Jennifer spent her day talking with new people who she had never met and it seemed like that her own mother was keeping an eye on her. Jennifer had no idea why but it felt like she was always in the eye distance watching what her daughter was doing. She didn't want to ask why her mother was doing this but at some point of the day Sylvia confirmed to Jennifer a sneaking suspicious what she always had. Sylvia was drinking beer straight of the can in the same room as Jennifer was spending her own day scrolling on her mother's smartphone.
"...could you repeat what you just said?" Jennifer asked as she couldn't believe how pridefully she had just dropped a metaphorical bomb in her life.
"Sweety I told you. Somehow I'm getting younger and I'm thinking it's because of you." Sylvia said while downing a beer down her throat as if she was in college. "I tried to come up with excuses to see how would you react and the more I did the more you acted too... how should I put this... too similar to be a daughter who had no idea. The last one being a red herring to see if you would take your time to do what were you told or stay in the room."
Jennifer couldn't say a word. She was speechless as she watched her mother opening another can.
"I have no idea how we ended up in here as at first I thought I was only one living my dream and well, you know, I think it got a little bit out of hand. I hope you weren't listening to me... heh..." Sylvia continued. "I don't even know if this daydrinking is becoming part of me now or what's going to happen but who cares at this point."
"Mom, how can you be so chill when our lives are getting so fucked?" Jennifer asked from her mother.
"Listen. Sometimes life gives you lemons. You enjoy them and then you have none left. You can't expect those lemons appearing all the time and you should be thankful for what you're given." Sylvia explained. "Wow... This beer is hitting me so hard already... Sorry sweety but your mom have to pig out a little bit. I really need to take a piss."
In that same moment Sylvia stood up and wobbled to the corner and let a small leak to the usual spot where she had earlier instructed Jennifer to pee.
"Mom. How to do you feel about the changes that happens to you? Like what happens to you when I go to sleep?" Jennifer asked.
"Huh? Changes? Nah... I just wake up with a feeling that something's changed and I act like it's normal. There's few things here and there but I have a clear memory of 'what I am supposed to do' and 'who I am', if it makes sense to you?" Sylvia explained. "Like today, I personally had no idea that there was a piss spot like this or that I had sex that cause me to get pregnant but these things were true when I woke up so they basically became part of me. So I apologize if I can't control my thoughts but even at this point it feels odd for not to... uhmm... have a... uhm..."
"Have sex?" Jennifer frowned.
"Yeah... Sorry Jen... It's like a script that I have to follow but this beer isn't a good enough replacement for it." Sylvia came back and cracked another can open.
Her mother begun to smell like beer and urine as the whole situation started to look dire. Maybe she was right. Just going with the flow was the correct choice and even if things looked... well... fucked. They always could have been worse. But how was she still failing if her mother was 'following the script' and there was no source for the rudeness.
"Mom? Do you know why I keep failing even if I'm not being rude?" Jennifer asked.
Sylvia went silent and looked as if she was trying to think her words carefully. Jennifer got suspicious as her mother had just explained a lot to her but somehow it seemed like an excuse more than an actual reason what was happening inside her mother's mind. The worry for her mother lying and still trying her best to make her younger was still in the open. The silence didn't help her as she soon switched the topic. Jennifer looked at the floor and thought if her mother was just getting buzzed... or Jennifer was getting gaslight by her mom and she was getting played like a fiddle. Even if she had come clean her behaviour didn't make sense at all. Why not just ask her daughter directly on the first day when she had her hunch? Her mother had nothing to lose by asking but instead she went extra mile by inventing a 'homeschooling day'... homeschooling... school... was that the crux of the situation...? Was her mom preventing her from attending the school? Why? What was Sylvia's end goal here?