“It’s a selfish monster. She has no idea how hard you work,” Aiden said. Perry glanced away, the tears flowing faster than before. “She doesn’t know what you like to do, how your life has been. It’s all about what she needs. She doesn’t even know your girlfriend, Perry.”
“Denise asked to meet Mom a bunch of times, but I keep coming up with excuses. I felt like a fuckin’ ass, man. Didn’t even tell her what was going on… I don’t want anybody to think bad about her, you know? It’s like, once you tell someone what’s going on, they’ll judge her. I mean,” Perry shrugged. “Some of my friends know, like Robert, but I’m funny about who I tell, ya know? And you may not have been ashamed of ’er, but I was.” He swallowed hard and shut his eyes. Aiden gave him a minute, and rubbed on his shoulder to soothe him.
“You’re not ashamed of her. You’re ashamed of what she’s doing to herself and how it all makes you feel. We don’t have a mom; we haven’t had one in years. That’s why we can’t call an attorney. We can’t call her landlord. We can’t call the neighbors and offer to pay for the hospital bills if they just drop the charges. We can’t call the cops and try to put the runaway horse back in the barn. We can’t call a bail bondsman. We can’t put ourselves on the line and go down with her! She doesn’t know who we are because she’s forgotten who she is! We’re her sons, and she doesn’t know us. She doesn’t even know your favorite football team. She doesn’t know I’m in love, met a wonderful woman. These are the things we should be able to tell her and share with her, but we can’t. We can’t because of the drinking, the fucking booze that she can’t let go of. It doesn’t care whose life is ruined in the process, it just wants to be fed and to bleed its host dry. You know I love Mom.” His voice cracked. “But I love ’er enough to step away, too…”
“I can’t believe this!” Addison grinned at her boss, Mrs. Kaplin, who was searching for her workout videos online. “Addison, these are great. How long did it take you to do this?”
“Well, I only have two done and had to pay for production and editing. Hopefully when I get a bit more money I can finish the series of five videos through Paetreon and then after that, release other videos that focus on nutrition, health related matters in general. We have DVDs as well, but that’s more for promotional use or for those that prefer it. I just want to ensure that I cover all bases.” The woman looked over Addison’s shoulder at her desk, staring at the screen. She’d had Addison pull up the Amazon website to show her the goods, a result of the rumor mill that had already made the rounds about her side hustle.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. Well, not set up this way. You’ve shown very easy ways for some of our more physically challenged clients to get exercise in a fun and really cool way! I love the choices in music, too. I love how you explain the benefits of each and every exercise and how you give three different levels to each one, so they can build up. And look at these reviews! Some it seems are from physical therapy agencies.”
“Yeah, see what I did was I sent out two videos free to quite a few hospitals and agencies. I also gave a bunch away to some of the local gyms. Some of them were kind enough to check them out and leave reviews, but I’m just glad that I’m helping people. It seemed some of the other products on the market weren’t geared to be as motivational, and I wanted everyone to know there’s something for almost everyone. What can begin at five minutes a day can increase to ten, and so on. Don’t force it, just watch it happen and if they are distracted because they’re having fun, well…” She shrugged. “Then I’ve done my job.”
“Do you mind if I show this to Carl?”
“No, not at all! In fact, I can send you some copies.”
“That’s fine but I also want to purchase a subscription. I think this would be quite beneficial to some of our clients.”
The woman tapped her shoulder and left out of her office with cheer in her step. Addison sat there for a good few minutes before bursting out laughing with excitement. Not only had her sessions with her new clients gone splendidly that day, she now had her boss interested in her workout videos that had barely gotten off the ground. The lady was going to tell the head honcho, Carl, and that man had some real pull, not only at Golden Farms, but nationwide. Should he like what he saw, the opportunities would be endless.
She reached for her phone to call her baby and tell him the good news, but then she remembered; he was going to be indisposed for a while. Her jovial mood dampened as her thoughts drifted to Aiden. Things had come to a boiling point and he was in dire straits. She was ecstatic that he was sharing his feelings and concerns, but his situation was a nightmare, even by modest proportions…
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Pouring a Little Out for My Dead Mommy
…One week later
“He still hasn’t heard back from them from what I understand.” Perry sat in the back-loading area of the grocery store, a cigarette in one hand and his phone in the other. Mom had just gotten out of jail. She’d found a way to make bail without them, and he wasn’t certain how’d she pulled it off. It came as no surprise to him that she’d returned home to find an eviction notice on her door. Sober, angry as hell, and homeless, she’d called him in a state of panic. Much to his surprise, she didn’t ask for anything, but wanted to know what they both had been up to.
“So, do you think he got the job or not? He never even told me he’d applied! I told him he deserved better than that, Perry. Aiden probably doesn’t even remember, but I told him this and I remember it like yesterday that he needed a better job. Not that the one he’s got now is too shabby, but hell, he is a college graduate doin’ social work as far as I am concerned. You know they never want to pay those people anything.” He could hear her exhale, as if she were smoking, too.
“I know. I’m surprised you didn’t call us as soon as you got out.”
“No…” There was a long pause. “Wasn’t no need for that. I knew after I called you both a few times and neither of you answered that I was up shit’s creek. Anyway, I stopped by the liquor store today, but I haven’t opened the bottle yet. Honestly, I probably will later.”