Tabbs

Chapter 20

'There they were,' Tabbs thought loudly. 'Tweedle dee and tweedle dumber.'

Before the sisters, on the spacious shaded patio of the Barnes and Noble, were Helen and Duke sitting side by side at a table like a united front line. Helen smiled, stood, and waved as if they together didn't make up the majority of the occupants of the patio. Suddenly, the generic, lifeless drone of ambient cafe music was replaced with a heavy pounding in Tabbs' ear. It was thanks to Gen alone that they navigated the minefield of small tables and chairs over to where her mother sat without incident.

"Hi babies!" Helen reached out across the small table when they where close enough and gave each girl a hug and peck on the cheek.

Duke, dressed in a tucked in black shirt and jeans that poorly concealed his belly paunch nodded his regards like the cowboy he thought he was. "Ladies," he said in obnoxious southern draw that was unfortunately common for the area.

The women nodded a greeting in return and claimed their own seats. Tabbs perched on the edge of her seat much less gracefully than her pinnacle of poise sister, who had one pleated dress pant leg folded expertly over the other.

"It's so good to see you girls again! And together!" Helen continued, this time in a forced southern accent that wasn't there a moment ago. Her long, blond mound of hair that looked like it had been lifted straight from a Southern Living magazine bounced on her head. "Babies, I'm always so happy to hear from you, but why all of the sudden and what could be so gosh dang important? Like I told your sister over the phone, Tabby, Duke and I are going to a meeting with the contractors for the new house tomorrow and this week will just be so-" She raised her hands and made a jazzy little shake at either end of a broad smile. "Crazy! Oh, it's so exciting girls! I hope so much that you'll be down to visit! We're planning to put in a below ground pool in the extra acre of space we got. Oh, and did I tell you both about the game room?"

"That's actually something we wanted to talk to you about, Mother," Gen answered coolly. "Like I said on the phone, I was actually hoping it could just be the three of us."

Duke extended a fat arm across the back of Helen's chair. "Anything you can tell your mother, you can tell me."

"No offense, Duke, but this is something between daughters and mothers."

A spark of pride ignited in Tabbs' chest. Gen was in her no-BS zone. The same zone that countless times got teachers throughout her academic career to change her grades from a B plus to an A on a number of assignments.

"Excuse me young lady-"

"I'm not a young lady anymore, Duke. I'm a woman and I'd like you to talk to me as such."

"Dukie, honey." Helen laid a hand on his tense shoulder and kissed his cheek with her highlighter pink lips. "Baby, why don't you grab that pork roast for tonight's dinner? I think I saw a grocery store down the way and we need to grab some while we're still in town."

He shifted his gaze slowly from Tabbs and her sister back to his wife. "You sure, babe? I don't like the way these two are talking to you."

"I can handle my own daughters, sweet-heart." Following a lengthy, cringe-inducing kiss, Duke flashed them both a nasty glare and trundled off towards the parking lot.

Helen watched with a look of satisfaction till he was out of sight, then looked back at her daughters with a smile that looked as pasted over as her poorly blended blush. "I expect an apology to him after we're through here, Genny."

"We didn't come here to exchange pleasantries with Duke, Helen. We-"

"Why do you call me that, Genny? I'm your mommy, aren't I? You called me that for most of your life, didn't you?"