Trouble in My Way by MICHELLE STIMPSON

Author:MICHELLE STIMPSON
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: POCKET BOOKS
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter fifteen

Since it’s the Christmas season, my mom is really busy working overtime at the hospital. She also has several speaking engagements. All of this means that I’ll be spending more time with my father. On the way to his house, my mom is fussing at me. “Karis, your father and I have been talking.” I don’t even ask what they have been discussing, because right now, I really don’t care. It’s been four days since I got to talk to my baby, Javon, for more than fifteen minutes, so my attitude is bad.

She keeps talking. “What do you think about spending more time at your father’s house?”

“Two weekends a month?” I ask.

“No,” she explains. “Something more permanent.”

I’m stunned! “You mean living with him?”

“Well.” My mother shakes her head, keeping her eyes fixed on the road ahead. “Clearly, I’m having a hard time raising you. You’re… trying to stress your independence. I’m trying to make sure you don’t make choices that could bring serious consequences. We keep butting heads. I don’t know, Karis, maybe your father can do a better job.”

It makes me sad that my mom doesn’t think she’s a good mom, because she is —but this is my life. If she would just let me live it, we could get along fine. The only problem with this picture, of course, is that she calls the shots because she’s providing me with a place to stay, food, and clothes. Plus, she’s my mother, which trumps everything. Oooh, this is so frustrating!

Shereese’s car isn’t here, which explains why my mom is going into my dad’s house. I grab my bag from the backseat, and we walk to the door. My daddy greets us with hugs—a real one for me, a fake one for my mom. They both claim the reason they divorced is that they were on two different paths in life. My dad says my mom is married to her careers. My mom says my dad wants to relive his youth. If you ask me, they’re both right and wrong at the same time.

My mom sits at the dining room table, and my dad does, too. It takes me a moment to realize I am at an intervention. My intervention. “Karis, sit down,” Daddy orders. My mom must have put him up to this, because sitting down and talking is not his style. My behind is barely in the seat and already I’m feeling warm. “Your mother and I have been talking about making a few changes. What do you think of moving in with me?”

“You and Shereese?”

My mom breathes in deeply, and I can almost see smoke coming from her ears.

“No. Just me.”

It’s funny. I really thought I’d be excited to move in with my dad. But I’m not, because basically they’re telling me that I’m such a bad person that my own mother is kicking me out.

I turn to my mom. “Do you want me to move in with Dad?”

She can’t speak. She just shakes her head no.

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