Chapter 5

That shut her right up! I was waiting for a reply when there was another knock on my door. I got up to answer it and my mother protested right away but I ignored her. It was Gary again. My hero!

“I saw your Mama turn up, so I came to help.” Gary whispered. I had told him a few times how overbearing my mother was so seeing him gave me a little relief.

“So Alicia, your new lifestyle was a big hit last night you were so brave.” Gary said loud to make my mother hear. I started to panic when my mom came from behind to see what was going on.

“What was this about last night?” My mother pried.

“Sorry Gary, this is my monster of a mother, Beth.”

“It is really nice to meet the mother of this fantastic woman.”

“So what was that about last night? And I am guessing she was naked.” she said angrily.

“It was a charity advent at the legion for war vets. She raised a lot of money, and was such a hit that we are going to have another event soon.”

I gave Gary a look letting him know I knew he was talking about my naked drunken night.

“So, you need a naked woman to raise money for you?” My mother said sternly.

“No, she offered because her doctor said she had to do something in the nude.”

“Why, that fraud!” Mama said again. Then Gary gave me a look like he was losing control, and his story had more holes in it than Swiss cheese. Then he started talking about how the anxiety pills I was on made me blackout and end up naked somewhere. He told my mom most of the vets are on these drugs to deal with anxiety and they make us do weird things, but I was taking a natural route prescribed by the doctor. Also, I hadn’t had a blackout since.

“You blacked out?” She said.

“Yes, Mama. I did multiple times on those pills. I end up at the grocery store stark naked with no idea how I got there. It was because I had an anxiety attack at school so bad that I passed out that is why I was on the pills in the first place!”

I saw a slight glimmer of hope that Gary’s story might have done the trick.

“So this Doctor took you off pills that were harming you?”

“Yes, Mama. At first I thought he was nuts to have me go naked all the time, but it seems to have worked.”

“So, why are you so anxious?”

“Adrian is away on business a lot, and there’s the pressure YOU put me under.” I said hoping a little hard truth would help.

Mama was taken aback and was speechless for a moment, and then she apologized for the first time ever. It was such a monumental moment that I had to hug my mother, which she never did either. She was stiff and awkward at first, but she relaxed and said she was sorry again. Gary took his cue and returned home.

“Hold on, isn’t being naked in public illegal?”

“Actually, it isn’t. That is why the doctor prescribed nudity.”

“You are kidding. Really? So you won’t get arrested?”

“No, you should give it try.” I said, jokingly.

“Your father would love that! And I bet Adrian loves it?”

“Yes, Adrian does love it. Why not please Pa for once? It might reignite the spark you once had.”

Mama just stood there in silence I could see I hit a nerve. Then I saw tears come down her face and she opened up like never before. She told me the last few years it had been a sexless marriage. I stood there looking at mother who was always tough as nails sobbing uncontrollably. Through her sobs she said she didn’t know how to get that spark back. I couldn’t fathom what I was about to say, but I did.