Mommy Dearest

1. Your main character is approached by their long-estranged parent who wants to reconnect. How do they react?

Week 14

Evelyn worked for a major high-end fashion department store. In fact, she worked several jobs, to support her young children as a single mother. She studied fashion design in college, even though she already had the kids, since she had run away to get married to someone so inappropriate it would make your head spin. It certainly did her parents, particularly her mother, but in retrospect Evelyn never would have married this train wreck had her parents not backed her into a corner. Cut off, disowned, and even her college funds taken away, what other choice did a 19 year old girl that had grown up in privilege have? Now, she worked...she worked hard, but still looked lovely as it was a prerequisite, although she appeared a lot more gaunt and worldly now. This was her world; the world of fashion and beauty, and she never thought it would be interrupted as her mother hated going to places like that for some reason. Until one day, a co-worker had a message that they were trying to contact her, out of the blue…

Her youngest, Sylvia, was a beautiful baby. The nurses said it looked like she had make-up on when she was born; naturally long lashes around dark blue eyes, blonde hair, and ruby lips...the stuff of fairy tales. So, when one of the cosmetic companies had a promo for beautiful babies, naturally she took her daughter in for a photo shoot. She was able to provide a little of the luxury she grew up in, with perks from her various jobs. She would have given anything to be vapid and spoilt again, but she did the best she could for her children. She also protected them fiercely from anyone who would hurt her family. Teaching ballet, painting on commission, and the security she had at the time in her retail job; that was her world. She never thought her security, after losing everything so young, would come crashing down again.

The day of the photo shoot, baby Sylvia wore an adorable turquoise one piece swimsuit, hot pink sunglasses, and the tiniest sandals you have every seen. It was a perfect choice, as they had the world’s smallest lounge chair that complemented her ensemble. All of Evelyn’s children were beautiful; they took after her mother, but baby Sylvia had the personality at such a young age. Everyone gawked and fussed, loved the outfit, and the pictures were great. Since it was complimentary, Evelyn made sure she bought some high-end baby sunscreen; something she never heard of for this young an age. As fair as they all were, it seemed a good idea. And Evelyn had saved enough to take all the kids to Disneyland; it would be perfect for long days in the sun. Even Sylvia’s diaper bag was a bright yellow-striped Giorgio of Beverly Hills bag; Evelyn got lots of things like that free from cosmetics. She had Ralph Lauren tote bags to pack their luggage in, and even an Armani fanny pack so she could go upside on rides and still keep her money in order, all courtesy of her friends behind the cosmetic counter. Evelyn kept the kids beautifully dressed, in matching outfits she got with her store discount. Baby Sylvia won $100 [the first of many contests, to the point that when she was older, she thought it was a given that if she was enrolled in a contest, she would win], so that was spending money, and Evelyn planned on buying Lunchables to keep costs down. This was a budget trip, but she had saved commissions and was proud of herself for doing this for her little family, all by herself. 

The older kids were over the moon in excitement. For Evelyn, things like Disneyland or ballet lessons were things her parents provided, but she thought she never would be able to; how wrong she was. Bartering became second nature, and her older daughter got ballet with mom, and she bartered some free lessons so her son could have basketball lessons. She was juggling a lot of balls, went with little sleep or food, but she was trying  to do the best she could for her family. 

Evelyn put in a transfer to a branch of the store nearer to her in the suburbs, so she wouldn’t have to pay downtown parking anymore, to save some more money. The lady that worked for the line of cosmetics that had the baby contest transferred as well. They weren’t friends, but friendly at work, as Evelyn was far more interested in providing for her children than having a social life. People knew she was going on this trip, and contributed old Disney tickets they had back when that was a thing, Mickey t-shirts and anything else they had that would help the little family. It was hard to get time off, but Evelyn requested time off in May, before any major sales she would need to work. It was also the end of the cheaper season for airfare, and she scraped up every penny she could, and got a whole week off. That meant she wasn’t teaching her ballet lessons, but would have to take right back up as the recital was in June, but the kids were ready and she made up the time for the parents by doing extra rehearsals. Always a perfectionist, she designed the costumes as well…

The last day Evelyn was scheduled to work before her trip, the lady she knew from the baby contest contacted her. She said Evelyn’s parents had been leaving messages in her department, for some reason. They didn’t know which department Evelyn worked in, but for some reason knew she had transferred; that must have been info the phone director had of what employees worked where. There was a lot of bad blood between her and her parents, and it had been years since she had seen them. She did send pictures, though, and had sent a copy of the baby swimsuit shot, not thinking they would track her down by this. Although they weren’t friends exactly, the young woman in the silly striped suit for a uniform felt empathy. She thought it was sad the grandparents didn’t see their grand kids; which was true. The whole situation was sad. 

As Evelyn was done talking and turning around to walk back to her department, she saw them. It was a shock, especially at work. It seems she had been set up, since the other girl now knew her schedule, and just had to get her in the right spot at the right time. Her parents seemed remorseful, but her mother still had the upper hand. They always made these bargains, which had a lot of strings on them. They told her if she moved back home right now with the kids, she could focus on her education [they always thought she didn’t have enough skills], but she had to go RIGHT NOW, quit her job, and start a program they had picked and paid for next week! By now, Evelyn was nearly 30; a grown woman by most cultures standards. She had paid her own way in life; hadn’t she? That meant cancelling the Disney trip, to take secretarial school because her mother thought that was more practical? True, she wouldn’t have to pay bills, but she liked that she had a bit of credit and paid her own bills on time. These decisions were made completely without her; the grandparents lived in another state, that meant the kids had to change schools, it also meant she had to give up her own apartment and live in their attic with three children. It meant she couldn’t date or have a social life, because as far as they were concerned, having a social life was what got her into her present state. She had been married to the man, but she was a single mother, and in their book, that was unforgivable.

Having only minutes to ponder and get back as her department was going to wonder where she was, she mentioned the Disney trip. Her parent’s said she had to cancel; the school they paid for started next week. They said they would pay for a bigger, better trip when she graduated, which may be years from now. She had living, breathing children dying to go. Everything was bought, packed and planned. Evelyn also thought of the validity of the promise, remembering not that long ago that it was her parents that stole her car in the middle of the night when she was just early dating her former husband. It was them that closed her back account of money she had saved for moving out. It was them that wouldn’t allow her to collect even her clothes or personal items. It was then that stalked her, had friends and relatives follow her, so she never felt at peace. Her dad seemed remorseful, but there was still a trace of vengeance and control in her mother’s eyes. Evelyn found the courage to say ‘no’ to all of this...but it was far from over…

Over the years, Evelyn tried to reconcile with her parents, for the kids sake. It would have been nice to have grandparents to watch them, but when she went down the route, something bad always happened. She would always find her mother calling Evelyn’s children by her and her brother’s names. If she left the kind of food she wanted them to eat, grandma would give the baby junk food to make her sick all night. The decades passed, and Evelyn noticed a pattern; every three years they would like her and want to help; then three years she was the devil and they would destroy her. When they got really old, her mother put her dad in a home, and allowed no visitors when she saw how happy he was seeing friends and family. He was to die alone...And her mother, with power of attorney and newfound vengeance, bought and spent all the money he had saved. Anytime she had contact with Evelyn, she would try and destroy her; break up her relationships, ruin her job...she even made it so her brother lost his teaching license, so even he was not immune to this insanity. In the end, when her mother died, she had the will completely changed. It turned out, her dad was always trying to help her financially, but her mother was so jealous of Evelyn that she did everything she could to destroy that. In the end, when Evelyn got a copy of the last will and testament, after many lengthy pages, there was a paragraph about her that said she got only $10.00, because “she knows why”. How Mommy Dearest! Soon after, a friend of the family said her mother had hemorrhaged funds and spent all her dad’s money, on nothing basically. Evelyn was so glad that she stuck to her guns all those years ago and took her kids on that Disney trip, and also raised the kids the way she thought was right. They turned into bright, successful people, and more importantly, never had a mother that would stalk them at work but only would sing their praises...