I watched Bette open the door and then take a step back. And I saw why.

Hurricane mom stormed in. Suffice it to say, she was angry. Not just angry, but, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her quite like this. Does not even compare to when I brought home the dog; the second time.

If looks could kill, Bette would probably be a puddle on the floor. Then the mom-gaze swung my way and I’d have joined Bette. Matching puddles of goo.

As mom walked past Bette, Bette reached her hand out, as if she was going to touch mom’s shoulder. But then she let her hand fall away. I’m not sure what stopped her, whether it’s was mom’s current state or what.

Mom had no such barriers about touching. She grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the door. “C’mon.”

“Uh, mom?”

She turned, the evil eye once again falling upon me. “What?” she snipped.

“Can I put my clothes on?”

It was at this point she noticed that I was barefoot. I don’t think she realized that I wasn’t wearing my own clothes. Between me and about four different friends, we do a lot of swapping. She’s given up on keeping track. Dragging me through the streets of New York barefoot, though, wasn’t something she really wanted to do, I’m sure.

She dropped my hand. Bette gave me a nod, which was noticed by mom. Judging by how mom was tensing up her shoulders, there were going to be words, and they weren’t going to be pretty.

I ran back to where my stuff was so I could change quickly. I didn’t want to miss this, if I could help it.

“How could you?” That was all I heard as I took off.

Well, not quite all. I did hear Bette’s voice, but I couldn’t quite make it all out. She was quite a bit calmer, needless to say, but also on the defensive. Kept calling mom “T.” I’d never heard her called that before. I gotta say, even under the circumstances, it was kind of cute.

After changing in record speed, I hung back a bit. Sometimes it helps to just figure out a situation rather than barging right in. Plus, who wants to intentionally make themselves a target when there’s already one in range?

“You expect me to believe that?” Oh yeah, mom was mad.

“I don’t know how else to explain it.” Have to give Bette props for trying, though. “She just showed up.”

“I knew this trip was a bad idea.”

Ouch. I am going to be grounded until I’m in my thirties.

“And I suppose I have you to thank for this?”

I almost felt sorry for Bette, but if it wasn’t her, it’d be me. Better to lurk and listen, that’s my motto.

“You know Alice and Shane send me pictures, keep me informed. You’ve never minded.”

Wow, Bette Porter really did know who I was. And it was more than just the ‘look like your mom’ story she gave me at the gallery.

“But I never thought you’d lure her to you, either.” Mom was getting real accusatory. As if Bette was some pervy dude on the internet or something.

“I didn’t lure her. I’m telling you, I didn’t contact her.”

Silence from mom. That’s got to be worse than the talking, I think.

“T, she’s curious. She’s smart. And she knows more than you might think.”

More silence. Now, did I want to walk into that? Would anyone sane want to walk into that room?

“We’ll be flying out today.”

Now mom was quiet. Almost sad sounding. And I gotta say, the idea of leaving when I was supposed to be here until Saturday, that sucked. But somehow, it kind of all seemed worth it, too. Sort of like that movie with the girl who finds out she has a twin sister and lives with the other parent for a while.

I mean, okay, Bette’s not my mom or anything. But, I don’t know, there’s just something between them that neither one is talking about. If this is a start to answering that question, well, maybe being grounded until thirty isn’t so bad, after all.

“You could stay.”

I almost started laughing. Bette was challenging mom directly, but she was doing it quietly, no screaming. She made sticking around sound like a rational choice.

“C’mon, T. She’s a kid. She did something stupid.”

I know I should probably be offended by this. But, I guess in the great scheme of things, taking off and not telling anyone where I was going probably did qualify for placement in the stupid column.

“Why let that ruin the entire trip?”

“My entire week is ruined.”

Oh no, mom’s got new ammo.

“I got a call yesterday afternoon that my teenaged daughter was missing in New York City”

Yup, mom was getting on a roll here.

“I took the red-eye, frightened I’d hear the worst, only to find on landing that you two were over here having a pajama party.”

“I wanted to talk to her. If that makes me selfish, so be it.”

Wow. Another bombshell. Bette Porter not only knew me, but actually wanted to meet me, too.

“You’ve had her for fifteen years, T. Can you blame me for wanting a few hours?”

“You admit you knew where she was.”

“I didn’t know until late last night. I called you, then I called her school group, as soon as I could.”

Now would have been the right time to reinforce Bette’s story. But, on the other hand, now was when it was really, really getting good.

“I know she scared you. It’d have scared me.”

This Porter woman knew what she was doing with mom, I have to admit that. This whole empathy thing was really the way to go.

“Please don’t ruin her entire time in the city.”

You tell her, Bette.

“You can punish her when you get back to LA.”

Umm, Porter, you’re losing points. Then again, I suppose the punishing part is inevitable. And the longer I can hold it off, maybe the more mom will forget how much she freaked. Maybe.

“I’ll think about it.”

She’s calmer; that’s good.

“Jess, are you ready?”

Time to count to ten. Obviously, if I just pop around the corner now, well, I think even mom will figure out something was up.

Nineten. I heard footsteps approaching, and started a slow walk towards the open area. I almost ran smack into Bette Porter.

“Uh, thanks for everything.” I kept my voice low. For some reason, I thought this was something for us, not necessarily something my mom needed to be involved in.

She gave me another of those hugs. “I would say anytime, but I think next time perhaps you should ask first.” She was going with the conspiratorial tone, also. It would have been funny, under different circumstances.

I gave her a smile. “Right. I promise.”

With vast amounts of trepidation I approached where mom was doing a slow burn, standing near the door, still. “Sorry?”

That sounded wimpy to me. I’m not sure trying for anything more would really work with her, anyway.

I braced myself for the worst, and I got it. Silence.

She didn’t talk, she didn’t move. Nothing. Oh *****!

“Mom?”

More silence. I was about ready to slink away. There was lots of space here, right? But I knew that although cowardice might be the preferred course of action, it wasn’t the best course of action.

“Do I have to tell you how disappointed I am?”

Well, they’re words, at least. “No?” Okay, so answering with a question, probably not advisable, either.

More silence.

I guess I might as well find out, overall, the extent of damage involved. “So, we’re not going to stay?”

Her eyes narrowed. I could see the worry wrinkles forming on her forehead again. “I haven’t decided. I’m not sure you deserve to stay.”

I hung my head. Yeah, ok, so I really did scare her. I wiped a tear away. I don’t want to cry. Why do I have this stupid crying thing that happens when I get upset? It’s so girly.

“We’ll talk about it.”

“So, maybe?”

“Maybe.” She agreed.

She looked across the room towards Bette. “Have you thanked Ms. Porter?”

“Thanks Bette,” I shouted across the room. More mom-glare. “Ms. Porter,” I corrected.

Bette came back towards us. “You’re welcome.”

Then, as Bette turned towards mom, she did this lip biting thing that made her look a whole lot younger and less confident than I think she was. “And it was good to see you, T. Under any circumstances.”

Mom didn’t really respond, but she didn’t look really happy, either.

“Maybe, if you stay, you’ll consider having dinner with me?”

Now the response from mom was really interesting. She was the one that now looked afraid. I don’t know what went on between these two women, but they haven’t seen each other in who knows how long, but each can totally pull the other’s strings; that much is obvious.

“Both of you,” Bette quickly tacked on.

Yeah, far be it from my mom actually having a date and enjoying herself or something.

“Maybe.” That was all mom said before she pushed me out the door.

She didn’t say no.

(tbc?)