Raymond hears weeping, sniffling, but he can\u2019t see her\u2014too dark. His hand searches the wall for the living room light switch.<\/p>\n
In the sudden brightness, his mother cowers under a beige blanket. Raymond rushes over, anxiously, she needs a diaper change and swatting away his annoyance that she can\u2019t\u2014or won\u2019t\u2014get off the damn couch to use the toilet. Sometimes, he wishes she were someone else\u2019s problem, now that she\u2019s morphed into a shriveled speckled sweet potato with a sour smell.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Mom? Need the bathroom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no. Just so many worries.\u201d She retrieves a wadded tissue stuffed up her sweater sleeve. Raymond pushes over the trash can, then offers her some fresh Kleenex. She takes two, wiping her eyes with swollen fingers.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s swaying slightly, probably low blood pressure.\u00a0Raymond leans over, lifting her feet onto the couch. He\u2019d like to relax too, but he rarely has a minute to himself, now that she\u2019s moved in and relies on him for everything: preparing her meals, washing her hair, even changing her Depends. Her monthly check doesn\u2019t cover much, so he works remotely as a customer service rep, dealing with people bitchin\u2019 about the cheap crap they bought, or because they forgot to insert batteries. One damn problem after another.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll make tea.\u201d<\/p>\n
His mother grabs his arm. Although her hand trembles, her grip\u2019s surprisingly strong.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo hell with tea, Raymond,\u201d she whispers hoarsely, wagging a bony finger. \u201cYou were out late last night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. On a date\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMusta been a helluva date!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMom!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving intimacy? With someone you just met?\u201d she growls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a grown man!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t bother to introduce her to your mother? Good Lord, Raymond!\u201d<\/p>\n
Raymond grins. It\u2019s none of her damn business, but it\u2019s nice she’s acting like a mother. Annoying but normal-annoying.<\/p>\n
Better than her crying alone on the couch, like a decaying potato, oozing in the darkness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s none of her damn business, but it\u2019s nice she’s acting like a mother. Annoying but normal-annoying. Better than her crying alone on the couch, like a decaying potato, oozing in the darkness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":25255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3530],"tags":[116,4692,878,4693,852],"class_list":["post-24236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flash-fiction","tag-aging","tag-caregiver","tag-mother","tag-potato","tag-son","writer-liz-debeer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24236"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25256,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24236\/revisions\/25256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}