Curveballs (Chapters 1 to 199)

4.32 Strike Three - The Confrontation

During dinner I thought about confronting Mom with the nurse incident. What made it so hard was how nice she welcomed me and how incredibly delicious the meal was ^^ But after a few minutes of thinking the problem basically solved itself.

"Are you alright, honey?", Mom asked me doubtful.

"Yeah?...Sure"

"Didn't the lasagna work out?"

"No, you outdid yourself this time! Yummy!", I returned with a big smile. But she still looked a bit worried.

"But something is wrong. I can see it in your eyes, hun"

"I...I was just thinking about something, that's all"

"If it worries you it might actually be better to wonder out loud about it, honey", she hung tough.

"Okay, fine. It has actually to do with you and what you did. Sure you still wanna talk about it?", I bursted out. Mom stared at me sheepish.

"What?...I mean...well...if it really bothers you I'll just take it on the chin I guess", she answered and started to look more confident again.

"What did you do to Mrs. Osmond?", I asked her. She looked confused.

"Who's that?..."

"The school nurse...", I added and she winced.

"I...I...I made sure she'll never ill-treat a helpless child again", Mom told me. She had folded her hands in front of her and they were shaking.

"But you abused her!...I mean...I'm sorry I'm butting into your business, but..."

"It's not my business. It wasn't about me. It was about you. And you have every right to ask me those questions, Lyza", she said while tears started running down her face. This worried me.

"Oh no, please don't cry, Mom!"

"Don't worry about me. It's fine! Please, just head on with your questions", she added with a forced smile. I wiped an emerging tear from my eye.

"Okay, why are you crying?"

"Because I'm so ashamed of myself"

"But what happened?", I wanted to know.

"I think you know that already...didn't she tell you?"

"No, a classmate is friends with her. She told me and then I asked Mrs. Osmond about it because I had a hard time believing it was actually true..."

"It is true! Everything they might have said is true! It...was...my...fault...no excuses", she said with a calm voice.

"But why, Mom?"

"Because my poor little daughter went to her scared and embarrassed after suffering a blackout and a trauma from the first dirty pants in years. And that after you had to suffer so many years from incontinence during your childhood"

"Oh, Mom..."

"I planned to stay calm, but then just rushed in there like a raging bull. I didn't even realize I scared this poor woman. I told her that she abused scared children with her ruthless behavior. And I wanted to make sure she knew what she did to my little daughter. And then all of a sudden she acted like she didn't know who I was even talking about...", Mom explained gesturing with her hands.

"She really didn't know, she's already senile", I added.

"Damned Jesus Motherfucker!", she sweared. That baffled me.

"What?"

"Nevermind. I totally lost it afterwards, Lyza. I terrorized this poor granny 'til she...no this is enough", she admitted and hid her face behind her hands. I knew what she wanted to say and there was no need to spell it out.

"I guess I should feel honored to have such a dedicated mother but..."

"No! My behavior was disgusting. I acted out of false pride. Don't ever think what I did was justified in any way. It wasn't! End of story!"

"Okay, Mom", I simply returned and didn't dare to ask further. No one had eaten since I started asking.

"I hope I didn't spoil your appetite. I'll just eat later, though", she excused herself and quickly left the table. I contemplated a few minutes and then followed her. She sat in the living room and watched a game show, although it looked like she was thinking about something else. I jumped at her and wrapped my arms around her.

"I love you, Mom! Thank you for telling me", I ensured her while crying.

"Thank you, Lyza!", she returned and we then both held onto each other crying. I realized she got pretty close to my diaper region and so I pulled my butt away from her.

"Could you do me a favor though?", I asked carefully.

"Anything you want"

"Would you please apologize to Mrs. Osmond?"

"Do you think she wants to hear it? I'm afraid she'll sue me. And rightfully so..."

"No, she won't bring charges against you, Mom", I assured her.

"Then I will of course apologize even though I don't know how..."

"Just tell her how you feel about it. And then let's invite her for dinner. She lives alone and seems to be pretty lonely"

"Oh really? Then this is a great idea, honey!", Mom finally smiled again and kissed me on my forehead.