I'm listening to Ann on the phone with her mother:
Ann: um, uh, um-um, yes, why?
Mother: long silence (I can't hear the other end of the so-called conversation)
Ann: umm, uh, um, yes, yes, oh?
Mother: Long silence
20 minutes later
Ann: He's a convict, mom. You don't really know him.
Mother: Long silence, though it's not really silence because I can hear her lilting accent even from here (I'm in the study, Ann's in the kitchen)
Ann: Um, I...oh, um-um...
Mother: Long silence, though I think she's still talking about her Mexican boyfriend who was released from prison last month
Ann: Mom...are you there? Shit...she cut out...Gretchen? (She calls to me...)
Me: Yes?
Ann: What do I say to her? She's in panic mode. She hasn't heard from him in over a week and she's worried that he might have been hurt. God, she's freaking out over some guy she thinks she knows but she doesn't know him!!!
Me: She'll hear nothing you say, so what can you do?
Ann calls again. The conversation continues like this for another 20 minutes. Then the phone cuts out again.
Now I can hear Ann doing the dishes, organizing them in the basin and slamming the doors to the cupboards.
Oh, and the phone rings. Mom again.
Ann: This is the phone number of the place where we're housesitting. We're moving out this weekend and staying with Steven and Doris. (God, she actually asked about Ann's life...it won't last long)
Mom: Short silence.
Ann: I'm not going to hold my breath. You don't know this guy. You don't know if he's the real thing or not. Already, this silence from him. Jeez, mom, I've heard it before with all the other men where they don't call you, they use you...
Mom: Interrupting...
Ann: I know, but...
Mom: Interrupting again...
Ann: Mom this is a whole other game. He's a convict. A drug runner. He just needs your money. You need to take care of yourself. Take it slow, mom. If he's going to be there for you, he'll be there for you in a year or two years. Why do you have to rush into all of this?
Mom: Quick response...
Ann: Well, that's your gut talking to you and you need to listen...
This goes on and on...and Ann is clearly upset, as she should be. Knowing her mom, I'm certain she's justifying every action she's taken so far with this man.
Meanwhile, Ann talks to her mother like she "gets it", but she doesn't get it...how many times has Ann had this conversation with her mother?
I can't listen anymore. I'm going to go watch Mariska Hargitay in yet another rerun of Law and Order SVU!
5 comments:
Yikes.
This would be kind of funny,
if it wasn't so damned sad.
It must be hell for Ann -
and for you.
bs
Great minds! I watched L&O SVU last night, too ... after 'House' on Channel 13.
Why is it the eavesdropper always overhears the skinney end of the conversation? And is usally glad of it. People who have a lot to say are usually 1)whining, 2) begging, 3) accusing, 4) denying, or 5) controlling.
On the other hand, Ann's mother adds 'story' to your lives and who would want a life with no story to it.
My main story source of the moment was just at my elbow insisting that there is an "evil, flying pizza outside that can crack right through glass windows".
That's kind of how Ann's mom feels sometimes... like an evil, flying pizza that can crack right through glass windows"....eventually Ann ended the conversation though it was difficult because her mom was crying uncontrollably. It IS funny and sad at the EXACT same moment.
Oh dear. Poor Ann. It is so frustrating - and so tempting - to try to be reasonable with people who are not so reasonable in certain departments. I would guess that the ex-prisoner guy wasn't hurt so much as he was "gone". Prisoners tend to be your good friend until they are out - unless, of course, you are 29 and blood-swelling. Yet, this woman has made it through all these years - staying alive, experiencing exctasy and great disappointment. Raising a daughter. Traveling, right? DOing what she could or doing what she would. The conversation, even Ann's end of it, is fascinating to hear. Thank you.
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