Sullen, his mother sat in his truck with her pocketbook in her lap. Unsurprisingly, her car had been on empty. As he fastened his seatbelt, she flipped down the sun visor and looked at herself, frowning. "You should have given me time to do my hair, at least." As she pulled her makeup bag out of her purse, she said, "You can drive smoothly, can't you?"
"Where you are going, people will not care how you look." He started the truck.
With precision, she applied her lipstick. "I care. I'm not the looker I once was." She pressed her lips together and examined her lipstick critically. "I never know who I might meet."
"Like that last loser you dated?" One right turn and her neighborhood was behind them.
"He was nice enough. Fun to go out with."
"I didn't like the way he looked at Sarah."
With a shrug, his mother said, "She has a good lock on her door and knows to use it." He winced. Talking Sarah into moving in with him needed to be prioritized.
"I've met some women you dated. You aren't the person to talk about quality."
"Using the word 'dating' for what I do is stretching the definition of that word."
"Just like your father, you bed hop, woman to woman."
"Just like him?" As Adam turned the truck onto the highway, he gripped the wheel with both hands. The drive was going to be brutal. "He told me something interesting the last time I saw him."
"I don't care what that old man thinks," she said, as she lined her eyelid. She was going to blind herself when she pulled out her mascara. The roads got bumpier going north.
"He mentioned a paternity test."
She froze. "He told you about that?" Shaking the comment off, she gestured with her eyeliner. "I think every wealthy man questions the heritage of his children. It's paranoia."
"And the lover he caught you with?"
After a dismissive snort, she said, "I had a friend over for a swim. Your father was always so dramatic." She snapped the lid back on her eyeliner. "And anyway, that's a long time ago. Today, I have agreed to go to rehab. Maybe you should focus on that."
"I'm glad you agreed. Why didn't you tell me what was happening sooner?"
"Why should I? So you could give me a lecture. I was going to get the money back. I just needed one lucky streak."
"You lost your house... again."
She pointed at him with her tube of mascara. "Well, you are going to get my house back for me, aren't you?" With a smirk, she added, "Again."
"I'm working on it. Your bank isn't being very helpful."
"I added you to the account."
"I know. But your house is just a number on a financial sheet to them. They don't care that your family has had that house since your grandma was eight."