Page 13 of The Problem with Fire
Flippin’ great.
“What are you doing here, Thomas?” I said, blurting the first thing that popped in my head. “And where’s Leta?”
He jerked his head towards the inside of my house. “Can we talk inside?”
What?
Was the man nuts?
This was my house. This place was my sanctuary. This place was my Thomas-free humble abode. This was myhome.
Hell to the no, he couldn’t come in.
“No,” I told him. “There’s no reason for you to need to come in.”
He planted his hands on his hips. “We need to talk, Monroe.”
“About what?”
“Leta,” he replied, causing my stomach to dip.
“What about her? Is she okay? Where is-”
“Calm down, Monroe,” he said, his voice a bit snappish. “Leta’s fine. She’s with her friend, Elise.”
I took a deep breath, thankful my child was okay. “Then what is this, Thomas?”
“I’m here to talk about Leta’s attitude,” he said. “I’m getting tired of her bullshit, Monroe.”
I stood there and stared.
Shocked.
Annoyed.
But more shocked than annoyed.
“I’m not following,” I finally told him. “She’s fine when she’s with me.” I knew what this was about, but I wasn’t about to let him dump his issues with his daughter in my lap to fix.
“Last night, Susie told me she thought it would be best if we stopped seeing each other because she couldn’t stand for Leta’s disrespect any longer.” He lifted his chin as if I were supposed to care about this latest development.
Newsflash: I didn’t.
“You’re here because your latest girlfriend broke up with you and it’s Leta’s fault?” I asked, still skating on the surface of shocked. “Are you serious?”
His jaw ticked and I knew I had just pissed him off more. “This isn’t a joke, Monroe,” he snapped louder than I would have appreciated. “Her attitude is out of control.”
I cocked my head. “Her attitude towardsyouis out of control, Thomas,” I corrected. “When she’s here or at school, she’s fine.” He bristled, but who cared? I certainly didn’t. “So, since she only appears to have problem when she’s with you, I’d say that your issues with Leta are between you and her. Your relationship with your daughter is foryouto work on. Not me.”
“Oh, yeah?” he practically yelled. “And how am I supposed to do that when you keep her stuck in the fucking past, Monroe?”
My eyes bugged.“What?”I damn near screeched. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about how you refuse to move on!” He did yell this time. “You’re so stuck in the past, still living in a marriage that is long over, and you have Leta living there with you.”
What?!
This mother-
