Elliott called the elevator with his IAC, boarded it, and waited for it to reach his floor, his mind still going over the conversation he’d had with Amanda. He honestly wasn’t too surprised at her reaction to seeing him, though he had hoped she’d take some time to think about things and at least decide to get help for her addiction.
He walked into his apartment and was immediately surprised to see his son there. After living here for forty years alone, having a roommate was taking some getting used to. Brandon was pacing back and forth in front of the sofa where Cassidy was sitting, a worried expression on her face.
“Hey, what’s up?” Elliott said, taking off his jacket and tossing it on the back of the recliner nearest the door. “You trying to wear out the carpet?”
Brandon stopped and turned to look at him. “Why?” he said, raising one hand in the air, the other poised against his hip. “Why did you have to go and poke the bear?”
Elliott raised his eyebrows, not exactly sure what the problem was. He looked at Cassidy, who had been like a little sister to him before he died, though the fact that she was now dating his son complicated things. His eyes returned to Brandon. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean?” Brandon repeated, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Brandon—tell your cock sucking father to stay the hell out of my goddamn house. If he so much as places one more shit covered boot in my yard I will find a way to blow his goddamn head off. The same goes for you.” He lowered the phone and stared at his father, his nostrils flared and his pupils dilated.
“Well, I guess she didn’t like the gifts I left her,” he replied with a shrug.
“Do you think this is funny?” Brandon asked, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to get a text like that from your own mother?’
“Seeing as though we still had rotary phones when my old lady was alive, I’m going to have to go with no,” he replied, leaning on the chair, trying to figure out how to make this better. He didn’t feel as if he’d done anything wrong, but at the same time, he didn’t want to upset his own kid either.
“Elliott, whatever you did, she’s taking it out on me now because she can’t reach you.”
Noting that this was the first time Brandon had called him by his first name in at least a week, Elliott took a deep breath. “That’s not true. I left her my phone number. All I did was have a cleaning crew come in and clean up that shithole. Do you have any idea the kind of disgusting squalor your mother was living in?”
“Do I have any idea?” Brandon grabbed hold of his hair and gave it an aggravated tug. “Who do you think has been cleaning up that shithole ever since he was big enough to hold a broom? Yeah, I know. But it’s her shithole, and if that’s the way she wants to live, then let her.”
Elliott glanced back at Cassidy, who looked completely uncomfortable, and he couldn’t blame her. He imagined she was here because Brandon had asked her to stay, but she might’ve been rethinking that decision just now. “Listen, son, I’m sorry I upset you. That wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to help. I told her I’d pay for her to get treatment. To go back to school if she wants to. I know she’s angry right now. But…”
“But what? She’ll get over it?” He took a step closer. “I’m telling you. She won’t get over it. She’s insane. She lost her freaking mind a long time ago.” Tears began to spill over his eyes, and Elliott didn’t know if he should step forward to lend some comfort or give him some space.
“That is not your fault,” Cassidy said, finally standing and interjecting herself into the conversation. She grabbed ahold of Brandon’s arms and turned him to face her. “I know you blame yourself for this. For all of it. But it isn’t your fault.”
“I could’ve done something to help her… before it was too late…” Brandon began, wiping at his tears like he was embarrassed for her to see them.
“No you couldn’t have,” Cassidy insisted.
“She’s right,” Elliott agreed. “None of this was your fault. None of it is your fault. And you shouldn’t have to keep cleaning up your parents’ messes either. Give me your phone.”
“What?” Brandon asked, looking at his dad like he thought he had gone crazy, too.
“Give it to me.” He’d only been a parent again for about a month, but this was the closest he’d ever gotten to sounding like one.
Slowly, Brandon handed it over. Elliott sent a quick text to Amanda, making sure she knew it was from him, that the next time she had a problem with him, and she took it up with Brandon she’d regret it, even though he had no idea what the threat entailed, and then blocked her. “There.”
“What did you do?”
“If she has something to say to you, she can go through me,” he replied as Brandon took his phone and put it back into his pocket. “I may not have been there for you for most of your life, but I’m here now. I don’t expect other people to clean up my messes.”
Brandon nodded in understanding and Elliott headed to his bedroom, beginning to contemplate not only if he should or shouldn’t have reached out to Amanda but if he should’ve come back through that portal to begin with.
* * *
Brandon watched his father turn and storm out of the room and then swiveled to face Cassidy. She had a sympathetic look on her face, but he knew she definitely couldn’t empathize with the situation. If they made posters with pictures of perfect parents, the Findleys would’ve been the first to be framed.
He realized he still had tears on his face, even though he’d managed to turn them off before his father even left the room and suddenly felt self-conscious. He swiped at them with the back of his hand. “Sorry,” he muttered, not ready to sit down yet. He’d been pacing for at least a half an hour, waiting for his dad to return. The text from his mom had interrupted a perfectly good episode of The Office and a potential first make-out session with his new girlfriend. Nothing like a text from your insane mother to ruin the evening.
“Sorry?” Cassidy repeated, staring up at him with her beautiful hazel eyes. “What are you sorry about? For being human—or mostly human, I guess?” she giggled, and he realized that was her attempt to make light of the situation to help him to calm down. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
