A Tattered Love (20 page)

“Hey honey, yell if you need anything, Cooper did his duty! Love you!” Abby yelled as she closed the door behind her. Cooper came running over to me.

I dialed Galena.

“Hello?” She answered, and it shocked me.

“Galena?” I asked.

“Yeah, who is this?”

I let out a huge sigh, “its Riley.”

There was a long silence creeping on the phone line.

“Riley, why are you calling me?”

“I just wanted to let you know I got news today that momma died this morning.”

I could hear rock music blaring through the background until she yelled for them to cut it off.

“So, Momma’s gone? I don’t care, Riley. What do you want from me? Money?” She snapped.

“No, Galena, I was just informing you. Look, I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it. I’m assuming she had life insurance. She left me as the power of attorney. I had her body sent to Alder. I was hoping you could come in and help me with the arrangements.”

“I don’t have time for that shit. I have to go.”

She ended the call.

Well, that lasted longer than I thought it would last. Great, I was all alone planning this. She just didn’t care. I mean, I couldn’t blame her. I really couldn’t. Momma wasn’t good to us. She drank a lot and was always on drugs the majority of life. Daddy was the one who raised us mostly, that is, when he wasn’t busy with the military. How can I ask my dad to help when he’s in prison?

My phone rang, and it viewed my Grandmother calling. She must have found out.

“Hey, Grandma.” I answered.

“Hey, honey, how are you holding up? Rita called me after she talked to you.”

“Oh, Granny, you know I’m upset, but Mom and I haven’t been close in years. I just hope she’s at peace. What happened, do you know?”

I sat down and tried to relax. Talking with my grandmother made me miss home. I loved my grandmother so much, and we were a lot closer than mom and I.

“Well, you know I’m here for you. You know she’s in a better place, sugar. Are you flying in? Are you planning to make  the arrangements?” I knew she didn’t answer me on purpose about how Mom died. I was pretty sure she knew and just wanted to tell me in person.

I heard her get a little choked up on the phone. This was her daughter, after all, and I’m sure this was hurting her even more than it hurt me. Mom and grandma haven’t gotten along in years as far as I knew; they haven’t even talked in forever. I was sure she was torn and trying to hold it together for me.

“I will be in charge of the arrangements. I’m going to look up flights and see if I can land one first thing in the morning. It’s going to be a long night, Gram.”

Right then, I just wanted nothing more than to hug her and have her tell me everything will be all right.. I grabbed my laptop while on the phone with her and started to search for flights. They all looked pretty damned expensive, but I would have to fork it over regardless. I had to go.

“For you and I both, sugar. I’m looking forward to seeing you. Wish it were under better circumstances though. How have you been, dear?”

“Things are quite all right.” I lied. “I spoke with Galena.”

There was a brief silence. It was almost as if she held her breath.

“Galena, how is she? Is she taking it ok?”

I really wondered if I should even tell her how brash she was with me. But she needed to hear it sometime that Galena wouldn’t be there to mourn with us.

“Well, when I told her, she basically thought I was calling to ask for money. Then, when I told her I wasn’t, she said she didn’t have time for this shit, and that she didn’t care, and then hung up on me.”

“That’s Galena for you. I just figured she’d come around for her mother’s funeral. Guess not though. Don’t worry about her, Riley. She’ll have to live with herself when she realizes one day that she probably should have attended.”

“Once I get information on my flight and hotel, I’ll give you a call, Gram. I’m going to get off the phone and start getting everything together. If you could call a few people and let them know, that’d be great. I’ll handle everything else.” I sighed.

“I love you, sugar, and no need for a hotel. You know you can stay here. You’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, Gram, love you. Bye.”

I ended the call after she blew kisses in the phone. The more I sat there, the more it settled into my brain that I would never see my mother again. She’s gone, and I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Hell, we weren’t even on speaking terms.

The next few hours flew by. I could certainly say my mind wasn’t focused on Dustin at the moment. I did wish I had somebody who could have been with me through all of it. It was hitting me harder as the hours passed on. I booked a flight for six am so I knew I wouldn’t’ be getting any sleep since it was already near midnight. I scrambled through some boxes and found a few pictures of mom and me to take, and maybe blow up for the funeral. I thought of a few passages I wanted to read, and a few people I needed to get in touch with once I got there. I called Grandma and let her know my flight details. She told me she’d pick me up, for me to not to worry about anything. I rummaged through my closet to find something presentable to wear, but I wasn’t having much luck.

I ran down with Cooper to Abby and Evan’s apartment and knocked on their door. I knew it was late, but I knew they usually stayed up pretty late. Abby swung the door open with a wide-awake look on her face.

“Hey Ry, are you ok?” she looked at me worried.

“I’m fine, I need a favor.”

“Anything.” She opened the door more and allowed me in.

“I need a dress to wear. I rummaged through everything of mine, and came up empty when it came to a black dress appropriate for a funeral. Also, with Cooper, can he stay here? I’m leaving in the morning, my flight is at six, and his food is on the counter, he gets three cups of food a day.” I just kept rambling.

“Hey, stop, I’ve got it covered don’t you worry about a thing. I’m practically Cooper’s Aunt. Come on have a seat and I’ll find a dress.” She pointed to the sofa where Evan was sitting watching TV.

“Hey Ry, take a seat.” He gestured for me to sit down.

I walked over to the sofa and sat down as Cooper jumped up to Evan and gave him some love by licking his face. I smiled as Cooper always had that effect on me. Bones came over to me, and I gave him some attention. Abby came back a few minutes later and handed me three dresses that were just perfect. I thanked her profusely and headed on my way upstairs lonely without Coop by my side. I already missed him.

** CHAPTER 14 **

Riley

The flight was long and dreadful. I knew that once I got off that plane, reality would set in. I would be burying my mother. My grandmother would be burying her daughter. Something a mother should never have to do. I packed light, as I really wasn’t excited for this trip. I packed tons of comfortable clothes and just a select few dressy items. I decided to stay for the full week as a mini vacation to spend some time with my grandmother. Plus, it would give me a break from Dustin draining my mind. I felt so drained, as it was. I was hoping grandma could distract me from the chaos in my life.

I made my way through the terminal to baggage claim where there stood all five foot one, long grey straight haired, beautifully plump
Gramma Olivia
. She used to take care of me over the summers, and I loved every second of it. She always made so many plans for us all summer long, always came up with new things for us to do. She was the source of some normalcy in my life. She knew I didn’t have the greatest upbringing, and she hated the fact that my mother was with my father who seemed to have “corrupted” her since they married. She thought by having Galena, life would have changed for the better, but that’s when things actually took a turn for the worse.

She stood with her arms wide open as I rushed to be engulfed by  the warmest of all hugs in the world. No person could ever hug me like my grandma. As soon as I sank into her arms, she wailed a good five minutes before pulling back.

“I’m so glad you’re here, sugar.” She wiped her tears. “Let’s get some breakfast. We'll stop at the best pancake house in town.” She smiled. “How was your flight?”

“It was long, and I, of course, was stuck next to someone who reeked of body odor. It smelled as if they hadn’t taken a bath in years!” I laughed trying to ease the tension.

“It never fails.”

She patted my back and helped me with my bags to the car. We headed out of the airport and stopped at Casey’s Breakfast for some delicious omelets and pancakes. Neither of us had much of an appetite, but what we managed to eat was good food. We shared small talk, but I mostly kept the conversation on stuff here, because I didn’t want to get into me being unemployed and also having boy trouble. I hadn’t heard from Dustin since Abby and I ran into him with his daughter. What was only a few days really seemed like so long ago. I can't help but wonder if he has been thinking about me. Has Evan told him about my mom?

We headed back to her house and for me it all looked the same. It was a ranch style home very outdated, but had the most loving charm an old lady could put to a house. Pictures galore lined the walls and knick-knacks were everywhere. It felt good walking through the house recalling memories of things that had taken place here. We were both so exhausted from pulling all-nighters that we decided to take a nap. We both needed the rest in order to be able to focus on the next few days ahead of us. We had many arrangements to plan and we already started receiving flowers in memory of mom. Most were from people I had never heard of before. I guess mom made several friends after I left having been so lonely with me gone.

Shortly after I woke up, I heard a knock at the door. Grandma was still sleeping, so I made my way over to the door and looked through the curtain to see who was there. They had their back turned to the door so I opened it. I was shocked. There stood the one and only person I was not expecting to see.

“So, you just going to stand there and stare at me or are you going to let your sister in?” Galena stared.

“Galena, come in, what are you doing here?” I released the words faster than I could take them back.

“I’m doing what’s right, not what I want to do. Where’s grandma?” She stomped in with a bag hanging from her shoulder big enough to barely squeeze through the doorway.

It looked as though she were planning to stay a while. Boy had she changed since the last time I had seen her. She had this strong appeal to her now. She had fishnets on with a red and black pleated mini skirt and a black skintight tank top. The hooker heels she was wearing could cause me to trip just thinking about them. Her hair was a faded dark black with streaks of pink and a messy braid. The last time I had seen Galena, she didn’t look anything like this. She was just your average girl wearing average jeans and t-shirts with normal hair color and a much nicer attitude. Now, she looked like she was a bad ass about to kill you if you said the wrong word. The tattoos that spread across her body scared me a bit, as she appeared to be marked from head to toe.

“She’s sleeping. I’m glad you came. It’s nice to see you, Galena.”

“I go by Lena now.” She snapped.

My eyes bulged as she continued to carry her brash attitude home with her after using it with me on the phone as well. I had never done anything to Galena, I mean
Lena
, for her to be so cruel and harsh toward me.

“Lena, how long will you be staying?” I glanced at her bag.

“I’m staying as long as the band I’m following is staying in town. What a coincidence, right?”

“You’re following a band?” I asked her curiously, as this was news to me. Lena had never been like this before. This was so weird.

“Yeah, they’re called Guilty Tendencies. They’re going to be big someday, you know!”

My phone started vibrating in my pocket as I took it out to see who it was, and it was Dustin texting me.

Dustin: ‘I’m sorry. I really am. It’s just I need to focus on Molly right now. I hope you can understand, maybe we need just a break or something until I can figure things out. I love you, Riley, but everything is complicated.’

I rolled my eyes. The last thing I wanted to hear was he needed a break. Then again, it was music to my ears, because I knew I probably needed to end things with him. How could I be his girlfriend when his ex despises me? When I caused drama in his life just by being with him. I couldn’t keep doing that to him when he obviously wanted his daughter in his life. I guess his words were true. Maybe we were over for now, but maybe our relationship would be better in the future. Either way, I needed to get my mind off him and focus on what the next few days were going to bring

“That’s cool, what kind of music do they play?” I guess it was kind of a stupid question if I were to judge by the way that she dressed. It had to be some kind of hard rock band.