Page 123 of Irons

“I’m taking it that Matt is your annoying nephew?”

Her eyes turned dark. “He spews out all these prayers to a God I’ve never seen. What kind of God allows an innocent woman to contract such a disgusting disease?” She looked me up and down. “Put your hands down, you look like an idiot.”

I lowered them very slowly. “I’ve also never met God, he is not who is behind what I’m trying to give you. I’ve seen enough pain and sadness, felt the loneliness. He’s not with me.” I lied once more.

The corner of her mouth tipped up, which was even creepier. “You won’t lay your hands on me and pray, as my nephew tried to do the last time he stepped foot in this house? He’s a hypocrite, no better than me like he wants to pretend. Fathered a dead child out of wedlock, trapped a nice girl, then whined and cried when she ran away from him.” Damn, even the way she spoke was creepy.

“Do you trust your son?” I asked and she lost her half creepy smile.

“He told you the family secret, didn’t he?” She crossed her arms as she stared daggers at me.

“He’s suffering, Emma. He’s a good kid that spent time behind bars because he wanted to keep a roof over your head.”

She gave me a nod. “Almost didn’t graduate high school because of it. He was lucky they let him graduate before his court date, but we didn’t have the money to pay his fines.”

“Do you want to give him a better future?” I asked.

Her eyes turned very dark. “Do you think this is the life I wanted for any of us? Do you think I wanted to look like an eighty five year old woman at forty three? To sit here in a home, I don’t belong in and rot away? He’s a grown man now, he can do as he pleases.” She used a snarky tone with me.

“Do you think I’d be a good man if I let my stepmother and brother continue to live this way? Would a good man walk away and not help? I won’t be giving him a free ride, but what I will be giving him is a chance at a happy future, with his mother in his life and taken care of by good people. Give you a chance to start fresh and leave everyone that failed you behind. I dedicate my life to saving people from wars and slavery. What kind of a man would I be for walking away after learning the conditions of the lives my family was living? If someone would have reached out to me I would have been home before dad got sick, but I figured everyone forgot me.” I lied again, I wouldn’t have come home. Wrenly was the only person that could get me home. There I was lying while asking her to trust me.

“I will take on all the financial obligations of taking you and Brock away from here. Brock will earn his way, but I’ll make sure you have everything you need and then some.” That wasn’t a lie. “I’m what some would consider wealthy. I’ve invested in several successful businesses, and I think my dad would have asked this of me.”

She looked out the window. “He never would have asked you for anything. He never felt deserving of your love. I should have called you, but you’re all he cared about. He would stare at that computer screen for hours but refuse to look at me. I wasn’t as beautiful as your mother. I wasn’t as classy or as smart. She had everything and I had nothing.”

“You were a mother to your son. You didn’t run off and abandon him. You got sick, but you were here when you could have left. Did you celebrate Brock’s birthdays when he was little?” I asked.

“Of course.” She answered.

“My mother didn’t even love me enough to spend one with me. She wasn’t there when I took my first steps or said my first words. Don’t compare yourself to her. You tried and that alone makes you more beautiful, smarter, and all around better. She only cared about Bobby and that girl of hers. I don’t feel the need to meet that girl, the only sibling I care to know is Brock. You gave me a very good brother.” I played on her jealousy of mom and Evie.

“Op op, was his first word. He was trying to say pop pop to my dad. The holiest of men. Just like my nephew, they use God to make those of us less fortunate feel guilt and shame.” She snarled.

“Do you feel guilt and shame?” I asked and she continued to look out the window toward the Tahoe.

“Yes.” Her voice was a little softer.

“Because you’re sick?”

She turned to look at me. “Who is in your car?”

Shit. “My girlfriend, and we just picked my friend up from the airport. We have an appointment early this afternoonand I wanted to meet privately with you, and I didn’t have time to take them to the hotel.”

“Tell me about this power of attorney thing.” She crossed her arms and walked away from the window, toward the living room. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could smell her without vomiting.

“It’s a legal agreement making Brock responsible for your wellbeing. He will make decisions that will keep you safe and make sure you are well cared for if you get sicker and can’t make decisions of your own.”

She nodded. “It makes him financially responsible?”

“He will have to look over your affairs. Make sure your bills are paid, like he does now, I presume.” I kept a distance from her as she walked into the living room. I didn’t enter but stood in the archway. That was when I noticed the hospital bed. I gulped, knowing my dad likely died in that bed. I noticed she was staring at it.

“He was my husband. The man that gave me my son, and then this disease, but I stayed with him. They divorced, but it was her that he wanted in the end. It was her daughter he loved the most. Then she drops food off here like I’m some charity case.”

In all fairness, she knew dad was married when she fucked him. She was the victim, not me or my mom in her mind. Emma definitely had a victim mentality.

“When I got sick, I told my mom it was broken heart syndrome. Do you know what she said to me?” She asked.

“I’d hope she was comforting.” I put my hands in my pockets.

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