Can't Save Me

Madeline

"Madeline Lee!" my mother, Lydia, scolded. "Did you just shut the door in that man's face?"

"He had to go," I lied, spinning from where I could still see Grant's enormous shadow on the other side of the door. I stomped my way into the kitchen where I'd started getting breakfast ready until I realized I needed a ponytail holder and well... hadn't made it back yet. "Over easy?"

"Maddie."

"Mom, just drop it, please? It's not a big deal."

"I don't know. I think a hunk of a man fixing your car for you AND dropping it off at our door is a pretty big deal," Mom argued, sinking into her usual seat at the tiny kitchen table and picking up her coffee mug. I elected to ignore her and busied myself putting some slices of bread in the toaster. "Where'd you meet him?"

"The club."

"He likes you."

"No, Mom, he doesn't," I argued "At least not enough to do anything about it."

"I think him showing up with your car all fixed and ready is doing something about it."

"Momma. Drop it. Please."

Mom sighed and I could feel her shaking her head at me without even turning around. "I wish you'd take down those walls around your heart, Madeline."

I closed my eyes and sighed, the spatula making an awful shriek as it drug on the bottom of the pan. "I tried, okay? He thinks I'm too young and he feels gross about it, so it's not happening."

I heard my mom blow through her lips and make a raspberry sound. "Your daddy was fifteen years older than me. Didn't stop us."

"Yeah, well, tell that to Grant, okay?"

"Grant. Hm. Sexy. I like it."

"Mom!" I exclaimed, finally busting out of my funk and into laughter. "Jesus!"

"What? I love a good forbidden romance."

"You are utterly ridiculous," I stated with a chuckle as I clicked off the stove and readied our plates: two eggs, two turkey sausages and whole wheat toast for each. I took the plates to the table and sank down next to my mom. "He is really hot, isn't he?"

"Ooh, girl. Definition of Silver Fox. I'm proud of you."

I laughed. "Nothing's happened, Mom."

"Tell me about him."

I smiled, a little too dreamily for my liking, and pushed around the food on my plate. "He's a Marine. A widower..."

"Aw, poor guy."

"He and his friends run a chain of steakhouse-sports bar like places. I actually interviewed at one of them the other day."

"Oh! You're finally leaving the club?"

My mom didn't judge me for working at the strip club, but she didn't really like it either. Especially with Braun and his goons constantly breathing down our necks. I tried to keep as much of that away from her as possible, but she wasn't oblivious to my dad's past. There was no way she could be.

"Not leaving, no," I answered. "Just... needed some more income."

My mom's face morphed into an expression that was harder than stone. "Ya know, if your father wasn't dead, I'd kill him for doing this to us."

I laughed, a bit humorlessly, but I laughed. "You and me both, Momma."

"How much longer is this going to go on?"

"I've almost gotten it taken care of, Mom. It'll be over soon." I was lying. I was lying through my fucking teeth. I had no idea how much of my father's debt was left, but I had a sinking suspicion that Braun had no intention of giving me a settlement offer.