“W-wonder what?” Perdie asked.
Carter touched Cindy’s elbow. “Ma, take it down a notch, please. Let her sit before you start with the spiritual analysis. I’ll be right back.”
Cindy smiled and gestured for Perdie to sit on a long L-shaped cream sofa. “Of course, where are my manners? Perdita, darling, my name is Cindy, I’m Carter’s mother, and Jesse, his other mother, will be here momentarily. May I offer you a joint? Carter says you woke up feeling ill.”
“I’m not going to lie, Cindy. I feel a little awkward about this.”
“Nonsense, nonsense. In fact, I’ll have some with you, then we’ll all go to the kitchen and enjoy a nice cheese and fruit platter together. Cashew cheese, I hope you like that.”
“I like anything I don’t have to make myself.” Perdie smiled.
Cindy patted Perdie’s knee and stood to retrieve the hangover remedy.
“Mom, this is Perdie.” Carter entered the room with another woman, this one lean and tall, in jeans and a T-shirt, her dark hair cut close at the sides, almost in a Mohawk. “Perdie, this is my mother Jesse.”
Jesse offered her hand to Perdie, prompting her to stand and shake. “Sounds like you and Carter are quite an effective team,” Jesse said, her voice sharp, especially compared to Cindy’s. “And I hear you do good work for that firm of yours. I know you scored a great big settlement out of that oil guy...what was his name, Brown or some nonsense. Actually, who cares, fuck ’em.”
“Thanks, Mom, I was on the losing end of that case,” said Carter, but there was amusement on his face.
Cindy returned, lighting a tightly rolled joint as she walked to the center of the room. She took a drag and then handed it off to Perdie. “This is our own special blend. We grow it in the yard. A little bit goes a long way, so I might advise you to go slow.”
Perdie nodded, taking a tentative drag, then offered it to Carter and Jesse, who both waved her off. Instantly, Perdie’s dull hangover headache began to ease. She took a big, relaxed breath and handed it back over to Cindy. “I think I’m ready for some cashew cheese.”
Only once before had Perdie met the parents of a man she was seeing, and that meeting had been tense, awkward, and stiflingly unfunny. Perdie never once acted as herself, avoiding making the jokes she would normally make, or using the kind of language she liked to use.
But it wasn’t so with Carter’s mothers. They were warm and open and cool. Like, she could say anything she wanted and they would run with it, laughing and improving along the whole way.
And wow did they dote on Carter. Lucille’s parents were bad, but they didn’t hold a candle to Jesse and Cindy. Carter was clearly the light of their world. Or at least one of them, as they had another son, Michael.
“Cindy, your artwork is beautiful. My friend Lucille would go bonkers over it too. Are all the pieces in the house your work?”
“They are. We are often changing the artwork around here though. Swapping it out as my style changes.”
“Except for the artwork on me. That never changes.” Carter smirked.
“What does that mean?” asked Perdie. The other three were exchanging glances around the table.
“I thought that wasn’t something you talked about with your...” Cindy glanced at Perdie. “With your friends.”
Carter shrugged. “You can tell her.”
Cindy raised her brow but then leaned in like she was about to spill a secret. “I designed Carter’s tattoo. It took me forever to get it right, and we searched high and low for the best tattoo artist in the city to execute it, but well, I think it turned out rather amazing, don’t you? Carter is, after all, my greatest creation.”
“Ma, this is half the reason why I don’t want people to know. Don’t call me your greatest creation, it’s objectifying. I’m an entire person separate from you.”
Cindy straightened up. “Oh, you’re quite right. I’m sorry. But we can all agree that it looks quite phenomenal on you.”
“Besides, Cindy, Michael is our greatest creation.” Jesse chuckled. She leaned back in her seat to sip her chamomile. “Carter was always an emotionally intelligent kid. So popular. Homecoming King and Prom King. Imagine the two of us with a kid like that.”
Perdie smiled and laughed with the conversation as she ate cashew cheese on sea salt and cracked pepper nut crackers. Being brave pays off. This wasn’t hard at all. A strange and new sensation of joy surged through her soul.
“We have to head out soon,” Carter said, as he helped Cindy move dishware to the sink. “I made good on my promise to visit. But the airport awaits us.”
“Oh, but Carter darling...” Cindy’s hand touched her son’s cheek. “Can’t you stay for a while longer?”
“Afraid not. We’ve got a plane to catch. And I’ll be back soon enough for your gallery opening.”
“Fine, it’s fine, Cindy,” Jesse cut in. “He’s busy. He’s important. But, Perdie, before you go, why don’t you come out to the garden with me? We can pick a few oranges from my new orange tree.”
Perdie glanced at Carter, who lifted his brows. Would she dare?
She jumped to her feet. “Sure, sounds great.”
Jesse led Perdie through the living room and out a large glass panoramic door to a sun-drenched back garden and patio.
“Perdie, I actually wanted to talk to you about something important.” Jesse stopped in front of the orange tree and twisted off a piece of fruit. “Woman to woman. Lawyer to lawyer.”
“Oh?” Perdie accepted the orange Jesse plopped into her hand.
“My son is in love with you.”
Perdie almost dropped the orange. “Shit. I mean...oh, I wouldn’t say—I mean—we haven’t talked about anything like that be—”
“I know my son. And he is. And you’re in love with him too. Uh-uh-uh, don’t even try to deny it. I know that of which I speak. May I be blunt?”
“Could’ve sworn you were already doing that.”
“I don’t mean to overstep my bounds. But I don’t waste time anymore, and you shouldn’t either. Don’t waste time.”
