Kitchen Boss

“Yes?”

“I’d like to speak to Mrs. Ducant please,” I say.

She scratches her head. “Mrs. Ducant is already asleep. You should – ”

“I’m not leaving until I speak with her.”

The maid’s sleepy eyes grow wide.

“Please,” I say more calmly. “I only need a few moments of her time and then I’ll never bother her again.”

“Do you promise?” I hear Betty’s voice as she emerges from the shadows.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“Good evening, Betty. I’m sorry for coming to see you so late, but I’d like to talk.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re not going to ask me if you can sleep here, are you?”

“No,” I assure her. “Can I come in for just a bit, though?”

For a moment, Betty stays still. The maid turns to her, waiting for her decision. Finally, she nods.

“Fine. Come in.”

I step inside Betty’s suite. She turns on a lamp and sits on the couch. I sit on a stool.

“You can leave,” Betty tells the maid.

The maid nods and leaves us alone.

“Well?” Betty asks me. “What were you going to say?”

I place my hands on my lap and square my shoulders. “First, I’m sorry for everything I said to you last time.”

Betty glances sideways. “What’s said is said.”

“And second, I want to tell you I’m leaving Jackson and Maisie.”

Her eyebrows crease. “For good?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Yes. So please don’t tear them apart. We both know a child deserves to be with her parents. Maisie may no longer have a mother, but she still has a father who loves her very much. Surely, you can see that, too.”

Betty says nothing.

“I won’t bother them or you again, so please promise me you’ll let Jackson and Maisie stay together.”

Betty narrows her eyes at me. “Why should I promise you anything?”

“I’m not asking you to do it for me,” I answer. “I’m asking you to do it for them, for the family your daughter left behind.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my daughter.”

Still, I go on. “I know what I said last time, but I also know that you loved your daughter. All mothers do, in their own way. Jackson told me that you didn’t know about her illness until it was too late. That must have hurt. Not so much that your daughter kept something important from you or that she chose to sacrifice her own life without consulting you. But because you weren’t able to be there for her during her final months. She was suffering, dying, and you weren’t there.”

“Quiet,” Betty reprimands me.

“I understand how you feel. Evelyn probably didn’t want you to suffer, which is why she didn’t tell you. She didn’t want to cause you trouble, but since you’re a mother, you feel it’s your right to suffer for your child. You’re her mother, so you don’t mind being troubled. You feel that by denying you that suffering, she denied you motherhood itself.”

Betty says nothing. She looks away.

“But now you have another chance to be a mother, a chance to be a grandmother. Don’t waste it by making Jackson and Maisie suffer. Please. I’m sure that’s not what Evelyn would want, either.”

Betty glares at me. “How would you know what my daughter would want? You don’t know her.”

“But somehow, I feel I do,” I say. “Maybe because I love the same people she loved. I don’t want them to suffer. I’d rather be the one to suffer then see them get hurt.”

Again, Betty falls silent.

I stand up. “Please don’t let our sacrifices be in vain.”

Betty doesn’t look at me. She points to the door.

“Leave. Now.”

I remain standing.

She turns to cast her cold gaze on me. “Leave!”

I walk towards the door. Outside, I pause.

I’ve done what I came here to do. I’ve said what I came to say. It’s up to Betty now, whether she will listen or not, though I definitely hope she will.

I look up at the ceiling.

Please help your mother make the right decision, Evelyn. Don’t let her tear your husband and daughter apart.

I close my eyes.

I’ll leave all of them to you.

Because now, there’s nothing more I can do for them. I’ve done all I could.

I open my eyes and place a hand over my tummy.

And now, I have to do what I can for me and my child.

“We can do this,” I whisper.

I’ll go back home so Mom and Hal can help me. I don’t want to trouble them, but hey, that’s what families do. I’ll find a job. I’ll raise my child as best as I can.

I yawn. But first, I need to find a place to crash.

~

I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed. The motel room is small, especially compared to that hotel suite Betty is staying in. And it’s not luxurious at all. But at least the room is clean and the bed was soft so I was able to sleep well. Then again, maybe I was just tired.