Barbara Park - My Mother Got Married and Other Disasters

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Copyright 1989 by Barbara Park

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eISBN: 978-0-307-79707-0

v3.1

To my friend and editor,
ANNE SCHWARTZ,
who smooths all the rough edges,
and lets me take all the credit
B.P .

M Y PARENTS are divorced. Theres no way to make it sound nice. Theyre divorced, and thats that.

I live with my mother, but Im shared with my dad. Its called joint custody. It means they both want me to know that they both want me. I stay at Dads every other weekend and on holidays and whenever else I want to. He moved into a new apartment a few months ago. It doesnt smell as bad as his first one did.

Mom and I got to remain in the house, so at least something stayed the same. The only thing that changed was our hallway. We used to have family pictures from one end to the other. But after the divorce my mother put them away in the attic. Not all at once. Little by little, like the three of us just sort of faded off the walls.

I still go up there and look at them sometimes. She doesnt know it, but I do.

A few weeks ago my mother put a picture of Ben on the bookshelf. Ben Russo. A man whos not my father. The pictures in a silver frame. Bens smiling. So far I havent smiled back.

My mother met Ben last summer a few weeks after the divorce was final. She was backing our car out of the driveway when she smashed into the side of his truck. We were both wearing our seat belts, so neither one of us was hurt. Ben was planting a tree in our neighbors front yard, so he wasnt hurt either.

When he saw the dent, he didnt jump up and down or wave his fists in the air or anything. He just put down his shovel, walked over to our car, and peered in the window.

My mother was sitting there, slumped over the steering wheel. She was saying the s-h word. Not loudly. Just sort of whispering it over and over again to herself.

You hurt? he asked her.

Mom didnt look up. She just kept muttering you-know-what.

I got out of the car. Shes okay, I assured him. She always does this when she crashes into something.

Suddenly my mother opened her door and got out.

Could we please not act as though I do this every day, Charles? she snapped, her voice sounding shaky. Ive been driving for twenty-one years and this is my first accident, okay?

I thought it over a second. What about last year when you ran over my bike? I reminded her. And then there was that light pole at Dunkin Donuts.

My mother threw her hands in the air. Make a list for the man, why dont you! she shouted at me. How about telling him all the things Ive sucked up in the vacuum cleaner while youre at it!

I dont know why Ben smiled, but he did. Then he got the name of our insurance company and went back to digging his hole. The next day he brought my mother a free tree from his plant nursery.

Trees help calm your nerves, I heard him explain as he carried it around to the backyard to plant it.

Thats all it took. One free tree and they started dating. I couldnt believe it. No chocolate, no flowersjust a dumb little tree and my mother started acting as goofy as a teenager. Every morning shed hurry out back to water it. Then shed sigh and say, Wasnt that nice of him? Seriously. She said it about a billion times.

The weird thing is that Ben Russo is just about as different from my dad as you can get. He looks like one of those nature guys. You know, the kind you see in commercials walking through the woods swinging an ax and eating acorns and wild berries. He has a beard and wears boots and a belt with a big turquoise buckle. Ben Russo would look comfortable walking around in a lumberjack shirt with a squirrel on his shoulder.

My dad is more the suit-and-tie type of man. If you put a squirrel on my fathers shoulder, hed probably run around screaming, Get it off! Get it off!

He tried eating a wild blackberry at my grandmothers house once. As soon as it was in his mouth he spit it out and ran inside to get a drink of water.

Ben has two kids. A teenage girl and a little boy. His wife died, so I guess he sort of got stuck raising them by himself. I know it sounds sad, but that doesnt mean I automatically have to like him.

I dont exactly understand what my mother sees in him anyway. Ben hardly ever talks and when he does, its usually real soft and quiet. Whats so exciting about hanging around a dull guy like that?

Its hard, you know? Watching your own mother start to like a man whos not your father. A guy who sells trees instead of insurance. A man who doesnt know your birthday or your middle name or where your room is. It sort of makes you queasy, if you want to know the truth.

Besides, I just always thought Id be all the family my mom would ever need. Even with Dad gone, the two of us still had a good time together.

Like sometimes on Saturday mornings wed go to the World of Waffles and shed let me order the kind with strawberries and whipped cream. When we first started going, I was a little self-conscious. I kept thinking people were staring at me, wondering why there wasnt a dad with us. But after a while it didnt bother me anymore.

We went to movies together, too. Wed get popcorn or Dots or Junior Mints. Just the two of us. It was fun.

At least I thought it was.

W HENEVER something bothers me, Im supposed to talk it over with my parents. Thats the advice my psychologist, Dr. Girard, gave me. Problems never get solved by keeping your feelings all bottled up inside you, he said.

I met Dr. Girard last year when we were going through the divorce. Im not really embarrassed about it. Dr. Girard was a pretty cool guy to talk to. Besides, I wasnt crazy or anything. Its just that some kids dont stay as calm during a crisis as others. Like if I was ever cornered in my basement by a vampire, I wouldnt be in control enough to make a cross out of two paint sticks or shine a mirror in his eyes. Id be too busy running around screaming.