, he didn't give me a dime. I had to fight tooth and nail in divorce court."

“Do you think he was hiding money from you?" I ask. “I don’t know what kind of business you think this place does, but I assure you we’re not sitting on a gold mine.”

She waves off my statement and comes back to sit down.

“That’s neither here nor there,” she says. “What I came for is Grace. Where is she, by the way? I'd love to hold her."

“Where she's at is of no concern to you,” I say. “And where do you think you get off requesting custody? And why all of a sudden? Or did you just realize that your daughter and granddaughter were gone two months later?”

“I take offense to that.”

“You should,” Quinn says.

Bonnie shoots a look to her. “I don’t like you very much.”

Quinn smirks with a nonchalant shrug. “Good.”

Now, as much as I’d love Quinn to go full-Quinn on my mother, I need to get this back on track.

“Whatever this petition is, it’s going to get thrown out,” I say. “Missy wrote a letter specifically asking me to raise Grace. I’m not a lawyer, but that has to count for something in court.”

“You think they’re going to believe a single mom who got pregnant at nineteen who abandoned her daughter? Or me, her mother? The woman who gave them shelter and food because she didn’t have a job?”

“Are you talking about the same woman who also abandoned her first family twenty years ago? That was you, wasn’t it? Or am I missing something?”

If Quinn didn’t say it, I was going to. And frankly, her added snark made the dig that much better.

“Bonnie, why do you want custody?” I ask. “Grace is happy and healthy with me. That’s all you should care about.”

“That’s great to hear, but let’s be real, Porter, you can’t raise a child.”

“And you can?” I punch back. “Rich, considering I haven’t seen to you in twenty years, before that Pops raised me, and your daughter specifically drove down here to make sure you didn’t raise your granddaughter.”

Bonnie’s eyes narrow at me. “Watch your tone.”

“Or what? Now you want to be a mother? Practicing how you’ll raise Grace? Cut the shit, Bonnie. Why do you want Grace?”

“Because I miss her!” she exclaims before her shoulders slump and her eyes turn defeated. She’s trying to fake a “woe is me” act, but I’m not buying it. “She’s my granddaughter. My blood. Missy…well…Missy was a difficult kid. She never understood how much I loved her. And Grace…I just love that little girl so much, and if Missy can’t raise her, well, then I only think it’s right that I do.”

Quinn and I are both silent, because it’s quite a sob story, but I’d bet the bar that it’s ninety-five percent a lie.

“You want us to buy that?”

“It’s the truth,” she says. “And no matter what you say or think about me, I have rights too.”

“Really? Rights? What kind of rights?”

Bonnie lays out the paperwork that was sent to me. I didn’t look through all of them, so I’m not exactly sure what this one says. “In Indiana there’s a thing called de facto custodian. And because Missy was in and out of my house the entire first year of Grace’s life—she really was a horrible mother—per the law, I am considered her de facto custodian. Which, I’m sure if I took this to a police department, you could be charged with kidnapping my grandchild.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake lady, the delusion is strong with you, isn’t it?”

“I’d watch that smart mouth of yours,” Bonnie says. “I’m petitioning the court to give me custody. And since I’m assuming that you two are going to continue to play the little family, that means they’ll be visiting you both. I’m sure with someone who has the arrest record you do, it probably wouldn’t look good in front of a judge.”

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