I narrowed my eyes at her. All the stress I had been feeling, grief, guilt, and frustration all bubbled over. I couldn’t hold the shit anymore.

“You care about my life? Riddle me this, Ma. Why does it seem like your only concern is who I’m fucking or how big my contracts are? You never seem concerned about nothing else. I can count on one hand how many times you’ve asked how I’ve been doing since Jeronee died. You care about my life, but you don’t care about my feelings. You can’t even make sure the press doesn’t ask me about my deceased brother.”

My mother recoiled. A look of hurt flashed across her face. “That’s how you feel? You think I don’t give a damn about you, Kellon? You’re my son. I love you.”

“I don’t doubt your love, Ma… But if you really cared, you would have noticed that I’m hurting. I’m not happy. I need to grieve. But that’s never been your priority. It’s always about shit that doesn’t matter.”

“Kellon!”

Her mouth snapped shut, and she stood there in shock. I’d never spoken to her this way. I had always given her the utmost respect, but this shit needed to be said.

“You are not about to sit up here and speak to me crazy. I’m just trying to tell you what’s right. You don’t have to follow it, but dammit, you’re going to listen.” She shook her head and snapped her fingers.

“The only person that needs to listen is you, Ma. You are more flawed than me.”

“You know what? I don’t need to listen to this. I have a home.” She turned on her heels and headed toward the elevator. “You don’t want me in your business? Fine. You don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

Moving quickly, I followed behind her, jumping on the elevator just before the door shut.

“I’ll have Monte bring the car around.”

Mad or not, I wasn’t about to allow my mother on the streets of New York at night alone. The elevator descended to ground level without us saying a word to each other. When the doors opened, she stormed off fast toward the awaiting SUV. Monte could barely get her door open in time.

“Get home safe, Mom,” I said as she climbed inside and shut the door. “Let me know when she’s home. Make sure she is good before leaving,” I instructed the driver.