Unspoken Tension

“You could slice the tension in here with a knife,” Gerald said, idly swirling his drink.  I paused in the door afraid to reenter the living room.  There had been drama recently between my mom and her sister, but neither would tell anyone what had happened.  All we knew was this was the first time they had been together since the ‘event.’ 

I heard my mom’s throaty voice murmur something then the front door slammed shut.  The chatter from the living room quickly became much louder and I quickly retreated into the kitchen.  I didn’t want any part of whatever had just happened.  But I wondered whether staying or leaving would make things worse for me or not.  If my mom was the problem, I couldn’t leave, but if my aunt had stormed out, I would lose either way. 

My mom was my mom, but she didn’t like me very much.  My aunt, on the other hand, had done more for me than my mother either could or would do.  I headed back toward the coffee maker and tried to pretend I hadn’t heard anything. 

“Don’t bother making coffee.  They are both gone.  Something about making up.  Either that or making my life miserable,” my father said as he found me huddling in the corner of the kitchen. 

Life as I knew it was over.  They were teaming up against me. I needed to leave. Quickly.