“Does somebody want to tell me what’s going on here?” I heard the feminine voice with authority behind it and I remembered how he had mentioned that his mother was coming over for dinner the other night. I had left my mark with my lipstick making him look like he had been attacked by a zealous fan at a concert that had gotten out of hand.
“Um, Marilyn…I mean Gillian, I would like you to meet my mother…Marilyn.” I had a feeling that I would meet her sooner than later, but I certainly wasn’t expecting to give her a bad impression of me.
“I’m waiting for an answer. Do you normally have strange women coming in here unannounced and kissing you out of the blue? What kind of son have I raised that would have women throwing themselves at him? I don’t even want to think about what would have happened had I not been here to witness this disgusting display.” I turned with my lipstick smeared and my skirt almost around my waist.
“Mother…it’s not what you think.” It was an interesting way for him to tap dance around it, but the evidence was right in her face. “I’m doing… I mean I’m dating her and I would think that would afford her some of your respect.” His mother had him by the short hairs and her tone was eerily similar to Lillian’s. I thought that I just had one overbearing bitch to deal with, but apparently, his mother was of that same way.
“I think by now that you could come up with a better excuse than that. I shouldn’t be surprised. They say that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I never thought that you would turn out like your father. He couldn’t keep it in his pants. It didn’t matter what I did to please him. I think that it’s time that we have a very frank discussion.” I tried to make a discreet exit, but she blocked my path. Her stern expression really did make me feel like I was being held accountable for something that I didn’t do.
“This is between you and your son. It has nothing to do with me and I would rather not get into the middle of a domestic dispute.” I stood my ground, but I could feel myself weakening underneath her mom stare. “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. There’s no way that you can treat me the same way that you do your son.” She pointed towards the living room and I had no choice. I had to obey. It was almost like it was ingrained in me from the way that my mother could literally give me one look and have me at a loss for words.
Marshall leaned into me and whispered in private “I’m sorry that you have to be here for this. I was hoping that we were never going to have to have that talk. I do have to say that I’m quite surprised to see you here. Pleasantly so, but I still have to wonder what compelled you to come here.” It was an interesting question and one that I was hoping that we could get into it after I had him screaming obscenities and writhing on top of me.
She grabbed us both by the ear. I didn’t know how painful that could be until that very moment. “I will have no secrets when I’m standing right here. If you have something to say, then share it with the rest of the class.” It was obvious to me that her background was in teaching. She knew how to garner respect and when she didn’t get it, there was only one way that she could go to make her point abundantly clear.
“Mother, I’m a grown man and I don’t need you to police my life.” It was nice to see him stand up for himself, but it didn’t look like she was going to let him play the martyr. “I have every right to live the way that I see fit. I really don’t need your permission or acceptance. You might be right and maybe some of what dad did to you rubbed off on me. I never thought of it like that before.” I didn’t want to wait my whole life for a man that had mommy issues.
“I know that you’re old enough to know better. You’re definitely too old to put over my knee, but a good talking to never goes out of style. Maybe if you hear some harsh truths then you will finally realize that your actions have consequences.” She was only small in stature at 5 foot nothing. I could’ve easily taken her, but for some reason, her intimidation tactics were too much for me to bear.
“I watched my father play with your heart and each and every time you came back after he apologized profusely for his actions. I didn’t respect you for that. I understood that you were doing it because you wanted to make it work. I hated him and we’ve never been able to stay in the same room together for any length of time before angry words were spoken.” I sat down with them and the only thing that I could do was listen. I was still feeling this need to drape my leg over the top of him and take that necessary test drive.