Stories From VO1.2

Matthew

Matthew always believed his grandmother was a bit screwy. She was older than he could imagine and didn't know how to hold her tongue, especially around his mother. But it was those two traits that were also what made her so awesome. She knew about things Matthew could only imagine and had no qualms telling Matthew about them, whether his mother approved or not. 

"We slept in trees, Mat. Trees! So high up if you fall you'd surely break that damn neck of yours. I tell you, high as a motherfu-"

"Mother!"

Watching the two of them spat was amazing. It was clear that his mother was his grandmother's kid. They were basically the same person and everyone could see it but them. They hated being compared. 

"Two strong women are always going to butt heads, even more when they live in the same house," his dad told him once. He, like Matthew, enjoyed watching their spats. They would place bets on who would lose their temper first. Matthew wagered extra chores for a larger allowance. It was a risky game with high payoffs.  

The admiration for his wife and mother-in-law must have changed at one point because one day Mathew's dad packed up all his belonging and left. He promise to call Matthew he settled into his new place. 

The call never came. 

"Good riddance," his grandmother spat, dragging Matthew away from the phone to give him a lecture on how his dad was a no-good, good-for-nothing, couldn't-find-responsibility-if-it-bit-him-in-the-ass type of guy. 

His mother found them mid-lecture and that had to be the only time Matthew had ever saw them get along and agree on something. It was also the last time they ever agreed on something. But that was a good day. They ordered pizza, Matthew ran to the corner store for some ice cream, and they watched a zombie movie where some kids got trapped in a mall.

"Yeah, you never want that to happen," his grandmother advised. "You always want to be out in the open. Never backed into a corner. Zombies-"

"Mad men, mother."

"Shut up, Trisha. They were damn zombies."

"Do you understand medicine, mother? No."

It was Matthew's favorite movie of all time.

Sadly life happened really quickly. 

Matthew hit middle school. His mother and grandmother continued their bickering which evolved into fighting. One day his grandmother had a really bad seizure and his mother stuck her in a hospital to be kept alive by nurses and doctors and machines. 

Matthew knew his grandmother didn't want that, he knew she had been writing a will up, but his mother acted and when she acted only his grandmother could stop her. This time his grandmother didn't have the ability to stop her. 

Matthew didn't hate his mother for what she did at first. She was scared. They couldn't keep an eye on Mona all the time. She was getting really old and had to be really careful. It was a lot on his mother to handle.

But then he and his mother would visit his grandmother at the home and he'd realize that the nurses weren't letting her out of the bed - too much of a hazard. They'd visit again and again and he'd realize that his grandmother was sad and then sadder. Then his mother said that she wasn't going to visit anymore. 

"Well I'm going without you!" 

This was their first actual adult fight. It wasn't about going out with his friends. It wasn't about cleaning his room or not doing his homework. It was about his grandmother and his mother that was being a total ass about the entire situation.