It was Christmas Day. Grand Mama was at our house at seven-thirty sharp for the opening of presents. As the last of my boxes was ripped asunder to reveal a PS4
Call of Duty
combo pack, Grand Mama stated that she had one more gift to share with the family, but that would be later on tonight. For now, she was headed to the kitchen to cook her famous breakfast casserole, and afterward, she and Mom would get the Goose and Ham prepped and in the oven while working on about ten different side dishes. "And plenty of gravy," she reminded me with a smile. I just
loved
Grand Mama's gravy.
After breakfast, Dad and I went hunting. Yeah, we got started late, but he still nailed a three-point buck with his crossbow. We got back home and cleaned it. He said he would take it to Jarrell's Meat Market on Tuesday to get it processed. "Just in time for you to take some back with you," he said as he tousled my hair.
"With what we bagged last year, this should be enough pelt for Mom to make me a deerskin suit, shouldn't it?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"Moccasins too, I suppose," Dad answered. He thought for a few seconds, then added, "Maybe even a quiver for me."
We went in and washed up, then turned on the game. I had just recently begun attending West Texas State, so at the moment I was Texas crazy, which is why Dad jokingly called me a blasphemer when I said I was pulling for Dallas over Atlanta. He feigned crying as he said, "I'd rather you tell me you were gay than to tell me you supported Dallas."
"I thought you already knew I was gay."
He stared at me, then we both burst into laughter. I loved my dad. He truly was my best friend. I wish every person could have the childhood I did, and the adulthood as well.
Mom and Grand Mama intermittently began bringing h'ors d'oeuvres to us as their fine Christmas meal continued to bake, and a short while later we were called to the table. I won't go into how we stuffed ourselves, but needless to say, we did.
After dishes were done, we all settled in front of the TV for
A Christmas Story
, and once that had finished and had been ejected from the DVD player, Grand Mama said, "Okay, now I have something else I'd like you to watch." She put it in, and an AVN sign popped up on the screen. Mom questioned it, but I knew full well what it was. One glance at Dad told me he did as well.
The opening credits began to roll:
Georgia Peach in
"Mother? Is that you?"
Peaches and Cream
. It then showed Grand Mama sucking a young man's cock. "Oh, my God. Bill!" she said to Dad. "Turn that off right now." And to me, "John, go to your room."
"Oh, don't be a prude," Grand Mama said in my defense. "He's of legal age, otherwise I'd have sent him to his room myself."
"He's not of legal age in
this
house," Mom spat as she stood. "How
dare
you show this to him. To
us
!"
Dad intervened, if only to help diffuse the situation. "Clara, please explain this."
Grand Mama took a deep breath, then said to Mom, "I was the perfect wife to your father all the years we were married. I was the perfect mother to you when you were growing up. I was the perfect grandparent to John. The two years before your father died, I never faltered. I remained loyal to him even when the Alzheimer's was at its worst. You all helped, and I greatly appreciated that, but at the end of the day it was always he and I, and when he finally passed? Seeing as to how the last forty-five years of my life was devoted to being every perfect thing to everybody but myself, I felt I deserved to do something for me.
"I love sex. I was deprived of it as your father's condition worsened, so I began masturbating on a regular basis."
"Don't you dare talk about masturbating in front of my son, your grandson."
Grand Mama continued as if Mom hadn't even spoke. "Six months after your father's death, I began my own web cam. Do you know what that is?" Mom shrugged her shoulders as she lightly shook her head. "It is a web site where I would masturbate for people who would pay to watch me do so. No one ever knew it was Clara Farley doing these things because I went under the name 'Georgia Peach,' and I became quite popular. Soon, I began producing my own movies. I became so popular that I caught the notice of some producers in Las Vegas, who offered me a two-year, two hundred-thousand-dollar contract. I signed with them, and after I leave here tonight, I'm going home, going to sleep, and at eight tomorrow I am headed to Las Vegas to further my career as an actress in porn movies."
"Oh, my God," Mom exclaimed. "It's finally happened. She's flipped her lid. Bill, call someone. She needs to be locked up for her own safety." Dad didn't budge. "Bill? What are you waiting for?"
"Is this what you truly want, Clara?" Dad asked her.
"It is, Bill."
"Then I wish you all the best."
"What?!?!?" Mom cackled. "Bill, you can't be serious."
"Rinda, if this is what makes Clara happy, who are we to say she can't have it?"
"Me, because she's my mother," Mom said, and began to cry. "You all are ganging up on me and ... and ..." and then it was as if Mom snapped. "Oh, I see. You two (she pointed at Dad and Grand Mama) must be in cahoots with this because ... because you two have been having sex with each other."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Dad said to her.
"Will you just listen to yourself?" Grand Mama responded. "This has nothing to do with you, Rinda. This has absolutely nothing to do with you. This is about me, living my life as I see fit. You may not be happy about my new vocation, but can't you just be happy for me because I have found a bit of happiness?"
"As long as you continue to make those movies, you will never again be allowed back in this house," was Mom's only response.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Grand Mama said.
She collected her things, but I took them and said, "I'll carry those to the car for you."
"Oh, no you won't," Mom said. "Put those down right now and—"
"And what?" I asked from Grand Mama's side. "Obey you like I'm nothing more than some Pavlovian cur? What are you going to do, Mom, forbid me from coming back home if I don't bend to your will? This is my Grand Mama, and I love her and support her in anything she wants to do."
As Mom just stood and stared—for good reason, too, as I had never stood up to her like that before. Hell, before tonight, she had never given me reason—Grand Mama whispered, "Thank you, John."
Dad made his way over, hugged Grand Mama, and said, "I wish things didn't have to end like this. Good luck, Clara, and don't give up on Rinda. She can get a stick up her ass at times, but she always comes around. She just needs some time."
"Thank you, Bill. I guess I'll take my leave now. Merry Christmas to you all." She turned and made her way to her car. I followed. Once I got her gifts placed in the trunk, she hugged me and thanked me for my show of support. She said it was a sign of maturity. She then said, "I have one last present for you. It's under your pillow. Don't let your folks find out you have it." She hugged me again. We each told the other our "I love yous," and she drove away.
I went back in the house to find Mom staring blankly into the fireplace. The flames were dancing, casting shadows against the back wall. It was enough to mesmerize anyone, but I feared Mom was entranced not by the flames, but by what I had said to her. "Should I apologize for what I said?" I asked Dad when he made his way to me.
"She needed to hear that," Dad responded, then added, "From us both. What Clara divulged was a shock to her—to us all, I'm sure, but she
is
your
mother's