While I was struggling, Russell stood in a corner laughing over something on his father’s phone instead of offering me any comfort.
At the visitation, I asked him to sit with the family, but he claimed he was fine in the back because he was not blood related to my mother.
Brenda stepped in and said it was more appropriate for him to stay with the relatives since he was not my mother’s son.
People noticed his behavior and whispered about it, which forced me to smile through the funeral and pretend that everything was fine between us.
After the burial, everyone came back to the house for a reception filled with casseroles and that strange, unreal quiet that follows a long day of mourning.
I brought tea to Russell’s parents, and Brenda took the cup before remarking that she was glad the ordeal was finally over now that both my parents were gone.
Don added that funerals were a burden on everybody else, and I felt a sudden heat rise inside me as I realized they were speaking as if my parents had died at them.
I walked into the hall and heard Don telling Russell that it must have been a pain living with outsiders like my parents.
Russell laughed and agreed that it was difficult because I always expected everyone to rearrange their lives around my emotions.
That was the moment I stopped begging for fairness because I finally saw that I had married a man who felt nothing but contempt for me.
A few minutes later, Brenda walked into the living room carrying my mother’s favorite leather purse and asked if she could keep it as a keepsake.
“No, we are not sorting through my mother’s belongings today,” I said firmly while taking the purse back from her.
Brenda was outraged that I had contradicted her and asked if she was now considered an outsider after all these years.
I reminded her that she had just called my husband an outsider to my mother, so she couldn’t have it both ways just to shop through my mother’s things.
Russell was red faced with anger because I had embarrassed his mother in front of the entire family.
Hudson and Paige stood by my side while my son told his grandparents that they needed to stop talking to me in such a disrespectful manner.
Russell left with his parents in a storm of injured pride and did not come home for several days, which brought a silence I did not try to break.