Brenda Novak - Mother, Please!

S OME THINGS WERE never meant for a daughter to see. April Ashton was fairly certain that watching her mother stride into her fathers company Christmas party on the arm of a man clearly half her age was one of them. The bright red, skintight, sequin-covered dress Claire Ashton was wearing would have embarrassed April enoughit had a neckline that plunged almost to her navel. But her mother was also flaunting a companion who looked barely twenty-five and had the body of a Chippendale dancer.

What was Claire thinking? Pushing her tortoise-shell glasses up to the bridge of her nose, April straightened her own simple black calf-length dress and backed into a corner while she searched the crowded ballroom for her father. Walt Ashton might have launched her mothers midlife crisis, but he was not a subtle man and he wasnt going to take this well. As the owner of Ashton Automotive, he was too accustomed to being in charge. Hed built his L.A.-based company with his own two hands. Now, nearly twenty-seven years later, it was one of the most successful chains of auto-parts stores in the western United States.

A hush rolled through the room. Evidently everyone was beginning to recognize the woman in red. It had taken them a few seconds; April understood why. Claire hardly resembled the woman she used to be. Since Aprils mother and father had split up four months ago, her mother had lost thirty-five pounds, bleached her hair platinum-blond, acquired a tan even though it was winter, and cast aside her matronly wardrobe forwell, for something better suited to an actress on Sex and the City.

Not that April considered herself a fashion expert. Shed long known her brain was her best asset and didnt bother much with fancy clothes or beauty aids. Shed never possessed the kind of curves that would turn a mans head. Which was just as well. Shed learned that few men had egos that could tolerate dating a woman with an IQ above 160. Even the gold diggers her father warned her about had never materialized. Shed gone out with some of the physicists where she worked, but nothing romantic had ever developed. She and the men she dated invariably fell to discussing theories and models, and soon became nothing more than mutually respectful peers.

Suddenly, Rita Schmidt, from Accounting, who was standing not far away, seemed to notice the whispering that had replaced the initial hush. Craning her head, she stood on tiptoe to see what was happening. Hey, isnt that

Les Burrows, at Ritas elbow, followed her gaze. Oh, my Godthats the bosss wife!

This comment elicited a whole storm of response from others in the same group.

You mean his ex -wife.

Theyre not divorced yet.

Believe me, thats a mere technicality.

Its no secret that Mr. Ashtons been diddling his massage therapist for the past six months.

A few chuckles resounded at the diddling comment, and April briefly considered slipping out the back. She didnt know what was happening to her parents, why her father had strayed after so many years. But she had a lot of work to do at the lab and didnt want to be here. Parties werent her thing. Give her a good book on the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, challenge her to a heated debate on quantum physics, but please dont ask her to dance.

She couldnt leave, though. Shed promised her father shed stay for the entire evening. Hed told her that Keith Bodine, the local plant manager, was looking forward to seeing her; she didnt return Keiths interest, but her father hoped someday she would. Besides, April was the only one who could keep some semblance of peace between her parents.

Sometimes she hated being an only child.

I guess were going to be treated to another family fight, someone else in the crowd whispered loudly, obviously unaware that April was standing so close.

April leaned to the left in time to see her father turn his head in her mothers directionat which point his eyes nearly popped out of his head. His girlfriend, Regina Parks, stood beside him, but that didnt seem to matter. His face darkened to an unhealthy shade of maroon, and he started tearing through the crowd as if hed strangle his estranged wife.

April abandoned the safety of her dark corner and intercepted her father before he could reach Claire and her muscle-bound date.

Dad! Wait! Bringing him to a stop by clutching his arm, she continued to hold on to him, just in case getting his hands around Claires neck had really occurred to him. Since her mother had moved in with her several weeks ago, violence had certainly crossed Aprils mind once or twice. Like yesterday, when shed come home to her small house at Redondo Beach to find that her mother had rearranged all her furniture.

Her father looked at her, but April wasnt sure he saw her. He was too intent on yanking free, muttering, How dare she!

April struggled to retain her hold. Hang on, Dad. You two have been going through a lot of changes lately, she said, trying to stave off the worst of his anger. Youve barely started divorce proceedings. Shell settle down soon. At least April hoped she would. Her mothers recent talk about getting breast implants wasnt a good sign, but April was trying to be optimistic. Lets not make a scene, okay, Daddy?

Not make a scene? he bellowed. Everyone within twenty feet turned to stare. Shes already made a scene! My God, theres not a man here who isnt stepping on his tongue! Who invited her, anyway?