All She Can Take

T W E L V E

When the gates to her mother's property came into view Sid took a deep breath. She wanted to turn back but she had to remind herself that her son was in there. She imagined little AJ locked in there crying for his mommy while her mother tried to feed him something vegan. The whole house was vegan thanks to Regis. They only wanted to bring things into their home that didn't cause "death and trauma" as they put it. It was a whole thing. No matter how much she reminded her mother that once upon a time her favorite dish was her father's six-cheese macaroni and cheese with a side of smothered pork chops Tanya would not let this vegan thing go.

Sidney could only get to her Mom's house when Tomi was able to hire a driver to take her up there or Whitney was willing to pick her up. There were no combinations of buses that could get her that deep into the suburbs without it taking hours and involving more walking than she cared to do. Sid liked it that way. She didn't have to make up a bunch of excuses for her mother to explain why she did not come to visit more often. It wasn't like she wanted to go up there and sit in that house or see her mother peck Regis on the lips time and time again. 

The fact that their relationship was still going on was a slap in the face to Sid. It was like her mother was purposefully trying to hold on to everything that she gained from her husband's death. Regis was nothing like her father. Where her father used his hands to create beautiful meals and could rip an entire chicken into fours with his bare hands, Regis was more equipped for swindling and slick talk to get things done. He spent her mother's money like it was his. Hell, it kind of was.

She had to go in there and save her baby. The hypocrisy of it all. Besides, with AJ being with Aiden every other week and her mother and Whitney demanding they spend time with him on the weeks Sid did have him she felt like she barely got one-on-one time with her own child. Not to mention the time she spent at work. Well...when she had work.

The car pulled up to the gate and she spent longer than necessary thanking the driver and shoving a twenty dollar bill in his hand that he kept refusing. Sid didn't know why she needed him to take it so badly but she did. Eventually he relented with a nervous smile and thanked her before driving off. The car felt like it was leaving her in the middle of the desert with no way to get back. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath before she pushed the code on the front gate and watched the heavy wrought iron wall roll apart to let her in.

Sid's legs burned as she hiked her way up the long driveway and to the front door. She rang the doorbell and waited. Her sister's arms were slung around her neck a moment later.

"You're choking me." Sid stumbled through the door to alleviate the strain on her neck.

"Miss you."

"Miss you too. My neck, Whit, seriously."

"Look at you. You look so good."

"You lie and it's the sweetest thing." Sid kissed her sister's cheek and held her tight. Whitney was the only good thing about these visits. She felt guilty leaving her alone with her mother and Regis but it was for the best. Whitney was finishing up her degree in Social Work and with plans to go straight on for her Masters. She was going to be someone amazing who made an actual difference in the world and she would need her mother's financial support to do it.

"Where's my baby?" Sid asked but she could already hear AJ's giggles flowing to her from the family room. She made her way over there just in time to see her mother and AJ sitting in front of a large canvas. AJ rested on her mother's lap while she guided his hand through painting what Sid thought looked like a tree but an extremely abstract interpretation. Tanya tried to get AJ to paint in straight vertical lines but his little unruly hands dragged the brush from left to right. She stopped and tickled her grandson in the creases of his underarms. The same way she used to do to Sid and Whit when they were little. Sid smiled.