GianMarco by Eve Vaughn

him to go fuck himself is because you begged me to stay in school.” He sounded angry.
    Maggie went into “Mom” mode. “Watch your mouth, young man. There isn’t a day I don’t
     wish I had continued my education past high school. I don’t want you kids to go through
     some of the struggles your father and I faced when we were starting out. A college
     degree doesn’t make you as competitive in this abysmal job market as it once did.
     It’s important to me that you don’t throw away the opportunity of obtaining your Master’s
     degree, especially when it’s on someone else’s dime and you’re not putting yourself
     in debt to get it.”
    “I’m sorry, Mom. It’s important to me, too, but the only reason he’s paying for our
     education is to control our lives. If we get out of line, he threatens to withdraw
     the money. He makes me sick, and I hate the way he holds it over your head. I know
     he threatened you to stop paying for mine and Camryn’s tuition if you didn’t give
     in to his divorce demands.”
    “Darren—”
    “No, Mom. I could have handled it. I’m a grown man and I don’t need you to fight my
     battles for me anymore. Camryn is tough as nails. She would have dealt with it as
     well. Sure, it would have been a struggle, but we would have managed. Dad is a first-class
     bastard.”
    Although she agreed with his assessment, she didn’t want to be the facilitator of
     rift between her children and their dad. “He’ll always be your father no matter what
     happens between him and me.”
    “I know, but how can I have respect for a man who treated my mother the way he did?
     You were the strong one, and he screwed with your head and made you believe that you
     were the weak one. He fooled you into thinking that you needed him instead of the
     other way around. You were the one who came to all of our activities and stayed up
     with us late at night when we were sick. You were always there for me and Camryn when
     we needed you, and where the hell was he? He always had an excuse not to spend time
     with us. He worked a lot but when he was home he spent all his time in his office.
     Camryn and I were talking, and we think you should have left him a long time ago.
     The best thing that Dad could have done for you was end your relationship, because
     now you’re much better off.”
    It seems everyone had an opinion all of a sudden. “I didn’t realize you felt that
     way. I tried the best I could to leave you kids out of our marital problems. Seems
     like that’s another front I failed miserably on.”
    “It was hard not to notice. Dad constantly talked down to you and to be honest, I
     was close to punching him. We didn’t say anything because we weren’t sure if you’d
     be receptive to it. I love you, Mom and want to see you happy. You may not think so,
     but even Camryn cares for you more than she knows how to express. Give her a call.
     You two have a lot to talk about.”
    “How is it that you and Montana know more about my own daughter than I do?”
    “Mom, do you want to hear the truth or the watered-down version?”
    “This sounds ominous but you’ve been very candid up to this point so you might as
     well give it to me straight.”
    “Camryn’s hurting, Mom, and she’s angry. She doesn’t know how to tell you, which is
     why she moved away and doesn’t call often.”
    “I wished she would have come to me with her feelings. Why doesn’t she share her feelings
     with me?”
    “She feels guilty because she thinks you went through everything because of us.”
    “Do you feel that way, too?”
    His silence was all the answer she needed.
    “Now, listen up. I don’t regret anything I had to go through because of you or your
     sister. You’re my babies and I love you.”
    “I realize you don’t resent us and we love you for it. But you deserved better than
     what Dad did to you, and we just find it disturbing how you seem to be rolling over
     and playing dead. Maybe