I decide to kill some time in Greywall since I’m not booked for a job for a few months. With Grandma on her trip to Hawaii with Ethel’s family, I don’t feel as much guilt as normal at the idea of seeing my parents. I shouldn’t feel guilty, I know, but they’ve all put me in the middle of this family feud. I feel guilty when I’m with my grandma and I feel guilty when I’m with my parents. There’s no winning.
Walking into my childhood home, the smell of oil paints is a welcoming scent and reminds me of better times, when our family dynamic wasn’t as strained as a piano wire. My dad always painted, even when the company was still in the family. Back then it was just a hobby.
“Mom? Dad?” I call.
No one answers because more than likely, they’re in two different rooms.
I head to my mom’s works
