Chapter 5 Message the Wrong Person
At dinner, the group chatted about everyday things. Nathan had already told Queenie when they arrived that he only wanted her there to make an impression on the professors.
After dinner, they lingered for a while, and then Queenie went home. By the time she got back, it was already 9 PM.
As soon as she walked in, Linda rushed over. “Queenie, how dare you hang up on me?”
“What do you want?” Queenie asked coldly.
Linda was fuming. “What do I want? Did you forget you were supposed to give me a massage this afternoon?”
Even though the special medication Queenie brought home had eased Linda’s headache, she still needed that hour-long massage every afternoon to nap well. Since Queenie wasn’t there today, Linda couldn’t get any decent rest.
“Your headaches are from low energy and blood. Don’t get so worked up, or you might have a stroke,” Queenie said calmly, her tone completely contrasting Linda’s anger.
Linda was furious, but the mention of a stroke really scared her.
Just then, someone appeared at the door, and Linda, who had been standing fine, suddenly dropped to the floor dramatically. “Look at me, suffering so much. My daughter-in-law is actually cursing me!”
Vincent walked in holding hands with Archie, happening to see the whole scene.
“Grandma, what happened?” Archie hurried over to help Linda up.
Linda took Archie’s hand and began her dramatic speech. “Archie, my life is so miserable. At my age, I still have to deal with her curse.”
“Mommy, that’s too much,” Archie said, turning to look at Queenie.
He added, “Grandma is already so old. How can you treat her this way? Our teachers always say we should respect our elders and take care of the young. How are you setting a good example for me?”
Queenie stared at the child she had carried for nine months, feeling her heart grow colder by the second. Over the past two years, he had drifted away from her, often hurling hurtful words at her.
It was evident that the three of them were a real family, while she felt like a stranger.
Linda, eager to stir the pot, began to complain to Vincent, “Vincent, you won’t believe this. After she dropped Archie off at school this morning, she didn’t come back. She got home just now, and when I tried calling her, she didn’t even answer.”
“You went out today?” Vincent asked Queenie, his brow furrowing. He wondered, ‘Was that really her I saw at the themed restaurant earlier?’
Queenie forced a cold, fake smile. “Why? Now I need your permission to go out?”
“Where did you go?” Vincent stepped closer.
Queenie felt uncomfortable with his sudden closeness. In their seven years of marriage, he had rarely initiated any intimacy outside of their sexual lives.
For the past two years, things had been icy between them. They hadn’t been intimate at all. Even when sharing a bed, they felt worlds apart.
His sudden approach brought back the familiar scent she remembered, and for a moment, her heart raced. But as she noticed a hint of perfume that wasn’t his, her heart quickly cooled.
“If you want to know where I’ve been, maybe you should first tell me where you went tonight,” Queenie said.
‘So when a guy cheats, it’s just “boys will be boys,” but if a woman goes out, she’s accused of something shady. The double standards are unbelievable,’ Queenie thought.
Vincent stepped back, his face twisted in disgust. “Didn’t you say you wanted a divorce?”
At that, both Linda and Archie were taken aback. Archie’s face fell as he remembered what Queenie had said the night before.
Vincent snorted and turned to walk away to his studies.
That snort was filled with mockery and contempt. Queenie felt it deeply. ‘He questioned me just now. Does he think I was stalking him because he saw me at the restaurant?’ she thought.
Linda sneered, “So that’s why you’ve been out all day. Guess you’re getting kicked out of the house.”
“Grandma, can you please stop?” Archie yelled.
Linda was shocked by how intense Archie was.
Queenie was also surprised by his strong reaction.
Linda remained puzzled. “Archie, what’s wrong with you?”
“Mommy, come on. Let’s go upstairs,” Archie said, taking Queenie’s hand and leading her up.
Queenie was even more taken aback by his sudden move.
At the door, Archie looked at her. “Mommy, I won’t badmouth you anymore. If you don’t want me to see Vivian, then I won’t see her.” He sounded like he was making a big decision.
He thought, ‘I really want Vivian to be my mom, but I don’t want Mommy to leave me, either. For now, I’ll stop seeing Vivian. Once Mommy calms down, I’ll sneak out to see Vivian.’
Archie’s sudden change in attitude surprised Queenie, though her surprise was fleeting. In the past, she might have convinced herself that he truly loved her as a mother.
But time and again, whenever something happened, Archie was always the first to turn against her. So Queenie had learned to stop expecting anything from him.
“Mommy, I’m going to my room now. Goodnight,” Archie said. Then he walked back to his room.
*****
As soon as Archie got back to his room, he grabbed his phone and texted Vivian. [Vivian, I have midterms coming up, so I won’t be able to see you as much for a while. Please don’t be mad, okay?]
After sending it, he felt a wave of anxiety. Usually, Vivian responded right away, but this time, there was nothing. ‘Why is she taking so long to reply today?’ he thought.
He checked his phone and felt like the world was crashing down. In his hurry, he hadn’t realized that he had sent the message to Queenie instead of Vivian.
Panicking, he tried to unsend it, hoping Queenie hadn’t seen it yet. His heart raced with worry.
Queenie stared at the unsent message, her face calm and unreadable. But inside, she felt a twinge of pain. After all, Archie was her son.
Whenever Archie was out, Queenie would text him occasionally to make sure he was okay. But Archie would usually brush her off with a quick, impatient reply. He was never this gentle or considerate of her.
Just a few days ago, on a school trip, he had been away for three days. Whenever she texted, he would reply with a simple “OK.” He never reached out to her first.
*****
“Mommy?” Archie whispered, pushing the door open a little.
Queenie glanced over. “What’s up?”
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Archie asked, hugging his pillow as he came in.
Since he was already there, Queenie didn’t say no. “Come on up.”
Archie climbed onto the bed, casting a nervous glance at Queenie. When he saw she didn’t react, he sighed in relief, thinking, ‘Mommy probably didn’t see the message.
‘Honestly, Mommy is so hard to handle. She gets mad over everything. I like Vivian and wish she could be my mom, but I’ve never said I don’t want Mommy anymore.’
