Beyond Eighteen by Gretchen de la O Page B

my girlfriend, hoping to find an answer to give my
mom. Wilson looked at me for a moment before giving me a slight nod
yes. I leaned over, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and whispered
against her skin, “I’ll be right here in the kitchen.”
    She nodded and her clouded blue eyes
disappeared behind an extended blink. “Thanks,” she managed to
mumble back.
    With that, I turned and looked at my mom and
saw the woman who battled for me…my whole life; the same woman who,
when I was a kid, would always kiss my skinned knees and wipe away
my tears. It was that woman who took on my dad when I decided to go
to college to be a teacher and who struggled every day to help me
when I came back home after Mallory’s suicide. There was no doubt
in my mind, when I looked at her, she knew her boundaries. Or at
least I hoped so.
    I felt her hand press and rub across my
shoulder as she and Wilson shuffled passed me into the dining room.
I watched as the two women I love more than anything in the world
left me alone in the kitchen.
    I pulled open the fridge
and looked at the overflowing shelves. It was more of a habit than
the desire to eat. Nothing looked good. I really just wanted to
know what was being said out in the dining room. I wanted to be
there, standing between both of them as their words bounced and
toggled back and forth. Is my mom going to
be fair in her conversation with Wilson? Or will she damage
Wilson’s confidence more than it already is?
    “ It’s the same shit that
was in there yesterday. Do you think staring at it will change
that?” Calvin said as he plopped a stack of papers on the counter
between us.
    “ Nope. What’s that?” I
really didn’t feel like creating small talk with Calvin, but right
then I’d take anything I could get to keep my mind off of what was
going on in the other room.
    “ Well, I guess a couple of
weeks ago Dad met with Gary Browne.”
    “ His lawyer?”
    “ Yeah. Gary called and
needs the business contract Dad had with Buck Tanner.”
    “ Dad’s business
advisor?”
    “ Yeah, he was supposed to
supply this year’s financials and any addendums Tanner & Trait
may have made to their contract between the beginning of September
through present day. My guess is that Dad suspected Buck wasn’t
working for his best interests.”
    “ Buck Tanner?”
    “ The one and only Buck
Tanner,” Calvin droned.
    “ The same Buck Tanner that
has been Dad’s business advisor for over twenty years?” I
questioned.
    “ Yeah, Max, the same Buck
Tanner. I think the Buck-meister hasn’t been as honest as we all thought.” Calvin
hoisted himself onto the barstool across the counter between us and
spun the papers around, pointing to a spot he’d highlighted in
bright yellow.
    I read it, moving my lips as my eyes
consumed the words that assured Buckman Tanner, of Tanner and Trait
Associates, fifteen percent of my father’s business. It was dated
Friday, December 24th.
    I grabbed the papers and thumbed through to
the last page, looking for my dad’s signature. “He didn’t sign it,
did he?” Every walloping beat of my heart thrust the fight or
flight urge deeper into my gut. “He didn’t initial the page, right?
Tell me he was smarter than that!” I said hurriedly and
breathlessly as I felt the acid churn in my stomach. Then the blood
drained from my face as I recognized his signature at the bottom of
the page. As I looked up at Calvin, his expression told me
everything. We were defeated; the man we trusted had somehow
swindled fifteen percent of my family’s business from my
father.
    “ I don’t know what the
hell to do, Max. I tried calling Dan but his phone when straight to
voicemail. Should we call Dad’s lawyers, or Buck for that matter,
and find out what the hell is going on? All I know is we can’t tell
Mom; it would just push her over the edge.”
    Calvin collected the papers and began to tap
them on the counter. The sound of him straightening the pages and
the rhythm with