Mothered by Stage Zoje

Author:Stage, Zoje
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2023-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Immersed in Shaina’s good news, “Preston” lost track of the time. Shaina had taken some rather miraculous steps toward getting her shit together: after threatening it for months, she changed the locks so her ex-boyfriend would stop dropping in, and she found a full-time job in customer service—an opportunity she hadn’t had before the pandemic. ShyShaina would never have been able to function at a call center—with her nervousness around people and anxiety in busy environments—but now it was a good job that everyone was doing from home. (While Preston passed himself off as an app developer, Grace made a mental note about the possibility that she, too, could consider a customer-service position while she was stuck in quarantine.)

Preston was truly happy for Shaina, a sweet young woman who’d let herself get run over by family and friends alike. She sounded so upbeat and joyful and thanked Preston profusely for his encouragement, which made Grace feel triumphant.

The conversation restored Grace’s faith that anyone could turn their situation around.

Her throat was sore by the time she got off the call. It was hard to talk in the Deep Voice for long periods of time, but Shaina deserved to revel in her successes. When Grace left her room, her mother’s bedroom door was open and the television was on downstairs.

She sighed as she crossed through the living room, forced to accept that her mother had laid claim, by virtue of greater opportunity, to the spot on the couch Grace still considered to be hers. Jackie, oblivious, sat with her legs outstretched, eating a salad.

“There’s lots more in the fridge,” she said, her mouth full of lettuce, as Grace walked past.

“Thanks.” But Grace wasn’t heading to the kitchen for food; she needed something to drink. She filled a sports bottle with water—only slightly concerned that she couldn’t remember when she’d last washed it—and glugged half of it down. Refreshed, she returned to the living room and plopped down on the other end of the couch.

They’d recently developed a mutual interest in true-crime shows, and Jackie was halfway through an episode of Disappeared. It was easy to catch the gist of what she’d missed, and Grace was immediately absorbed. She became aware of her mother staring at her but decided to ignore it.

“Grace?” Jackie stretched out her name, elongating it with a tone of inquisitive displeasure. Grace took a sip of water and flicked a glance at her. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” her mother asked.

It had been a good day, but Grace sensed it was about to topple off its pedestal. She wasn’t in the mood to play guessing games with her mother and had no idea what Jackie was alluding to. After a momentary stare-off, Grace gave in. “What?”

Jackie gave her the Are-you-daffy? look, blinking her eyes and pursing her lips. This time she lost the stare-off. “I realize you’re an adult and you can make whatever careless decisions you want, break whatever rules don’t fit in with your lifestyle, but . . .

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