A Falice Story

16. Reconciliation

I find Gladys exactly where I thought--sitting on a bench in the little park near Sunnyside. The place where I caught her and FP kissing for the first time after we had broken up. I slowly make my way over to her. She's smoking another cigarette and her shoulders are hunched. 

Gladys notices me and lets out an audible groan, "What the hell are you doing here?" every word dripping with disdain. I bite my tongue, I've come here to try to make the situation better, not worse, "Can I sit?" 

She glares up at me, trying to analyze what I'm doing here. "If you must," she eventually mutters. I sit down, still looking straight ahead, not even wanting to meet her vicious gaze. After a lengthy amount of silence I sigh, "Can you, um--please put out your cigarette. It's not good for the baby," I say quietly. Gladys rolls her eyes, but puts it out, "Christ..." she says under her breath. 

"What are you really trying to do, Alice? If you want to talk then talk." I shift my body towards her and take a deep breath, "I just want to see if we could possibly try to work this out--I know you're against Jellybean staying here but--" 

She scoffs, "Work this out? Do you even understand why I'm so against Jellybean staying here? Because you have to steal everyone out of my life! You took FP--my son made it very obvious he prefers you over me and now you even want my little girl?!" Gladys is trying to remain tough, but bringing up Jellybean made it hard for her to hold back her tears. 

I however, am completely over her excuses, "I took FP from you?! You left him!" I yell at her. She turns closer to me, "Oh, please! You never got over him--and he never got over you! I spent the majority of my marriage knowing he was thinking about you--every anniversary, every intimate moment--it was always you in the back of his mind!" she shouts through tears, "How do you think that felt?!" 

"How do you think it felt to be ripped away from the only man you've ever loved, because your parents convinced you that he wasn't good enough--and brainwashed you into thinking that the only relationship worth having is with someone who can give you a secure future?!" I bite back. 

"You made that decision--" she starts, but I cut her off, "And it's the biggest regret of my life--" I feel the tears welling up, "Right behind giving up my son..." I say, the tears flowing. It's dead silent. She nervously taps her foot against the ground, "I'm sorry...that must have been incredibly difficult."

I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand, a little surprised by her words. "Thank you..." I say, feeling especially emotional after thinking about my son. Gladys takes another cigarette out of her purse and is about to light it, but remembers I'm still next to her and puts it back into her purse. "I'm--I'm a really shitty mom..." she starts, digging her boot into the dirt, "I didn't let my son move in with me when FP was drinking--I'm working all the time and I never spend time with Jellybean...she loves you more than me--God why am I like this?!" She rants through tears.

I understand where she's coming from; I still feel incredibly guilty about what I did to Polly. "I know what you mean," I sympathize. She glares at me, "Oh, I'm sure you do..." I meet her harsh stare, "I sent my oldest daughter away when she got pregnant, just like Hal and my mother did to me. After she had the twins, she took off for--oh, God knows where--and refuses to come home or even call." 

I can tell Gladys is surprised by this, "Well, shit," she mutters, staring off into the distance. "I didn't realize all that happened." I take a few moments trying to figure out how I'm going to say what I am about to tell her, "Listen, Gladys. I don't expect us to ever be 'friends' but we should at least try to be civil towards one another. The second I saw you--God, all I wanted to do was punch you in the face--but now? I think we've realized we're a lot more alike than we thought." She crosses her arms, a slight smirk on her face, "Jeez, I never thought I'd live to see the day that Alice Smith actually said something somewhat nice to me..."