Chapter 54 - You broke my brother.
Jeanine marched out of the Brooklyn police station with her gucci purse in hand and a branded sunglasses to hide face from the shame that her son constantly caused her. Day in and out. Luc followed behind his mother. Dressed in last nights clothes, hair disheveled and tiny stubble right below his chin. His mom didn't even spare him a glance as she went into her silver latest Range Rover. She didn't want to bring a driver along, that would just bring a lot of unwanted attention.
Luc was practically running behind his mother who immediately opened the drivers door to her car. She seemed angry, as she slammed the door shut, Luc thought but this wasn't the first time. He just needed someone to bail him out and a ride to where ever he was going to go to. Then he would get out of her hair.
The drive was silent.
Luc whistled here and there.
"Just shut up will you!!" Jeanine snapped at her son who only shrugged.
"Why can't you be more like Andre huh Luc? Is that so hard? You're such an embarrassment to us all. Why can't you be normal. You don't want to grow up and you're practically homeless and jobless. You're only surviving off Andre." Jeanine yelled hitting the staring wheel with her recently manicured nails.
Luc only laughed.
"You're a disgrace." Jeanine spat fuming with anger and disbelief.
"You want me to be like Andre? So you can drug my pregnant other half and deceive me too?!" Luc chuckled. "You can miss me with that bullshit." Luc said looking at his side of the window noticing how busy the New York streets always were.
Jeanine was utterly shocked.
"I would rather be homeless and jobless than live up to your expectations where I can't even be myself and I'm not happy. If you think what you did was what was best for Andre then you're mistaken.." Luc continued. "You don't even notice how much weight Andre has lost these past few years. He is actually looking better now these couple of months ever since she came back.."
Jeanine pretended to be focused on the road but every word that her son said hit her like ton of bricks stumbling down her head. She thought apologizing to Andre and Della would find her closure. It seemed things had only turned for the worst.
"You destroyed his marriage and the least you could have done is stay with him during his heartbreak period but no mother. You destroyed his marriage then immediately went away and continued with your perfect life. I had to be the one cleaning up after Andre's puke because he had chased away all the maids. I had to be the one holding him as he cried. I had to be the one taking all the blows that were meant for the wall.. your freaking job since you're Mrs. Know it all."
"I d-didn't even know.." Jeanine stumbled upon her words.
"You didn't even check on him, how would you know. So you thought after his divorce he would just jump with joy and host a party. You're the most selfish person I have ever met, mother."
"You broke my brother and I won't allow you to break me too."
"Luc.." Jeanine said as tears silently streamed down her cheeks. She couldn't take it anymore, she immediately parked the car on the side of the road. This was the worst day of her life.
"You stole six years of his son's childhood from him and do you realize Andre will never have that? I'm sorry if Andre has never told you all this shit but I will do it for him gladly. I hate seeing you cry but you have to hear this.." Luc said with so much anger filled in his gloomy blue eyes like that of his brother. He couldn't take it anymore, he was tired of pretending everything was okay.
"What you did to Della was beyond malefic, I would have personally sent you to jail if you weren't my mother. How do you live with yourself knowing that you drugged a pregnant woman and took away her dignity. You had the nerve to undress her and let a stranger see her in the most vulnerable state... mom how- I-" Luc was out of words, he was speechless. His mother balled her eyes out, leaning on the staring wheel, hiding her shame like a little girl. She removed her sunglasses, as she wept. Afraid her fake eyelashes would fall off.. she couldn't exactly wipe her tears properly so she just waited for them to fall as she silently closed her eyes..
"You know.." Luc chuckled. "Growing up you always told Andre and I what to wear. I suppose that was normal because you were our mother but at nineteen you still told Andre what to wear, you still chose what hair styles we were supposed to have. You applied which University Andre had to go to.. never ever did you ask him what he wanted. I don't think you have ever asked him that. I watched you control every aspect of Andre's life and it sickened me. You chose for us the friends we should hang out with. You controlled every part and parcel of our lives. You convinced me to go study accounting at the university of your choice, i listened like your little puppet but after I saw what you did to Andre after he got divorced. I quit, I told myself I would be myself and not live to impress you or anyone.. I would live my life to the fullest."
Jeanine couldn't stop crying against the staring wheel, she thought she was dreaming because it hurt. All she ever wanted was to be a good mother to her boys, she didn't realized how much she was affecting every part of their lives.
"You were always such a control freak.." Luc added on. "Like the time Andre joined the school band and you heard he was playing bass guitar. You yelled at him for hours and hours and reminded him how much of a poor decision it was every day. I suppose when Andre finally decided to play the piano.. you were so overjoyed ; you even bought him his own piano that he didn't even want.. Andre wanted a guitar not some personally crafted piano that was played by a great pianist from the 1800s, that should have been in a museum somewhere."
Jeanine never ever realized how much she had hurt her kids She had absolutely no idea that this was the way they felt.
"Andre spent his whole life impressing you and listening to you then he finally met Della. He loved her with everything he had, you could literally take away everything from him but not Della. She meant everything to him at the time and I'm pretty sure even now."
"For fucksake, he dressed how you wanted him to, he was the perfect child always, he played the sports you wanted him to, he studied what you wanted him to and the only thing you could have at-least allowed him to have was a choice in whom he wanted to spend the rest of his miserable life with.."
"Don't ever ask me to be like Andre.! This is me, you either like it or you move along and do what you do best.."
Jeanine only realized the damage that she had done in this moment and time. She had put Andre through so much and she couldn't take it back.