Chapter 3: Am not an atm card I have feelings too
"I have told you time and time again to drop this attitude of yours," Stephanie said to her son Andrew, who looked so detached that whatever she was saying barely seemed to register.
"Look, I genuinely care about you. I don’t want you to end up like your father. You see what he does every single day. I thought you felt something watching that. I thought it hurt you when he hit me..." she paused and looked back at her son with tearful eyes.
"Do you want to be like him? I have warned you about this arrogance. Please, I love you and I want the best for you. Stop this behavior. Be better. I need you to go and apologize to that boy right now. Thank God someone helped him out of there. I honestly don’t know what is wrong with you," Stephanie said, her voice thick with frustration as tears began trickling slowly down her face.
"Go apologize? To that good-for-nothing?" Andrew said with a pause.
"No, that’s not happening. We are way above him on the social ladder and I am not stooping that low to apologize to some broke nobody just because my mom says so," Andrew said, his anger barely contained as he turned to leave.
"Oh, and Mom, my monthly allowance is due next week. You said to keep you informed. Dad’s is also due this weekend," Andrew added, his tone slightly calmer now, though not out of any real respect, more out of basic convenience.
That was simply how Stephanie was treated in her own home. Less like a wife and mother, more like an ATM.
A year ago, Paul, Stephanie’s husband, had finally retired from his position as an army general, partly due to his age and partly because he now had someone to fall back on financially, which was his wife Stephanie, the owner of a highly successful oil company called Hydra.
Due to years of ignoring his pension and a habit of extravagant spending, Paul had burned through his own finances in barely a month of retirement.
And then everything changed.
He began staying out late, drinking himself into a stupor, and coming home to take out his frustrations on Stephanie for the smallest of reasons. He demanded a monthly allowance from her and dictated exactly how much it needed to be each time.
Stephanie had loved Paul deeply, so deeply that she had chosen to be patient with him. She told herself he was grieving, adjusting, acting out of pain. She did everything she could to be the supportive wife.
She cooked his favorite meals herself every time, despite having several maids available to do it.
But none of it mattered. She still ended up with bruised eyes. If the meal wasn’t seasoned to his liking, if the water wasn’t cold enough, if the tray wasn’t arranged the way he preferred, something always set him off.
Stephanie had kept trying to make things better, but six months had passed now and nothing had changed.
And now her own son had beaten someone up.
It hurt her more than she could put into words. Despite everything she was already carrying, the last thing she wanted was for Andrew to become his father. She couldn’t bear the thought of it.
Stephanie watched Andrew storm off without so much as a glance back, unbothered by anything except his allowance.
Without dwelling on it any longer, she decided to call Logan herself. She wanted to speak on Andrew’s behalf and perhaps invite him over for coffee.
She had known Logan as Andrew’s closest friend for some time now and had always thought highly of him. But after the incident, he had stopped coming around entirely.
Stephanie stared at her phone, uncertain for a moment whether to go through with it. After some consideration she decided to make the call anyway. She was genuinely concerned, and that was reason enough.
*******
Logan picked up on the other end.
"Hello, Logan. How are you doing?" Stephanie said, doing her best to keep her voice warm and steady.
"Hello, good morning. How was your night?" Logan replied calmly, as though he had no idea why she was calling, even though he was fairly certain it had everything to do with what Andrew had done.
There was a brief silence before Stephanie continued.
"I heard about what Andrew did, and I am so, so sorry. I think he is just going through a rough patch... no, actually, he was wrong, and I’m sure he’ll come to his senses soon. But in the meantime, I would really like to make it up to you. Please come over, let’s have some coffee and talk," Stephanie said carefully, choosing each word deliberately.
Silence from Logan’s end.
Sensing the hesitation, Stephanie quickly spoke again.
"If coming to the house feels awkward, I completely understand. We could always find a nice place to eat somewhere instead..." She was speaking faster than she intended, but before she could finish, Logan’s voice came through.
"Don’t worry, I’ll head over. Just give me a little time," Logan said, his tone calm and even.
"Are you sure you’re alright? If coming over is too much in your condition, I can bring someone over to tend to your injuries," Stephanie said with genuine concern.
"No, I’m not too badly hurt. I can manage on my own. I’ll be there shortly," Logan said calmly.
"Okay, take your time," Stephanie said, and after a brief pause she ended the call.
Logan shook his head slowly.
The last time he had been to Andrew’s house was back in first year, the day he had introduced Andrew to the soccer team.
They had come home early that afternoon and Logan had gone back with Andrew. Since he was always welcome there, he had decided to shower and change before the two of them settled in for a League of Legends marathon they had planned for that evening.
But while he was in the bathroom, Stephanie had arrived home and, needing to use the restroom quickly, had gone straight for the one downstairs without thinking. Andrew had been so locked into his game that he hadn’t even noticed her come in.
That was when she walked in on Logan.
Logan had panicked and reached out instinctively, trying to keep the situation from escalating, terrified she was about to scream and draw Andrew’s attention. But his reaction had only made everything more awkward. He had immediately stepped back and Stephanie had rushed out of the room without a word.
Logan pressed a hand to his forehead, cringing at how badly he had handled it.
He had left shortly after that day and had avoided going back to Andrew’s house ever since. Even though he and Stephanie had always gotten along well before that moment, the embarrassment had made it impossible to act normally around her.
"It shouldn’t be weird now though, right? That was almost a year ago," Logan thought to himself as he began getting ready to shower and head over to Stephanie’s house.