“Erica is never around for some reason and when she is, she’s moody. I can barely get her to talk to me and I fear she is rubbing off on Harmony in a negative light.”
“I’m sure Erica is busy with work,” he said. “They were here over Labor Day and she said she needed the break.”
“Why didn’t you tell me your sisters visited you?” his mother asked.
“I didn’t know I needed to report all my guests to you,” he said, rolling his eyes. “They could have told you if they wanted to.”
He wasn’t going to say his father was here too. That would cause another firestorm if his mother thought everyone was together. As if they were choosing their father over their mother.
“You normally tell me what is going on in your life,” his mother said
“When I was a teen,” he argued.
“What is going on now that I don’t know about?”
He put his foot in his mouth there, but there was no way he was telling his mother about Daisy right now. Not when his mother wouldn’t let him get off the phone and would ask a million questions that he didn’t want to answer. Let alone answer in front of his girlfriend.
“Nothing much,” he said. “I’m only saying I don’t report to you every time I do something or go somewhere and neither do Erica and Harmony. Everyone is an adult and maybe they should be treated with that respect.”
“Harmony will never grow up,” his mother said.
He hated that his baby sister got shit on all the time. “Harmony is doing just fine,” he said. “Just because it’s not what you wanted her to do doesn’t mean it’s not right.”
“You always did take their side,” his mother said. “I should have figured they’d get to you too.”
“No one is getting to me,” he said. “I know you mean well. We all do, but Erica is busy and Harmony is too. Why do you think Harmony is having issues?”
“Because she snapped at me the other day and she normally laughs it off,” his mother said.
“What did you say to her?” he looked at Daisy and saw the grin. She was enjoying this.
“I asked when she was going to find a real job.”
“I might snap at you too if you asked me the same question every time we talked,” he said.
“You’re impossible,” his mother said. “I swear it has to be you living in that house. Your father must be rubbing off on you.”
He took a deep breath. “Was there anything else I could help you with today?”
“No,” his mother said and hung up.
“See, I’ve got drama too,” he said to Daisy.
“I only heard one side of it. Sounds like you were playing the peacemaker. Was it over your sisters?”
“Yes,” he said. He told her what it was all about. “See. No advice there. Just negativity and control.”
“Do you ever get mad at your mother?” she asked.
“I’ve been known to, but that is why I moved away. It was just easier. I’m not sure what is going on with Erica’s job other than she’s busy and traveling. I know she’s not thrilled with it, but if she leaves she has to deal with my mother and she said that is probably more stressful.”
“Deal with your mother how?”
“Just the lecturing and negativity. Erica has a good head on her shoulders. She’ll figure it out but knows she has support from everyone but my mother. By the time she left here a few months ago, she was back to her old self. Harmony too. My mother just needs something to control and bitch about.”
“You didn’t mention your father was here,” she said.
“That would start World War Three. My mother would think we were betraying her or something if we did that.”