Page 125 of January

“Those, too. She owns them outright now.”

“Then, I’ll have to hire an attorney.”

“You can try that, but Kyle has one already, and he’s one of the best in the city. He says you have no case, and I believe him. Grandma made sure to be very clear in her will. She didn’t just give everything to us; she specifically said that you get nothing.”

“She did not,” their mother huffed.

“Ky and I watched the video today, Mom. She did. You should watch it. She wasn’t trying to be mean to you, but you took her grandchildren away from her. She never got to meet us because of you, and she wanted us to have something from her because of that. You never told us about the cards, about the calls on our birthdays and Christmas, about how Dad tried to get you to go home, or at least, let us talk to our grandparents. You never did anything except make us feel like your two biggest mistakes.”

“I did not.”

“You told Kyle that you never wanted her,” Jolie stated. “How dare you say that to my sister? She raised me when you couldn’t or wouldn’t.”

“She didn’t raise you. I didn’t see Kyle paying rent on the trailer.”

“Kyle started making me dinner when she was five years old, Mom.”

“I had to work.”

“Youhad to drink,” Jolie remarked. “Youhad to be out with friends, andyouhad to not come home some nights. Ky woke me up and got me to school. Ky packed a lunch for me when she could. You’ve treated her like all this was her fault, and none of it was. You messed up when you were a kid, Mom. I don’t know why or what caused it, butyoudid that. Somehow, Kyle and I ended up all right, and she’s been trying to get me to finally stop giving in when you push me, and I’m ready for that now.”

“So, this is your fault, as usual,” their mother retorted.

Kyle tried not to be offended by that, not to let it sting her like everything else their mother had always said to her. This was only one of her many comments, and it wasn’t even the worst the woman had thrown at her.

“That’s enough,” Jolie stated firmly as she leaned over the table. “You will leave her alone starting now. You will leave both of us alone starting now. If you ever want any kind of relationship with us, you will get yourself some help. I don’t care if it’s rehab or a therapist or what, but you’ll figure it out.”

“How am I supposed to pay for that?”

Jolie looked to Kyle then.

“I will agree to pay a therapist,” Kyle said. “And if they recommend rehab, to pay for that. But, Mom, if you leave early, I won’t pay for it. You’d have to foot the bill.”

“I don’t need rehab,” the woman guffawed.

“You need something,” Jolie replied. “You have to deal with this, Mom. I won’t be there anymore to pick you up when you’re drunk and make sure you get to work so that you don’t lose your job. And Ky is moving here, so she won’t be there, either. This is it. This is your chance to try to finally be a decent mother and to stop treating your kids like shit because you screwed up decades ago.”

“Therapy is expensive.”

“Yeah. And if you go, I’m paying the therapist. You’re not getting any money. It goes straight to them. You never touch it.”

“Why are you like this?” their mother asked, shaking her head.

“Because you’ve forced us here, Mom. You’ve threatened to take money from your children.”

“Because–”

“No. You don’t deserve it. You deserve this conversation, and that’s it,” Jolie interrupted her again. “Those are the terms, Mom. If you ever want any kind of relationship with me, us, our own future families, you will drop this inheritance thing. You will get some help. You will work through whatever it is that you need to work through. Until then, we’re done, Mom. I don’t want to see you. I can’t visit. It’s not healthy for me.”

“Same for me,” Kyle added.

“She wasn’t a perfect mother, either,” their mother said in response.

“Grandma?” Jolie asked.

“She wasn’t a saint.”

“How would we know, Mom? We never got to meet her,” Kyle replied.

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