Misalignment | ✔

apologize

It's about
half an hour later
that Grandmother wakes.
I might have left sooner
were it not for
the memory of
my promise
to my mother,
and Matty's brooding
by the windows -
both of which
I was reluctant
to break.

I've never seen Matty
so upset before -
but I guess it's
my fault
for saying what
I'd said earlier.
I've only ever
wanted to help her,
to make her happy
as she's made me happy,
but my curiosity
and irritation
both
got the best of me
this time.

When Grandmother stirs
beside me,
I'm momentarily
caught off guard,
abruptly pulled
from my own brooding
and into the
current moment.
From across the room,
Matty turns to watch
with her tear-stained eyes
as Grandmother softly groans
and open her own eyes
on the bright fluorescents
overhead.
They then skip over
to me -
and narrow.

"You,"
she mutters
in a voice even more
deteriorated
than the last time.
"You're Flory's child,
aren't you?"
It's a small triumph
that she called me
my mother's 'child'
rather than 'daughter' -
but it's short lived
as she follows up with
my horrid birth name.

"Cam,"
I gently remind her -
but she only huffs
irritably.

"I have no interest
in nicknames,"
she grumbles,
breaking off halfway
to cough.
"Why are you here,
anyway?
Where is
your mother?"

"At home.
I came on my own
to see you,
Grandmother."
When that has
no effect
on her,
I continue with:
"I wanted
to talk to you
about what happened
last time-"

"There is nothing
to talk about!"
she insists
in a voice that is
much stronger
than I would have expected.
It catches me
off guard
for a second time -
and Matty as well,
for after blinking at
Grandmother's outburst,
she soon comes to stand
behind my chair,
a worried expression
on her face.
"I don't need this
sort of idiocy
from my own granddaughter,"
Grandmother continues,
"so go back home
before I call in a nurse to-"

"I wanted to
apologize
on my mother's behalf,"
I interrupt,
cutting her short.
"We talked about it,
my mother and I,
and we both think
that it was
wrong
of her
to say what she did.
She would have
apologized in person,
had you let her
come and see you again..."

It's silent for
a long moment.
Grandmother now looks
like she's gone into
some state of shock;
fleetingly, I wonder
if it's serious enough
to warrant calling in
a nurse.
But soon enough,
she comes back
to life again,
spluttering.

"You-
You're apologizing?"
she asks in a tone
colored with disbelief.
"Am I really supposed
to believe that?"

This woman has to be
the most stubborn
person
I've ever met.
"I don't know,"
I say,
unable to keep
the irritation
from my voice.
"What you believe
is up to you.
I just came to
relay the message
to you
that my mother is
sorry.
We thought
it would be better
to make amends now
while we still have
a chance
to get you to
like us."

I stand up, then -
it's no use waiting
for a miracle
that won't ever come.
I should have known
that Grandmother
would be like this.
I should have known
that it wouldn't
be easy
to sway her
obvious hatred.
But then I feel
something
latch onto my sleeve -
and I look down to see
Grandmother
holding me back
and smiling faintly,
so faintly that I
almost miss it,
her eyes glimmering
with unshed tears.

"You're right,"
she whispers wearily
before dropping her hold
on my arm.
"Thank you...
Bring her back
to see me,
won't you?"

It's a simple phrase,
a simple request -
but considering how
she's acted
in the short time
I've known her
(and the long time
my mother has known her),
it's close enough to
a miracle
to astound me.
"Of...of course,"
I tell her.
I'm sure it's obvious
how dumbstruck
I am now.
"I think you have some
apologizing
of your own to do..."

As I move once again
to leave,
with Matty following
my lead,
Grandmother glances past me
with eyes drooping with
exhaustion
and frowns.
"Marianne?"
she asks as
her eyelids flicker shut.
"Is that you?"

Matty and I both
pause -
and as I watch,
a perplexed expression
surfaces on Matty's features.
"How do you know
my mom?"
she wonders aloud,
no higher than
a murmur -
but Grandmother is already
fast asleep.

×

The title of this chapter always makes me think of that one OneRepublic song and it's kinda sad in this context, aha;;;

Anyway, that whole Marianne thing is something that y'all probably won't entirely understand until I write Misleading (which I took down recently with plans to start it over someday). Whoops. I'll finish all these stories someday, I swear.

If you guys liked this chapter, I would love if you would vote and leave me some feedback! It would be much appreciated! c: