Twenty Questions, Part 7: Mama, Can You Hear Me?

May, 2014

The older woman paced the lobby nervously, wringing her hands together. She paused occasionally in front of the door and peered into the parking lot, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Behind the front desk, a young man watched the woman's anxiety until he couldn't tolerate it any longer.

"Mrs. Adler. Mrs. –. Bobbi!" The woman stopped fidgeting and turned a questioning face towards him. "If you get any mail –."

"When!" she corrected.

He rolled his eyes. "When you get any mail, I'll let you know."

"Because Grace wouldn't forget me on Mother's Day," Bobbi flustered, hurrying over to the desk. "Right?"

He smiled. "Of course not."

"Oh, Joshua. You know you're my favorite, right? Our children may have dumped us in this cesspool of arthritis and bunions – no offense – but at least I have you to brighten my day." Bobbi patted his cheek before floating away.

When she entered the common room, Bobbi headed straight to the piano where a distinguished white-haired gentleman sat playing a classical tune. She sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Oh, Julius. Today feels like it needs a ballad."

"For god's sake, Bobbi. Why do you have to make everything so dramatic? Mother's Day isn't even until tomorrow."

Bobbi lifted her henna-rinsed head from Julius's shoulder and stared over the piano at Marilyn Truman, who was seated at one of the tables playing cards. "At least your son remembered you. The gays are a more thoughtful people."

"Oh, yes," Marilyn continued bitterly. "My William sent me the most delightful flower arrangement. Dead already, but it's the thought, I suppose."

Judith McFarland scowled as Marilyn's hand beat hers and she tossed her cards onto the table. "Well, my Jackie didn't send me anything this year either. He just doesn't give his mother the consideration she deserves since he moved in with that hussy."

"Hey, hey, hey!" A short brunette, not looking a day over sixty, appeared in the doorway. "Nobody talks about my Kiki like that."

At the sound of her voice, all of the men in the room looked up. "Lois!" they chorused, some raising their canes in an excited greeting.

She grinned and sauntered into the room. "Hello, boys. Might wanna keep those suckers on the floor. I don't want to be responsible for any more casualties this week." The men laughed appreciatively as Lois perched on the couch next to Daniel McFarland. "Hiya, Danny. How's it hangin'?"

"Not bad, I –."

"Daniel."

He glanced up and spotted Judith glaring at him over her cards. Daniel cleared his throat and looked down at his lap. "I'm not supposed to talk to you," he mumbled.

Lois raised her eyebrows and took a thoughtful sip of her drink. "Okay." She nodded. "I can appreciate that. Some women are just more insecure than others, isn't that right, Marty?" Lois turned to her other side and swatted Martin Adler gently on the arm.

He let out a hearty laugh that he quickly transitioned into a cough as he caught Bobbi scowling at him. "Well, it's true," he muttered and his wife shot off the piano bench.

"Let's go, Martin. It's bad enough that my daughters have abandoned me on Mother's Day, but I don't have to sit here and listen to you get propositioned by a conniving tramp."

"Propositioned?" Lois objected, nearly choking on her drink.

"Shut it, Bobbi," Marilyn admonished, standing up beside Lois. "You're just bitter because your girls ignore you and you have no talent!"

A stunned silence filled the room as Marilyn struck a nerve. Bobbi stared at her, mouth agape, until she gasped three times in quick succession, ending with a finger pointed accusingly at Marilyn. "You take that back!"

"Wish I could, but it's the truth. You flit around this building with your choreography and your showtunes and you drive everybody nuts! Swifty Lazar is not going to come into the Shady Creek Retirement Community and discover you, so give it up." Marilyn sat back down in a huff and picked up her cards again. "Come on, Judith. Your bet."

But Judith merely stared at her. She finally blinked once. "I'm afraid I can't do that." Marilyn looked up, puzzled, and she continued, "You stand there and attack this poor woman and defend that … that strumpet –."

"Wow." Lois feigned impression. "Strumpet. When did it become 1875?"

" – while I'm sitting here with no Mother's Day present –."

"Aaand we're back to Judith," Martin commented.

Daniel shook his head. "I don't think we ever really left."

" – all because of her equally despicable daughter, who's taking advantage of my poor Jackie."

At this, Lois had finally had enough and got to her feet, slamming her drink down on the coffee table. "Oh, that's rich, Judy."

"Rich?" Judith laughed. "Rich? The irony of your word choice must escape you, Lois, or you'd be headlining at the Laugh Shack by now. Your daughter's just doing to Jack what you've been doing to men all your life – hanging around because he's rich. I guess the apple tart doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?"

"You were singing a markedly different tune when the shoe was on the other incredibly wealthy foot all those years. Am I right?" Lois glanced around the room and was met with a murmur of agreement. "You know how Jack got that money, don't you? You do realize what he had to do to get it, or are you that thick and self-absorbed? So just watch who you point fingers at." Lois planted her hands on her hips and watched the other women for a moment before sighing. "You know, you're right about me – I'm nothing special. But my Keeks supported your useless little fairy when he had nothing because she loved him. She married Stan because she loved him. The money isn't an issue – it was never an issue. None of our kids are perfect, but Karen's got that over me. I had it that good once and lost it early, so you just shut up, Judith."

"That doesn't excuse the fact that he forgot about Mother's Day because she –."

"You know, this jealously act is getting really old," Marilyn interjected and Judith gawked at her. "It is a little pathetic that you're jealous of your gay son's best friend just because you're not the only woman in his life. You were always thrilled that he's gay because that means you don't have to compete with another woman. Well, you do, so get over it and just be his mother."

From the piano, Bobbi began laughing uncontrollably. "Oh, look who's talking! You can't just be Will's mother. You're so involved in that poor man's life, it's sickening and rather unhealthy for the both of you."

Marilyn was quiet for a moment as she shuffled the deck of cards. "I'm not the one with an 'I Told You So' dance," she retorted calmly without looking up and the room tittered with amusement.

"You know, I think all of this fighting is just because you're anxious about tomorrow. You –."

"Quiet, Martin!" the four women spat without turning towards him and he immediately silenced.

"Which one d'you think'll go first?" Daniel whispered with a nod to the tense women, staring at each other through narrowed eyes.

Martin sighed. "I kinda hope its mine."

The next night, the seven sat in the dining room around a quiet circular table. The only sounds coming from their table were that of utensils on china as the women pushed their food moodily around their plates without eating. Martin, Daniel, and Julius watched them warily, but didn't let the tension in the air stop them from enjoying their meal.

Marilyn poked at a piece of chicken and sighed. "Will and Vince brought me more flowers this morning."

Lois looked up from where she was burying her peas in her mashed potatoes. "They're beautiful."

Silence fell over the table again until Bobbi suddenly spoke up, eyes staying focused on her plate. "I like that picture Ben drew for you."

Marilyn glanced up and regarded Bobbi strangely for a moment before smiling. "Thank you, Bobbi. That card Laila gave you was lovely too. Did she make that in school?"

"Yeah. Macaroni art. Only Laila uses Cheerios."

The group laughed quietly. "She's making it her own," Judith observed. "I like that."

"What did Jack bring you, Judy?" Lois asked tentatively.

Judith took a moment to swallow a piece of chicken. "A hundred dollars," she answered softly, slightly embarrassed that she enjoyed the monetary gift so much, especially after the previous day's argument.

"Sucker," Daniel replied with a quiet laugh. "I got one twenty-five last year for Father's Day."

"What time did you two get home last night?" Bobbi asked.

"About two," Judith replied.

"She's lying," Lois interjected. "It was four. She was drunk."

"I was not!"

"You know, I think it's adorable that Karen takes you out to the bar at midnight for the official start of Mother's Day. I wish William would do something thoughtful like that," Marilyn mused, taking a sip of her wine.

"Yeah, she's sweet like that. Jack and Judy had a hard time keeping up. Although our little J here was quite impressive with those tequila shots." On the opposite side of the table, Judith smiled into her plate, embarrassed.

"This is what I don't understand," Daniel began. "You four are exactly like your kids, so why can't you get along?"

"Most of them have been together for the better part of fifteen years," Martin added. "So why can't the four of you just be friends?"

Bobbi, Marilyn, Judith, and Lois glanced across the table at each other before finally smiling and raising their wine glasses in a small toast.

Why couldn't they?