Home For The Holidays

I left mom’s side and sidled over to dad’s to calm the situation. “Dad, I wasn’t going to hit her.”

“Sure looked like it to me. Anyone want to tell me what’s going on? Christine, why are there tears in your eyes?” Oh shit, damn and blast it. I want Tessa to get what’s coming to her, but not like this. This is way too easy.

“It’s my fault, dad; I’m the one who started it.” I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to look contrite.

“What exactly did you start?” I looked at Tom for help because I honestly don’t know what the hell had been going on. I just heard the yelling, and by the time I saw mom cowering against the sink like a kid, I lost it.

Tom cleared his throat and looked from mom to dad and back. “Well, it’s like this, Samantha threatened Tessa. Tessa got obviously upset, and when she was telling me about it, mom walked in. Tessa, um, Tessa was saying that she didn’t feel safe with Samantha in the house, and mom asked her if she was implying that she should ask her daughter to leave.” He stopped there because I’m guessing that that’s the point at which he’d left to come upstairs.

“And? How did we get to the point where you were about to hit my daughter?”

“Well, I left to go ask Sam what was going on, and that’s when we heard the raised voices. Sam came down, and I guess she hit Tessa, mom started crying and then Sam slugged me.” He looked at me, pleadingly as if begging me to back him up. He could have no idea that he was better off letting this shit die here. What I have in store for his skank is so much worse.

“Samantha, Christine, is that what happened?”

Both mom and I rushed to assure him that it was. I knew he wasn’t buying it by the way he looked at me, but the little wink I gave him told him to let it go. “Okay, Christine, here are your eggs, love.” He passed mom the eggs, pulled me in, and kissed my head, and walked out of the room. Everyone exhaled loudly.

I turned my attention back to the two clowns in the room. “Why the hell did you hit me?” Tom gritted the words through his teeth.

“Because you allowed that to disrespect, my mother, in her home.” I pointed at Tessa, who had the good sense to hide behind him while giving me looks of venom over his shoulder. Witch!

“Samantha, it’s okay; I know that Tessa has an anger management problem; she’s going to therapy for help with her issues.” First, I was hearing of it, but mom’s words didn’t change anything.

“I don’t give a fu… I don’t care what her issue is, take a pill, slash your wrist, I give a fu… Stay the hell out of my mother’s face, or a little hair pulling will be the least of your worries. As to trying to get my mom to kick me out of our family home, you’re not only an angry hag; you’re nuts as well.”

“Tom has as much right to be here as you do.” She really is an idiot.

“Let me get this straight; you’re not only stealing husbands, but you’re also trying to steal whole families now too? You’d love to live in this big old mansion, wouldn’t you and pretend that my family is yours? I hear the house my brother has rented for you to live in isn’t even half the size of the one my sister in law and nieces live in.”

“Samantha.” Tom tried to cut me off, but as far as I’m concerned, that’s the only sensible thing he’s done since he got tangled up with this mess of a slut-bag. The fact that he hasn’t bought a home to share with her and has waited two whole years to get engaged to her speaks volumes and is maybe one of the only reasons I still acknowledge him as my brother.

“Get this through your head, I’m the only daughter in this family, and I can tell you here, and now if it comes down to him or me, you’ll both lose. My dad will never choose you over me, my mom might put up with your crap for her son’s sake, but when it comes down to it, you’ll lose there too. Now get out of my face before I break yours.”

Tom ushered her out of the room, and I was finally able to turn to mom. “What are you thinking? How could you let her behave like that towards you in your own house?” Mom looked embarrassed and torn.

“I just want us all to have a nice holiday like we used to. Last year you refused to eat with us because she was here, and your dad swore that if that happens again, he’d disown Tom, this whole thing is just tearing our family apart, and I want it to stop. Please, Samantha, for me? It’s just a few days.”