Til Death Do Us Part

"Can I get a ride to work, Bo?"


"Sure."


Now why I thought that today would be any different than yesterday, I don't know. But it wasn't. As soon as the doors closed on the truck, her mouth started flapping. Nonstop. Question after question after question. I thought that if I answered them in single-word monotone reactions long enough, she'd get the hint and just sort of leave it be. But unfortunately, that simply escalated it into another ... well, semi-confrontation. Despite me saying I didn't, couldn't, do it again, we had to.

What's interesting is that this child has won. She knows it, I know it. There's nothing left but the burial. While asking today AGAIN why we couldn't simply get over this and put it behind us, she mentioned that she would move out if I wanted her to. She's been offered a place to stay with her best friend. The best friend's mother is one I've heard about a LOT. She's adorable, she's loved, she's fabulous, she does EVERYTHING for the Redhead. She's everything I am not and never have been, except that my door was open, as was my wallet. Anyway, she can go there, if I want her to. That's when she slipped ... just a little bit ....

"Actually, it's my choice, not your choice..."

I don't think she even recognizes the implications of what she's said. Wait a minute. It's YOUR choice if you stay or go? Have you had a vicious blow to the head?

One of the things that got to bothering me yesterday when she and I talked about my son was that she continues to tell me how, "he had no friends when he got here. He sat by himself all the time til I introduced him around and got him into my group." She uses this, over and over, as a tool to bind him to her. I don't believe he recognizes the damage she's doing to his self-esteem each time she uses it. *I* didn't, until yesterday. Sometimes it takes longer for those things to sink in, when we're on the inside of the mess. Yes, he's shy, but I have to tell you, there are a TON of kids hanging around him now, and the majority of them are girls, and if they were given half a chance, they'd trample her to get to him. I've seen THAT in action. But she forgets that~or maybe just refuses to see it.

Apparently "The Boy" has told her that it might be in her best interests to move. Tonight when he gets home we'll see what he says. Maybe he'll approach me on his own. Why don't I approach him? Because my wires have gone crossed again and the red is plugged in where the green should be, and the blue is where the white should be, and the yellow is just hanging there, loose, along with a couple of screws. It's not an easy time to deal with it.

And why is all of this happening NOW, you might ask? Well, that's easy, even for a lunatic: all the attention is on HIM, or at least it should be. It's his graduation. We can't let that happen, can we? We've got to get everyone focused back on the wicked little attention whore as quickly as possible, before someone else usurps even a fraction of the glad tidings being spread around....

I wish someone would shoot me.