A One Way Ticket

Welcome to another look into a day in the life of Scarlett Cyn. I hope you're prepared and don't have a weak stomach. It started off normal, whatever THAT is.

Interesting things get said at my dinner table. Like yesterday for instance.

Sitting with my husband and daughter having a sit down meal, the conversation turned weird. Weird because Arianna was playing 200 questions. Then she told her Dad "Enough with grandma. She is really psycho and needs to GO. Why don't you DO anything about her?" Oh yeah, now I remember what brought that comment on; he was talking about getting Ari a grown-up bedset and said he would give her wrought iron daybed (that I bought, HELLO!!!!???) to his mother. and I said "Cause she is obviously staying HERE forever...." That's what brought Ari's comment on.

Anyhooo, I stayed quiet, for now, and let Ari do all the talking. And BOY did she. She told her Dad that g-ma is really mean and horrible, espcically to Mom and how bad she is. He told her to be nice. Ari came back with "Why should I? I keep trying, but she is mean to everyone but you. Look at all the stuff she does and says to Mom!" and he just looks at me with this complacent look. I told him, "She is really bad, Z. You don't see things, because she controls herself when you are around, so DON"T play the age card on me anymore." He said "Well, I never see that side, so that makes it really hard to believe. And if it's that bad, you should defend your mother." Ari said "I do! But how much can I do? What about you? You should defend her too!" (That was priceless)I said, with Ari echoing me "When you aren't around, even in the TOILET/SHOWER, taking a walk, asleep, the stuff she does, the things she says, the behaviour is absolutely horrible. Ari: "She cusses and curses all the time at mom AND me too sometimes aaaaand Shony." then Ari went on to repeat what the usual/favorite things are that get said.

Now, apparently, the scary episode at 2am where MIL was cussing at me and placing curses (literally) on my head that had me frazzled all day at work last Sunday also woke Ari up. The witch was ooooozing evil- it was an actual presence, like how a high level of humidity feels- and it really, REALLY shook me up, even though I didn't let it show. I was also contemplating telling her off in return, but (!) It was some seriously skeery sh*t people! (Every time she does it this particular way, at this time of night, bad, really bad stuff happens to me. Every. Time. Sh*t like a miscarriage when I didn't know I was even pregnant (a miracle in itself), deathly ill-literally- I almost died a few times in a short span of months; I lost a job and financally was in very bad shape....for NINE MONTHS, serious car accidents where I was hospitalized for a week, shall I continue?) and she was behaving the way that used to give me night terrors about her stabbing me with a kitchen knife as I slept and scrawling my blood on the walls, so my tongue was kind of tied. I was also kind of afraid that if I lost my temper what I would do without anyone awake to interevene.

Anyway, did I forget to tell y'all about that episode the other night? Maybe because I was too freaked to re-live it so soon. Could be.

So. It seems that this woke Arianna up, and she proceeded to tell her dad this, that she was just sitting up in her bed in the dark, listening and repeated what she heard. He just shook his head and said "well... I don't see that side.." and Ari and I both looked at each other in exasperation and I said "wake UP." He said "Well, give me proof. Buy one of those little recorder things and tape her. Wait, you already have one." I said "She stole it ages ago. Remember? I bought it when Ari was little to record her babblings and giggles and whatnot to have forever. Remember? She took it AND the tapes, and then taped over them ALL, putting them in her answering machine that she DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO USE." to which Ari said "Yeah, I've seen it, the little black Sony one." Z: ----blank stare. Then I reminded him of the VIDEO I shot one morning. Nothin.

Then he said "Well, no one lives forever..." and I said "She will. She's doing a damn good job of it so far." to which Ari said something in such a blase, resigned, world weary tone, that the way,combined with the comment itself, made me choke on the bite of food I just put in my mouth.

Ready for the genuis that is my 10 1/2 year-old-going-on-40 daughter?

"Oh well, she's going STRAIGHT TO HELL ANYWAY. A One way ticket somewhere-finally."

No kidding! Amen.

*(A disclaimer: all conversations in this post were in normal speaking volume-excecpt for MIL's part. A discussion. It was NOT an argument. I don't allow that at my table!)