Life Hacks/Take a neutral stance, tell her it’s been hard but it has increased your independence and responsibility
You let out a long sigh, deciding to let your emotions show through at this point. The emotions are real, but you are using them in a calculated way that would have been beyond you this morning. “Oh my god, mom…” You say in something of a put-on sympathetic tone as though trying to figure out how to fix how hurt she is at this point. You let out another sigh. “I didn’t mean it like that.” You look as though you are deep in thought for a moment. “Yeah, well, I guess you could say something like that has been going on, but I don’t resent you for it or anything.”
“Xander, I… I have to make a living for this family,” she tries to justify herself. “I am raising you all on my own you know? I don’t get any help from your father in this. I am the one who has to earn the money to support all of you. I’m sorry I can’t always be there for you, but that’s just the way it has to be.”
Your mind decouples that bullshit real time as it rattles out of her mouth. Her situation is no where near as desperate as she is trying to make it out to sound. It is not like she couldn’t get child support if she wanted it, and you know dad would be willing to pay it too, he makes enough. He has actually tried to contribute money in the past, but she has refused every cent. To complain about a desperate situation she chose to be in herself, it is just an excuse, but for the sake of where you are trying to get with this you decide to just give it to her.
“I know that,” you say, “and it has been hard for me, I can’t imagine how hard it has been for Brittany. It seems like I am not getting to have a childhood, I am having to raise my younger siblings, but you know what? I’m actually pretty happy to help. I’ll help out the best I can. Right now, after what I saw today and heard about from ‘Billy,’ I want to help him too. I know it’s not going to be easy, I have already helped Brittany to raise Bastian, Angel, and Roni through the divorce and everything. I think Billy’s case may be even harder than that, but, I’ve already got experience with hard cases. I know I can handle it. I just need your support on this with the legal stuff.”
“Xander, that’s…” She pauses again, and then she sighs. “I guess I don’t have quite as much of a place to object on this…” she groans, looking most decidedly broken. She lets out a sigh, and then looks up from the ground to appraise ‘Billy,’ and then she looks back to the ground. “I’m going to need a minute to think about this.” She says.
A minute to think about it huh? Well, judging by how the conversation has been going, you are quite certain that’s a yes. Her thinking is probably going to be wrapped up in figuring out logistics of exactly how it is going to work, and maybe even some concessions you are going to have to make.
What will you do?
- Tell her you will go and start talking to the police about this
- Suggest your own logistics and concessions to her
- Find somewhere to talk to Billie for a while as your mother thinks
- Inform your mom about how you were already going to the police station anyway when you found ‘Billy.’
Infinity Pocket
Loki controls the local area.
