Gwen turned around so fast that it wouldn't be a surprise if her neck cracked. She saw a woman in her early forties standing there. She resembled Gwen so much, she had her eyes, her lips, her hair...
“I thought I'd be seeing you soon, Charlotte. Or should I say, Gwen?”
Gwen stared at her for quite a while before a single word escaped her lips.
“Mom.”
The woman smiled. "Yes, it's me, Gwen, your mother. I was expecting you."
"What's your name?" Gwen asked.
"Why do you ask?"
"What's your name?" she repeated.
"Linda Lewis."
"Well then, you're Mrs. Lewis to me."
"Gwen, you don't get to call me that. I'm your mother and I expect you to respect me."
"Respect you? Really Mrs. Lewis? You're stupid to think I'll respect you. You lost your respect the day you abandoned me. What am I supposed to call you? Mommy? Because in that case, you may want to rethink that."
"Gwynneth Stanley, don't you dare speak to your mother that way. I gave birth to you."
"Oh, do I owe you for that too, now, Mommy? What am I supposed to do, fall in your knees and beg for your blessing, because I will never do that. And why shall I? I would've been perfectly happy if you killed me the moment I was born because that would've been loads better. I wouldn't be surprised if you tell me that you asked a nurse to dispose of me and she left me in the orphanage out of pity."
"Whatever you say, Gwynneth, I am your mother, and you can keep denying that because nothing can change the reality."
"I don't want you as my mother -"
"It was never your choice."
"- because you treated me like I was a piece of shit you couldn't care less about. I used to cry, I used to be in pain but were you ever there? No, you weren't. You had cameras fitted inside this house; you saw the tortures I bore but did you ever come? NO, YOU DIDN'T. YOU WERE BUSY COUNTING THE DOLLARS YOU OWNED AND CALLING YOUR FILTHY ANIMAL OF A HUSBAND AND YOU NEVER ONCE THOUGHT THAT, 'OH, MY DAUGHTER IS IN PAIN,' OR, 'SHE MIGHT NEED ME.' YOU NEVER CAME. YOU NEVER ONCE CALLED. YOU NEVER ONCE CONSIDERED SPEAKING TO ME OR SPARING SOME TIME TO SEE HOW YOUR DAUGHTER WAS DOING OR IF SHE WAS EVEN ALIVE. I COULD'VE DIED AND YOU WOULDN'T HAVE BOTHERED. SO WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO? PRESENT YOU WITH FLOWERS AND SING SONGS FOR YOU? YOU WERE NEVER MY MOTHER. IT ALL CHANGED THE MOMENT YOU LEFT. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE, LET ALONE TALK TO YOU. SO, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I WILL CALL YOU MOTHER? YOU LEFT, REMEMBER? SO WHY DID YOU COME BACK? TO SHOW ME YOUR FACE, BECAUSE HEY, IT SAYS RIGHT THERE, 'I CAN NEVER BE A MOTHER BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A HEART, I NEVER ONCE CALLED MY DAUGHTER BECAUSE HER FATHER WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH.' RIGHT, THANKS, MOM, I'M SO PROUD OF HAVING YOU."
"So this is what it's all about?"
"No, this is about some cool party I attended where I got drunk. What do you expect?"
"Don't you use that sarcastic tone with me."
"Oh, please. Don't you tell me what to do. You don't have that right."
"Well, then, I'll stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point."
"Of course, what was I expecting from you? Some mother-daughter bonding time?" she scoffed.
"Gwen, dear, the fact that you are not aware of the things I have done for you doesn't mean I haven't done anything."
"Yeah? Well, this is the time to make me aware of all that. Please start, Mrs. Lewis, you don't have all day."
YOU ARE READING
Here to Stay
Novela Juvenil"You know me more than I do," she smiled. "What else is there that you want to know?" "I want to know why you've built these walls around yourself. I want to know why you don't open up to people." "I don't know. Maybe, I'm afraid to spill too much...
