Christmas had come and gone, and little had been resolved. Celina had been kind enough to invite both Hutch and Cherry to join their family for Christmas dinner, but Hutch had declined given the shaky ground between him and his mother.
However, despite the tension, Hutch had followed through on his promise and cooked his mother a proper Christmas feast with turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, string beans, jellied cranberries, and a pumpkin pie for dessert. There wasn't much to celebrate, as far as he was concerned, but it seemed to make her happy, and it lightened the mood between them, at least for a few days.
Then on the 28th, the written agreement arrived from Casimir, via courier, laying out every detail of the proposal, that Hutch and he had worked out between phone conversations, including a very generous salary that Hutch was certain would be enough to sway Cherry's opinion in his favor. Unfortunately, Cherry refused permission once again, although she was either incapable or unwilling to give a definitive reason as to why; switching from one reason to another unwilling to budge.
"I'm not going to change my mind! I'm sorry Hutch, but it's out of the question. I'm not going to let you live with strangers, no matter how much they claim they're willing to pay!" Her voice was getting louder every time she opened her mouth, only drawing quiet when she took a drag of her cigarette.
"It's not a claim. This is a job offer, and Casimir told me…"
"Casimir? You're on a first name basis with him then?"
"Actually, I prefer to call him Cas, but that's beside the point. He told me, there's room to negotiate. If living there is the problem, let's talk about it and find a solution," Hutch said, remaining calm and attempting to find any reason he could to bring this back to a civil discussion.
"There is nothing to discuss, Jules. You are not moving in with them. You are not working for them. You are not doing this co-op!" Cherry shouted, slamming her hands against the table as she rose from her chair and leaned ever closer to him. "Enrolling in their recommended high school! Driving their cars or eating their food! You are not to have anything to do with that family! Do you hear me?!" She was fuming, her hands planted firm, cigarette burning between her fingers, as a vicious scowl marred her painted face.
"I hear you," Hutch replied, gather up the papers of the agreement and placing them back into the envelope as she lowered herself back into her chair.
"Then promise me that you'll let this go," she demanded, before pressing her cigarette between her lips.
Hutch lifted his eyes to meet hers, the wafts of smoke hanging in their air, illuminated by the light above their kitchen table. He searched her face for any sign of what was really going on inside of her head, but there was nothing but an unjustifiable anger.
"You're positive that you won't reconsider trying to find a compromise between what I want and what you think is appropriate for me?" He gave her one last chance to be reasonable, but instead, she grit her teeth, and lashed out.
"You stubborn little… You can't see it now, but one day, you'll understand that nothing good was going to come of this, and you'll thank me for keeping you away from those people. Now promise!"
"No." His answer was blunt, cold, and devoid of interpretation.
"I'm sorry, but what did you just say to me?"
"You really shouldn't look so shocked," he replied, with a faint sigh, as she stared, slack-jawed, at him. "I said, no. While I asked for your permission, I had hoped you understood that I've never required it. I've tried to be reasonable about this with you, but for reasons I can't fathom, you've insisted on taking a hardline stance on this, and you refuse to give me a single legitimate reason as to why."
"It's because I'm your mother and I said so!" she snapped back at him, slamming down her fist against the tabletop. "I don't owe you any other explanation!"
"But you do," he responded calmly. "You're asking me to give up on a worthwhile future because you say so, and that isn't good enough. Your feelings on this alone, aren't good enough. Your personal bias isn't good enough. I'm willing to listen and work with you for both of our benefit, but I need more than just, 'because I told you so,'."
Cherry slowly shook her head, her lips pressed tight, chest heaving, eyes filled with rage, as she lifted her hand and pointed ferociously at his chest. "You defiant little punk. I'd really thought you'd changed, but there you are. The same rotten little fuck you've always been. After everything I've done for you. Everything I've given. Working myself to the breaking point, day in and day out for seventeen years, to guarantee you'd have a roof over your head, food in your gut and clothes on your back, with no help from anyone! Not a single thing from that shithole bastard that knocked me up! Not a single fucking dime of help! Not from any of them, my own fucking family, and not from you! And here they are after all this time, throwing their money around, and you're ready to run out that door. Then run, Jules. You fucking run. You take that offer; you go move into that big fancy house and you let them grind you into dust and bone until there's nothing left. But don't you dare ever think about coming back here and begging for a place to stay when they throw your sorry ass back out on the streets!" Tossing the remains of her cigarette into the ashtray, Cherry grabbed a beer from the fridge and stormed into her room, slamming the door shut.
Hutch took a breath. He refused to let her anger, or her words rile him. He had really hoped that she wouldn't revert to the same toxic, childish behaviors she'd used in the past to get her way, back when her anger would feed his own. He'd hoped that his recent contributions and strides to better himself would have resonated louder with her than they had, but perhaps it was too little too late. She still saw him as he used to be, and refused to see who he'd become, and in that, he now saw that there could be no middle ground.
Reaching over, he snuffed out the burning remains of her cigarette and left the table. Grabbing the receiver of the phone, he dialed Casimir's number and headed into his room.
"Hello?" Casimir answered.
"It's me. Things just went south. I hate to ask, but could you come and get me?" Hutch asked as he grabbed an old duffle bag out from beneath his bed.
"Certainly, but how far south are you talking?"
"The only way I'm taking your offer is if I don't have a place to come back to."
"Harsh. She's really that against this?"
"Yeap. Wouldn't even consider a compromise. Asked her twice. It's like dealing with Rochpawa's Chief all over again."
Casimir let out a chuckle. "By the gods, that woman was the angriest old lady, I'd ever met, and stubborn to her very core."
"You're telling me? Cherry just gave me flash backs," Hutch huffed.
"Alright, I'll be in the truck in about five minutes."
"There's a gas station, not too far down the road past the trailer park, I'll be waiting there for you."
"Sounds good. It might take me more than an hour to get there though. The roads are a mess because of the snow."
"No worries. And Cas," Hutch said as he stuffed a handful of clean shirts into his bag.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for this."
"Of course. Now shut up and get packing. I'll see you soon."
When the call disconnected, Hutch returned the receiver to its base, and then returned to his room and finished packing. Once he was done, he wrote a quick letter and stuffed into the front pocket of the duffle bag, along with the envelope containing the written agreement.
This wasn't how he'd ever expected to leave, but at the same time, it seemed to suit the way his life had gone up to that point.
Changing into a set of long underwear, he put on his favorite pair of jeans, long sleeved shirt, warmest hoodie, and thickest socks. Putting on his shoes and jacket, gloves, toque, and the scarf his mother had just given to him for Christmas, he grabbed his bag and quietly left the trailer without leaving a word of farewell or a letter of goodbye. Cherry had drawn a line in the sand, and he'd chosen to ignore it.
It was already dark, and the snow had been falling near constant for the last four days, with no sign of stopping. The world was beautiful under its new, heavy blanket of white, Christmas lights still twinkling beneath, and as Hutch walked away, heading to drop off the letter he'd written at Ren's, for whatever reason, he couldn't stop smiling.