Page 47 of Snow Blind

"Daddy, I'm at a loss for words here. I want to understand, but I don't want the toxicity of the knowing the sordid details of that to ruin the weekend," she told him.

"Baby, there is no toxicity," Darnell said. "Stephanie and I wanted more children and she couldn't conceive again. Anita offered to help, so she did."

Helen sighed deeply. She knew her mother and the way the woman thought. "Let me guess, no turkey baster was involved and you made me the old-fashioned way?"

"Well, we were all consenting adults," Darnell said, bugging his eyes and looking at Mustang to cosign on the bro code for having a threesome. Mustang shook his head no. He was not cosigning on anything the man said. Darnell moved on. "Anyway, once you were born, Anita wasn't willing to let you go. I got a job offer from Wedgewood in the UK and wanted to take you girls with us. Anita would only agree to let you go if she could come. Your mother was too much drama, so you stayed in the US. Abigail didn't want to leave you, and didn't want to be anywhere near me, so we left you both with Anita."

"Daddy, my mother is one of the pettiest, most trifling and envious people I know. You thought it was a good idea to.... you know what, never mind," Helen said. "You're here to visit me, and we shall have a visit."

"Punkin, hold on," he said. "I'd never met anyone like Anita so I had no idea. I was a nerd who did engineering. My father was a nerd who married in college and stayed married to my mother until he died. It was exciting and we created such lovely girls, and my daughters were beautiful."

"And my mother is certifiable. She hates Aunt Stephanie and covets everything she has, and you walked into the web, but again, that was years ago, and you've reaped what you sowed," Helen said.

Darnell was looking for the wine. Mustang hadn't officially changed out of his uniform, only removing the outer shirt and work boots. He was behind the stove, preparing the pan for the meat.

"Aren't you being hard on me? It's bad enough Abigail hates me, but you too, Shenita?"

"It's Helen. Shenita is no more, just like this conversation is about to be no more," Helen said. "Abigail can't respect a man who chose his own career ambitions and his wife's sister over his own children's wellbeing."

"I didn't choose my wife's sister. Stephanie and I were together. The second pregnancy with Abigail went awry and she couldn't have anymore. We wanted a sibling for her and Anita offered," Darnell said.

Helen was done with the conversation, "And your easy solution has left you with two children you barely know, a grandchild you didn't know existed, and chronic depression. Daddy, healing needs to occur in your soul for you to make this right. Yes, I am an adult, but this is messed up. My mother was never right, and this is...simply wrong."

"Shen...I mean Helen, she's still your mother," Darnell said.

Helen had heard that phrase one time too many. People were constantly making excuses for Anita's bad behavior, selfishness, and inability to care about how anyone else felt but herself. She was the epitome of a narcissist and her father wasn't far behind.

"Daddy, do you think for one minute that people told the Bundy's, that, well, Ted is still your son, and you should love him, anyway? No! My mother is a piece of work, and the pain of her narcissism and selfishness has caused more damage than you can ever know," Helen said.

She looked at Mustang, who was flipping the steaks from the pan. Helen stood to get the salad and the sauteed asparagus she'd cooked earlier. The conversation was over. "Let's simply enjoy the weekend and your visit," she said, not broaching the matter again.

At the end of the evening, when she climbed into bed, she snuggled up against her husband, wrapping herself around him like he was her very own cuddle toy. Mustang could feel the dampness on his chest from her tears. He'd never known Helen to cry. A large hand patted her back.

"People suck," she said.

"True, but for every bad one there is a good one," he replied.

"My Daddy is not a bad man; he's just not a good one," she said. "He came from a line of people who saw him as a hope. He was smart, went to college, and worked for a company with great benefits. When he could, he sent a few bills home to his mother, who didn’t need them, but it was the act. Stephanie, like Abigail, has a very fair complexion, whereas my mother, like me, is darker. My father has never had anyone to really tell him no, so he learned to do whatever he could as long as he didn't get caught."

"Is that how you see men, Helen?"

"Most men will have a line they won't cross. Usually, fucking two sisters is that line, especially when one is covetous with an evil heart," she said, feeling a need to qualify her statement. "My mother is a nurse. Stephanie is flighty, does yoga, eats the equivalent of tree bark, and checks her poop with each movement. The two aren't even close in personality. He slept with my mom because he wanted to and could get away with it. He did it under the guise of giving Abigail a playmate. This deal was struck with a woman who found out she couldn't have more kids."

"You make him sound horrible. They were consenting adults," Mustang said.

"Okay then, husband, I want a child. Please arrange with Michael and Abigail to have sex to make me one," she told him.

"Uhm no," he said.

"See how simple that was? He's not a good man," Helen said. "Let's get through the weekend and move on. You've met him. Ask for my hand, we'll give him a date to show up at the wedding to officially hand me off to you and then fuck him."

Helen was starting to see why Abigail didn't like the man. Her bullshit barometer had sensitivity settings higher than Helen's own. However, Helen was learning. She was learning fast, and burning off fingerprints and breaking teeth out of a cadaver paled in comparison to dealing with family bullshit.

****

MUSTANG WAS UP AT HISusual hour on a Saturday morning. He planned to hit his workshop to finish the table he was making for Abigail as a Christmas present for the new nursery. The new coffee pot Helen had purchased allowed her to set it at night so when he reached the kitchen, hot coffee would be ready for him to enjoy. She was thoughtful like that.

A sound of shuffling feet caught his attention. He turned to find Darnell in a bathrobe and matching jammies with leather slippers coming his way. He reeked of class, but like Abigail, his spirit was off. Mustang didn't trust him, he didn't know why, but something wasn't right with dear old dad.

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