Page 70 of The Rebel
“You know, his Christmas shoes, the two-toned ones.”
“His Thousand Dollar Shoes? Gramma and Pops bought them?”
Mom nodded. “But Dad loved his good old Converse and that’s why I dressed him in them. They couldn’t understand that.”
I laughed. “I always thought Dad had bought those shoes, and I couldn’t believe he’d spent a thousand dollars on them!”
Mom laughed too. “He saw them online and said he wished he had a pair like that. And Elise went and ordered them for him. Dad would never spend that much on a pair of shoes!”
“But he did like them. He raved about how comfy they were.”
“Yes, he did, but he was outraged by the price of them!”
“They got mad about that?” I asked, boggled at how a pair of shoes could cause a family feud.
Mom closed her eyes for a moment. “That was the start. Then they wanted to pay for the funeral.”
I frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
“No, not necessarily, but your father and I had already planned it out, the costs, the service. And they wanted to do this, add that...I said no. And I might have called them pompous snobs...and other things.” She flinched at her words. “And thingsjust compounded from there. They said I wouldn’t be able to support you boys on my own. They wanted to pay for your schooling, for this, for that, for everything. They didn’t think I was capable of doing it on my own.” She paused, sucking in another deep breath. “I couldn’t deal with it, Jade. I really couldn’t. Okay, you might not be driving a brand new Aston Martin, but I think I’m doing okay by you and Ollie.”
“I love my truck,” I piped up. My gray Ford Ranger was what I’d wanted, even if I did dream about a Mustang Boss.
Mom smiled, wiping her eyes again. “Maybe I took it too far,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe I was too stubborn, too proud, maybe I handled it wrong. But Dad and I were together for twenty one years, Jade, and in one swoop they jumped in and undermined my role as a wife and mother. That hurt me. That really hurt me.”
I stopped her right there, my throat tightening because I could clearly see where she was coming from. I knew someone else who had those exact qualities. “No,” I said, “you were right. You stood up for yourself.”
“But I was at fault too. I can see now that I was grieving and I wasn’t in the right head space and I might have been too aggressive, and I shouldn’t have put you and Oliver in the position where you couldn’t see your grandparents. That was a mistake and I regret it. You two shouldn’t have missed out because of me. Elise and Graham didn’t deserve that.” She patted my knees. “I’m truly sorry for that. I know you missed them.”
“You did what you thought was best for us,” I said.
Mom let out a long sigh. “Adulting is hard, Jade,” she said, tapping my leg again. “And it’s harder without Dad here. I’m trying to do my best, but...”
“You are the best, Mom,” I said, putting my arm around her.
“Love you, honey,” she said, smushing a kiss on my cheek. I jokingly pretended to rub it off. “Arggh,” she groaned, nudging my shoulder. “All I want is for you to have fun, be a kid and enjoy your senior year.”
“You keep saying that,” I said, poking her back. “So you don’t mind that I was a little bit of a rebel and broke your rules?”
“Hmmm, well I guess I’m glad you did.” She hissed in my ear, “But don’t make a habit of it!”
“I’m not grounded?”
“Not grounded,” Mom said with a smirk, “but you can be on dishwasher duty all week. How’s that?”
I rolled my eyes and huffed, “Yeah, as if I don’t already do that.”
Reuniting Mom and my grandparents felt like a great weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, my heart somehow freer. It seemed absolutely ludicrous that such petty and largely insignificant details could lead to a falling out.
Hopefully we could all move ahead together.
Only one small thing bothered me.
“Hey Mom,” I said, “why have you kept some of Dad’s clothes? I remember we cleaned out most of his stuff...but there were those jackets in Valencia’s room?”
Mom’s mouth twisted. “Because of the fighting with Elise and Graham, I held back some of the clothes they’d given him. Some jackets, coats, shirts, things he’d gotten for his birthdays, the Thousand Dollar Shoes—you know in case they demanded them back or something.”
“Huh? Why would Gramma and Pops ask for Dad’s clothes back?”
