Page 83 of The Older Brother
“Dealt with,” I mumble.
“You have advice on the topic? Hmm? By all means, do share.” She waves her hand across the expanse of the table, an invitation for me to attack her. Normally, I’d back down at this point. But I’m not intimidated anymore. I’m no longer afraid of disappointing her or losing her support or money. By the time today’s done, she may be broke anyhow.
“You lost your marriage. You made a choice. And rather than examining what it all truly meant, which it’s clear by your ownwords how you never did the work to unpack why you strayed, you instead dove headfirst into managing everything. Including me. And I’ve got news for you, Mom. That meeting Dad is trying to set up with you? He plans to dig up those skeletons and deal with them—financially.”
Her eyes dim the second money comes into the picture. The way her shoulders tick up, too, is a clear sign that I’ve hit a nerve. Her financial worth and her status are important to her. Now’s the time.
I lean to one side to access my back pocket, and as I unfold the paper above the table, my mother’s gaze shifts from curious to terrified in the matter of a second.
“Where did you get that?” she asks, reaching for it. I pull it away and waggle a finger.
“Ah ah, I’ll keep this. And there are copies.” I meet her frozen eyes, her features still, and jaw flexed. I think she may crack most of her teeth if she clenches that hard for much longer.
“I didn’t realize you had changed jobs, that you were now doing PR for . . . AirTek? Is that the company?” I glance at the paper then back up again, and I find her expression unchanged.
“Saylor, you’re out of your element now. Honey, I need that back.” It’s clear she’s panicked.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do. I mean, you probably need to send this out after making all those trades this morning. How much did you buy in AirTek? How much did David?”
She licks her lips and opens her mouth to find zero words ready to come out. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen this side of my mom, and I almost feel bad. But I know this glimpse of her is only happening because she’s scared of getting caught.
“Did you do this to get ahead? Or was this because you love David? Was it simply a moment of anxiety, a lapse in judgement? How many of these have you done for him?”
“Saylor—” she blurts my name, lunging forward and managing to snag a corner of the paper. She rips it where I’d taped it from already tearing it myself last night.
“Why?” I shake my head and stare at her down-turned gaze, waiting for her to face the truth, to face me. Her eyes flit up eventually, and she’s morphed from the frightened accomplice back into the woman who is always—always—right.
“How do you think we paid for your private schooling? Huh? Do you think that was simply my single salary? Do you think David gave away a fifty-thousand-dollar tuition year after year for free? No! Of course not! I had to earn that bonus. By any means necessary!”
“By putting out fake reports to bolster stock prices?” I practically laugh out the words.
“Yes! If that’s what it took!” And she falls right into the trap.
“Mom, that’s illegal. I didn’t need a private school experience. I didn’t need the best swim club or the expensive prom dress.”
She rocks back in her chair with a hard laugh at my protests, so I shut my mouth and wait for her to reveal the rest.
“Are you telling me you would have been fine with me pulling you out of your junior high and putting you in public school, away from your friends? And what about those Anderson boys, who you were so intent on being friends with? I guess you’ve moved on from friends, though, huh?”
I glower.
“That’s a bit like the pot calling the kettle, don’t you think?”
“Hmmm,” she grumbles.
Our brief stare-off breaks when she gets to her feet and begins to tear her half of the press release into tiny pieces.
“I don’t need that copy anymore anyhow. That one’s already been sent, and David’s already made his moves. I’ll be sure to remember that you don’t want the new car that bonus couldbuy, though. And I hope you’re good enough at butterfly to keep your scholarship because I sure won’t be shelling out tuition anymore. Since you’re so incensed by the fact that I did what I had to do to pay for your schooling.”
She’s breathing hard, and I notice that her color is beginning to retreat, her face growing paler, and her arms almost blue. I rush from my side of the table to hers, grabbing her chair and swiveling it around to catch her just as she collapses. She’s ripping her shirt open around her neck, and her wide eyes look terrified.
Fuck. I’ve given my mom a heart attack!
“Hey! I need help in here! Someone call nine-one-one! Help!” My voice curdles with my screams. I urge my mom to the floor, but she shakes her head and pushes my hand away.
Caleb rushes in, his cell on speaker as an emergency worker responds. He spits out the address, and they begin asking questions about my mother’s state.
“Is she conscious?” the woman asks.
