Page 88 of Beautiful Venom
“Inviting your mom in. Why would you talk to her through the intercom as if she’s some sort of stranger?”
“You know, that’s your problem, Dahlia.” He barges into my space, his shoulders crowded with tension, and I step back. “You always meddle in shit that doesn’t concern you.”
My back hits the wall as his mother walks in. “Kane, hon.”
He straightens and meets her halfway, hugging her ceremoniously, his posture rigid. “Hello, Mother.”
I stand there observing the height and size difference between them. The fact that a frail woman like her gave birth to that beast of a son is fascinating.
Up close, her features look like she was a real beauty in her day. The lines on her face are a clue that’s she’s had a rough life.
“And this is…?” She looks at me with curiosity, her eyes much softer and kinder than her son’s.
So it’s not about the color.
“Dahlia,” he says without looking at me.
“Your girlfriend?”
“N—”
“Yes,” he cuts me off with a glare.
Jeez. Talk about intense.
“Hi.” I wipe my sweaty hand on my hoodie and then extend it to her. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Davenport.”
“Call me Helena.” She smiles. “This is the first time I’ve met one of Kane’s girlfriends.”
I peek at Kane, but he has both hands in his pockets while standing erect like a statue.
She offers me the box. “If you’d like, you can have these homemade cookies. They used to be Kane’s favorite. I’m not a good mother and didn’t know he doesn’t like them anymore.”
I’m curious what she means by ‘not a good mother,’ but I obviously can’t ask that, so I accept the box instead. “Thank you. I love cookies.”
“Oh, I’m glad to hear it.”
God, seeing mothers like her makes me miss my mom. She used to bake the most delicious cookies and even let me mess up the kitchen.
Small fragmented memories.
Lost memories.
Kane doesn’t know he has what many of us wish for. A caring, loving mother.
Someone to fall back on when it feels rough.
“We’re getting ready for school, Mother.” Kane’s flat, unfeeling tone cuts through the moment. “If there isn’t anything else…”
“Oh, right. I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” Helena blurts out, seeming as if she’s walking on eggshells around her son.
He even calls her mother. That’s super impersonal.
It’s sad that people like me yearn for a mother that doesn’t exist while Kane still has his mom but doesn’t seem to care about her.
I suspect he cares about no one.
“I’ll walk you out.” I fall in step beside her, but Kane disappears down the hallway as if he doesn’t want to spend one more minute in her company.
