your mind?” He leaned back in the chair as Aiden continued to play on his phone, barely acknowledging him.
“Not really.” Aries grabbed the boy some pepper and set it on the table.
“Thank you.” Aiden seasoned his mashed potatoes, then shoved a big spoonful in his mouth. Aries grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, then plopped back down in the chair.
“How’d the visit go with your mom?” Aiden shrugged, his gaze never leaving his phone. A few seconds passed. The microwave went off. Aries made quick work of fixing his dinner, grabbing the salt, and returning to his seat. “Aiden, I need you to talk to me.”
At last, the boy looked up from his phone. Aiden had a certain expression that destroyed him, melted his cool exterior with the greatest of ease. Those eyes of his always tugged at his heartstrings, no matter the circumstances.
“I hate her.”
Aiden looked back down at his phone, as if he’d not said much at all.
“Don’t say that, Aiden.”
“Why? It’s true. She takes me out but never asks about what I like, what I’m doing or want to talk about. Nothing like that. She just asks questions about you, about the money you got, if you’re seeing anyone, things like that. She and I got into an argument today. I told her I don’t want her picking me up anymore. I don’t want to spend the night, either. I wish she wasn’t my mother. I wish she woulda just left and stayed away for good.”
Aries got up to grab a spoon and napkin, then sat back down.
He chewed on a forkful. The flavor was bland. Pointless. “Aiden, I want to tell you a few things.” He took another taste of his food, swallowed, then chased it with a swig of beer. “First being, people can’t help what and who they are. Change has to come from within.”
“You sound like a self-help book. Did you get it from Lauren?”
“No, Aiden, I don’t read self-help books, but I am trying to help. What I am telling you is true, all right? You’ve never known me to intentionally lie to you, so why would I start now?” They hooked gazes. “That’s a lesson I’ve learned all over again, in a new way, recently.”
Aiden huffed, then focused back on his phone. “People aren’t going to be the way we envisioned them,” Aries continued. “The way we want them to be. How we want someone to act, even if they’re a parent, is not their responsibility for whatever image we have of them in our head. We’re not created to meet everyone’s expectations. Besides, that’s unrealistic. In other words, you can’t expect someone to show you love always in the way you’d show them love, son. You gotta meet folks where they are, accept them AS IS, chipped, fractured, falling apart and all, or don’t meet them at all.”
He dug into his food again, while Aiden set his half eaten frozen meal to the side.
“Tell me something,” Aries said after a couple minutes of silence had passed.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think your mother loves you?”
Aiden took a long time to respond, then shrugged. “I think so. I guess, kinda like you said. I just wish she’d show it differently.”
“I think she loves you too, Aiden. The problem with your mother is that she wasn’t raised right, and she never took the time and energy to make sure she didn’t turn around and repeat the exact same thing that happened to her. There comes a time when we have to man up—all of us, including women—and stop blaming all the people and shit from our past for our current choices and fuck-ups. Your mother had it hard. I can’t deny that. This is not an excuse. It’s reality. I don’t hate your mother. I need to make that clear to you, if you had any doubt. I don’t like her. There’s a difference. But I will always have love for her because she’s the mother of my kid.
“And let me tell you something,” he waved a finger at him, “I do regret trying to make her be something she wasn’t—but, if I hadn’t been that stupid way back then, falling in love so fast without thinking, then I never would’ve gotten the best prize of all. You.” They smiled at each other. “You’re my high score, man. You make me look good. I’m a winner, and you’re a big part of the reason why. Anything or anyone who makes a man strive to do