Page 26 of Being Julia

He looked at me as he kissed her head. My dad was the most amazing person I knew. Collin walked over and sat withus while my dad set up his laptop on the table. I watched as Mrs. Fitzgerald walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him.

“I just can’t thank you enough for doing this for us,” she said.

She was just a little too close to him, and I could smell the fresh alcohol on her breath from where I was sitting. She must’ve been drinking when she disappeared for fifteen minutes in the bathroom. I looked over and saw my mom staring at her. The look in her eye was one that I’d seen many times before when she was getting pissed off. My dad took Mrs. Fitzgerald’s arms and removed them.

“As I said before, Joan. I wanted to do this, and you’re welcome.”

She took it upon herself to sit in the chair next to him. She placed her hand on his leg, and my dad looked at her. I was just about to get up and say something when I saw my mom leap out of her chair.

“Hey, Collin, Julia. Why don’t you take London in the back and show her the view from the window in the bedroom.”

Collin and London got up and started to walk to the back bedroom.

“Are you coming?” London turned around and asked.

“Yeah. I’ll be there in a second,” I said.

My mom was going to let Mrs. Fitzgerald have it, and I wasn’t about to miss it. She looked over at me and winked as she approached her and my dad.

“Joan, how’s Ron doing?”

Mrs. Fitzgerald quickly removed her hand from my dad’s leg.

“He’s fine, Ellery. He’s on an important business trip. He’s sorry that he couldn’t be here.”

“Really? I would imagine any father that loves his child would be there for her in her time of need,” my mom said.

“It’s really none of your concern, Ellery.”

“See, Joan, it is my concern. It became my concern when you started trying to get my husband to sleep with you many years ago.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said as she looked away.

“Ellery, that’s enough!” my dad said.

“Connor, this is between Joan and me. Butt out!”

Oh, this was getting good. My mom was letting Mrs. Fitzgeraldandmy dad have it!

My dad looked at me with that look, and I smiled. He shook his head and got up from the table. My mom continued her rant with Mrs. Fitzgerald and told her she was an alcoholic and needed to go to rehab. She also told her that she and my dad were more of a mother and a father to London over the years than she and Mr. Fitzgerald were. Mrs. Fitzgerald got up from her seat and stormed off to the bathroom. I watched as my dad walked over to my mom and looked at her with his “are you serious” look.

“Really, Ellery? Of all days to say something to Joan, you pick today?”

“She made it today the minute she put her hand on your leg. I will not apologize for telling the truth. Get over it, Connor, because you would have done the same damn thing, if not something worse if it was Ron who put his hand on my leg.”

My dad sighed and kissed her on the head. “I guess you’re right, baby,” he said as he walked away.

I laughed as I walked over to my mom. “You sure told Mrs. Fitzgerald off.”

She smiled at me and pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear.

“Sometimes, you need to remind some people of what’s yours and yours alone.”

The pilot alerted us that we were in California and take our seats for landing. I sat down next to London and grabbed her hand. Little did I know that it would be the last time I ever saw her when I said goodbye to her at the rehab center. She passed away right before my eighteenth birthday from a drug overdose. The rehab center could offer no explanation of how or where she got the drugs.

CHAPTER 9

Iopened my eyes and turned my head as the morning sun trickled through the curtains. I reached over and grabbed my phone only to find about a hundred text messages from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. As I smiled and tried to read each one, I set my phone face down on the bed and rolled over, wishing there was one from London. Not only was today my eighteenth birthday, but it was also my graduation day, and I’d be celebrating both without my best friend.

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