Gold-Digger, Lover-Mother

You know the old tall tale of how some American blondies are gold-diggers? I’d like to say it isn’t true, but I’d be lying. I know it’s true because I live with one, my step-mother Trisha. She married my father, Lawrence (or Larry, as he prefers), simply because he’s hooked up with a high-paying job as the owner of Evestone Industries. Like, really high. Stupid high.

Anyways, my father remarried a couple years ago; my biological mother, Whitney, married my father 2 years before I was born, and she died in a big pile-up on the Eastern Highway coming home from work when I was a 1-year-old. I’ve never seen a picture of her, but I reckon she had black, silky hair and sharp green eyes, because I couldn’t have inherited them from my brown-haired, hazel-eyed Dad.

Yeah, I’m fairly certain Trisha married Dad for the money. Trisha is a complete bombshell, and my Dad, well, he’s kinda fat, and a dork. Some days, when Dad leaves for work, I hear her say something along the lines of “Oh thank God…”, so I can safely assume that if it weren’t for the money, she wouldn’t touch us with a ten-foot pole. Though she’s usually really sweet, asking how college was when I get home, cooking dinner some days, ordering pizza others. But one day I saw a side of her I never knew existed.

It was a Friday, a total scorcher of a day, and I’d just gotten home from college. Most days I’m met with, “Hey, Ryan, how was school?” from Trisha, but she was nowhere to be seen. I simply shrugged it off and ventured up to my room. I thought I’d take a dip in the pool out back, so I flung my bag on to my bed, put my dirty clothes into my hamper and pulled on my black trunks before hopping down the stairs and strolling outside. But someone was already there. She surfaced from underwater and wiped her face, suddenly seeing me. “Oh! Ryan, you startled me! Don’t do that!” I scratched my head and replied, “Sorry, Trish, I didn’t know you were here. Where’s Dad?” She waded over to the poolside and rested her arms on it. “Oh, right, he called a couple hours ago saying that he has to go out of town for a few days for a… possible business partnership, I think it was. He’ll be stopping by soon to pick up some luggage, but he won’t be able to stay long.” I nodded my head in understanding and stood up, “Well, let’s wish him luck. He’s been hoping this would happen.