~Monday, November 26, 2007

In the Closet

While I was in my jammies opening my Christmas boxes with Christmas Vacation playing in the background, Scott was getting ready for work and coaching me on my answers.

"And what are you going to say when your mother asks if we're living together?"

"Sometimes?"

"Noooooo..."

"More often than not?"

"Noooooo..."

In typical fashion, my mother didn't listen to a word I said. When I said, "I'm getting up early to decorate and clean. I'll call you when I'm ready for you to come over," she heard, "Come. Whenever you feel like it. Seriously. And don't call me and let me know you're on your way. Call when you're outside my building."

I was still in my jammies, which consisted of an old Eve 6 concert t-shirt with "Tie me to the bed post" written across the front and boxers. I ran into the closet and switched t-shirts and threw everything Scott owned on the closet floor. All of his jackets and shoes? On the floor of the closet. All of his bathroom products? On the floor of the closet. That picture of his mother on his nightstand? On the floor of the closet. I pushed the closet door closed until the latch clicked and opened the front door for my mother and grandmother.

She said my (mostly) pink tree wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. "You know, for Scott's sake," she quickly added when I raised an eyebrow. "When you told me last year you bought all this girlie stuff, I knew it would turn out like this."

"Like what?"

"That you were wasting your money. He'll never let you keep this stuff."

"Mom, this is the first Christmas stuff I was able to afford. I've been using your 25-year-old plastic tree all these years. So many needles had fallen off that it looked like Charlie Brown's tree. It's my stuff I bought to make me happy and I'm proud of it."

"I know," she compensated.

I looked around the apartment and realized that I didn't have to worry about her noticing that Scott lived here. You can't tell. Not just the tree and the garland and wreath--it's all my stuff. When I was using my paychecks to furnish my apartment over the years, Scott was in a different place in his life--namely rehab. When he moved in, he brought his dresser and an entertainment center that I now use as a bookshelf in the bedroom. He doesn't own anything. He seems to be okay with my things; he knows I have plans to replace my hand-me-down couch and my hand-me-down bed. He knows he'll have a say in it.

My mother never asked if he lived there. I did notice later, however, that she pulled a magazine out in the bathroom: Scott's Motor Trend. The address label peeked out from the stack. Luckily for me, it was from his old apartment.

14 comments:

Kennethwongsf said...

Mothers are the most skillful in the areas of wishful thinking and denial. They see what they want to see; they don't see what they're not prepared to see. I think your mom can easily put two and two together, but she probably won't sum up the situation until she's ready to.

Anonymous said...

Close call with the magazine address!! As for the paragraph about her calling once outside your building... you had me smiling big!

Paige Jennifer said...

Wait, I get where you hid the photograph and the clothing but where the heck did you hide Scott? Was he posed in the corner with a lampshade over his head? Was he curled in a ball tucked under the bed?

Sarah said...

LOL. He had to work the day after Thanksgiving. No lampshades needed!

Tam said...

Please...My mother still thinks that My Kid was immaculate conception. She will never believe that I let a boy put THAT, THERE! Moms see, hear and believe what they want. Or I can also see Scott standing behind the long drapes, with nothing but his shoes sticking out...lol. Thanks for the visual, P.J.

Indiana said...

I am so lucky my parents don't care...my mum is like "come home for Christmas...the front room is all ready for you...sure brign your gf home...do you two want to have fun Chrsitmas morning and when should we have breakfast..."

...I love my parents.

Trish Ryan said...

You have a picture of his mother on your night stand???? Keep the pink tree and the Motor Trend, but move Mom out to the living room...

dont eat the token said...

that label was a close call!

i love the idea of a red & pink tree. :)

general_boy said...

Yikes! How long can you keep this up Sarah??

M said...

surely she will not care in the end! Can she really be THAT against it?

Anonymous said...

Don't you think she might be more upset about the fact that you lied to her, rather than the fact that you and Scott live together?

AmyB said...

Sounds to me like she fully expects he lives there already...you know, mom's are much more open to this than dad's usually are. I'd be surprised if she didn't just right-out ask you one of these days, only to proceed to tell you it's OKAY. :o)

So when do we get to see this tree?? Ha!

Jessica said...

I can fully understand mum hearing what she wanted rather than what you said. Mine still thinks we're kids, she asked my sister (23) what she go upto in school that day!

Peach said...

sounds like your Mom knows more than she's letting on...? Still trying to picture your pink tree and now your pink high-vis jacket

lol

 

© 2005 - 2013 He Loves Me Not
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

template by suckmylolly.com