Tough Times

It was supposed to be a normal night for Maggie.

She, her mom and her stepdad were supposed to sit down to have a nice dinner Then they sprung the news on her. They were getting a divorce. She sighed, shaking her head. This was going to be her mom’s second divorce in just a span of 5 years. 

She heard her computer make a ding noise and opened the tab that had messenger on it. It was a message from her friend, Layla.

Layla: Hey girl! What’s up?

Maggie didn’t want to tell Layla what was going on. She wouldn’t understand. Her parents were still married, happily she might add. However, her fingers started typing before she could think about what she was going to say.

Maggie: To be honest…a lot

Layla: Ut-oh. Your mom and Sam arguing again?

She sighed. Sam and her mom had been arguing a lot lately. Sometimes they were over big things, but sometimes they were over small things like Sam forgetting to get one thing of her mom’s at the groceries.

Maggie: Something like that.

She stared at the screen intently as those three floating dots appeared and disappeard as Layla typed, then stopped. She assumed she was thinking about what she wanted to say.

She and Layla had been friends since….forever. Maggie could’nt acutally remember when he and Layla had officially met, but she had been there for her. Whenever people bullied her about the fact that her dad left her when she was four, Layla would step in to defend her. Usually it was with some strongly chosen words, but if the bullying didn’t stop there, the punches began flying.

She remembered long nights at she and Layla’s house curling up and watching movies ( usually Disney movies) and they would ‘argue’ over which was the cuter Disney prince. Maggie always voted for Eugene Fitzherbert or Flynn Rider. She didn’t know why maybe it had to do something about that smolder.

Her computer dinging broke her out of her thoughts.

Layla: Something like that? What could be worse than having an argument over something stupid?

Maggie sighed and rubbed her eyes making her glasses raise a little bit off her face. She processed on how to tell her friend her mom and stepdad were divorcing. She bit her lip down as she began typing

Maggie: They’re…getting a divorce

Layla was scary quiet. Those three-floating bubble reappearing, reappearing, and reappearing.  Finally, Layla sent a text.

Layla: You need me to come over this weekend or do you want to come over? We can watch those cheesy rom coms we claim are boring.

Maggie managed a smile. Trust Layla to get her out of one of her moods just when she had a good funk going on.

Maggie: Sure

           A couple of years later, Layla and her family sat with Maggie in the hospital, Layla with one hand on her back s Maggie rocked back and forth, hands pressed to her mouth in the praying position. Her mom had been rushed to the hospital after Maggie found her unresponsive on the floor.

Layla continue rubbing her back as the doctor came out

“Miss Trace?”

Maggie looked up. Her eyes were rimmed with red and were surely puffy from the hours of panicked crying.

After her step dad had divorced her mom, Opal ( Maggie’s mother) had sent her to a therapist due to unstoppable crying spells she had started having, some due to big things but most of the time it was due to little things like herm other not getting the right kind of taquitos from the grocery store.

Maggie sniffled as Layla whispered “Be strong. You’ve got this.”

She slowly stood and walked to the doctor

“Yes?” she asked her voice sounding hoarse in her ears

“Your mother….has an tumor on her brain.” The doctor explained

Maggie nodded relaxing for a moment. “Can you remove it?” she asked

She had heard of doctors removing tumors before, so she assumed that would be all they need to do.  Her relaxation faded however when the doctor looked at her, no expression on his face, just no expression at all.

“I’m afraid we can’t.” he said

“Well why not?!” Maggie snapped at him, putting her hands on her hips

“The tumor is near her medulla. If we take it out her heart could stop.”

Maggie made a long squeak noise from the back of her throat covering her mouth. She didn’t see Layla get up and hurry to her.

“We’ve put her on life supports for now. I suggest you go see her.” The doctor said turning on his heels and walking away.

Maggie stood stiffly before she felt Layla’s arms around her. Layla led her back to the chairs where she practically collapsed into them. She must’ve cried for 3 hours in that chair.

           Her mom’s funeral was that summer. The summer before Maggie was set to go to college.  That rainy day, after Brother Jim gave the sermon about how loss was a part of God’s plan and the casket was lowered into the ground, Maggie was led back to the car by Layla and her mother. As they did, Maggie could hear the whispering of several ‘caring’ relatives.

“Opal slept around so much. She deserved that tumor if you ask me.”

“She didn’t even know the name of her daughter’s own father.”

“Wonder if anyone’s gonna take in the sluts daughter.”

It wasn’t any better at the house either. Sure people brought the usual stuff to eat to the funeral. Maggie could’ve sworn she was drowning in green bean casseroles and chocolates cakes. She was getting her some green bean casserole in fact when a fameliar snotty voioce came from behind her.

“Hello Maggie.”

Oh no she thought as she slowly turned around. There in front of her stood her snobby cousin. Pammie.

“Hi Pammie.”  She said

Pammie flipped her perfectly curled hair behind her shoulder.

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?”

“I was wondering, if you get pregnant from a one-night stand with a guy, you gonna tell the kid who their father is or keep it a secret like your whore mother?”

Maggie began gripping the paper plate so tightly, a small dent was starting for form around the edge.  She was about to say something really snappy back but she saw Layla in front of her.

“Listen Pamala,” Layla said just as snotty. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Maggie is the exact opposite of her mom. She doesn’t sleep around and neither did her mother. I don’t even know how that story got started, but it should stop tonight.”

“Listen-“

“I’m not finished!”

Pammie went quiet.

“Everyone in this room Opal Trace did not have one night stands with guys. She kept Maggie’s father a secret to protect her from people like you. Fat lot of good that did. So whay don’t you guys just leave Maggie alone?!”

The family looked back down at their plates quickly, some of the them quietly shuffling food around their plates.

Maggie managed a watery smile

“Thanks Layla.”

“Hey that’s what friends do”

Maggie hugged Layla tight for the first time in years. She felt everything was going to be okay.