I like Kelly’s mam. She’s sort of goofy and at the same time she looks sort of pretty and when she talks it’s like she’s one of us. She don’t scowl when someone swears or tells a rude joke – not like my mam would. And she drinks till her words is all slurred and they aren’t really words at all; that way she fits right in. Kelly said her mam was just lonely since her da left and that’s why she comes with us all the time. Kelly said she hoped it was ok and she said how she couldn’t really leave her mam sitting in the house all on her lonesome. I said it was fine. And so she was with us near every time we went out.
Even when we went to the pictures, Kelly’s mam was with us. Or when we were to the dancing. Kelly got me to dance with her mam sometimes and she wasn’t an embarrassment to dance with. Each time Kelly turned up with her mam, she made a face that said she was sorry. I told her it was no biggie and it really wasn’t. It was fun at first. And Kelly’s mam always paid her fair share and maybe a little more than her share. And she had a few good stories to tell, and Kelly was real grateful to me for letting her mam tag along. I mean Kelly was real grateful, if you get my meaning. And I just shrugged and I said again how it was no biggie.
Then one night it got a little weird. Kelly was up at the bar getting in drinks and there was music playing and the room was crowded and loud. Kelly’s mam, under the table so no one could see, well, she just stroked my inside leg, slow and soft, like it was a cat she was petting. She was busy talking to a girl across the table and she didn’t turn to look at me; just her hand on my leg. She stopped when Kelly came back with a tray of drinks.
I didn’t say nothing to no one and certainly not to Kelly. Everything just slipped back to normal after that and at the end of the evening I wasn’t really sure that I hadn’t imagined it. And Kelly’s mam didn’t let on neither.
We went back to Kelly’s mam’s house and we had something more to drink and I stayed over, same as usual. But this time I was a little more conscious of the noises me and Kelly made in bed and I wondered if Kelly’s mam could hear us through the wall. Even after Kelly was sleeping beside me, dead to the world, I lay back listening for the small and smallest sounds of the house settling down, and I thought I heard Kelly’s mam turning in her bed and making a noise like sighing.
It got a whole lot weirder the next day. Kelly was up and off to work pretty sharp and after she’d gone her mam came through without saying a word and she got into Kelly’s bed beside me. She smelled of roses and toothpaste and she’d brushed her hair and her nightdress was uncrumpled so I knew it was not something she’d slept in.
She lay with her head on my chest and one hand caressing my neck. And that was it. We stayed liked that for maybe a half hour, like we’d been and done the business and it was after and we were just being close and warm. Then, a little before eight, she leaned into me and kissed me – and I mean she really kissed me, like we was lovers; and I suppose I kissed her back. Really, that was it. She got up and left the room and I could hear her dressing and singing to herself through the wall.
I got up and dressed and went to work. Not a word was said and I didn’t know what to think – still don’t, except I can’t get Kelly’s mam out of my head and I can’t get that kiss out neither. Liking your girlfriend’s mam is one thing, but this was a whole different ball-game. I knew that, a whole other game entirely, and I wasn’t sure I even knew the rules. And in my head I could hear Kelly saying that she really appreciated me taking care of her mam the way I did, her voice all soft and cooing, and it’s like I am caught between a rock and a hard place… except that both of the places I am caught between are soft and warm, but no less dangerous for all that.
Patricia Ann McNair 
I like Kelly’s mam. She’s sort of goofy and at the same time she looks sort of pretty and when she talks it’s like she’s one of us. She don’t scowl when someone swears or tells a rude joke – not like my mam would. And she drinks till her words is all slurred and they aren’t really words at all; that way she fits right in. Kelly said her mam was just lonely since her da left and that’s why she comes with us all the time. Kelly said she hoped it was ok and she said how she couldn’t really leave her mam sitting in the house all on her lonesome. I said it was fine. And so she was with us near every time we went out.
Even when we went to the pictures, Kelly’s mam was with us. Or when we were to the dancing. Kelly got me to dance with her mam sometimes and she wasn’t an embarrassment to dance with. Each time Kelly turned up with her mam, she made a face that said she was sorry. I told her it was no biggie and it really wasn’t. It was fun at first. And Kelly’s mam always paid her fair share and maybe a little more than her share. And she had a few good stories to tell, and Kelly was real grateful to me for letting her mam tag along. I mean Kelly was real grateful, if you get my meaning. And I just shrugged and I said again how it was no biggie.
Then one night it got a little weird. Kelly was up at the bar getting in drinks and there was music playing and the room was crowded and loud. Kelly’s mam, under the table so no one could see, well, she just stroked my inside leg, slow and soft, like it was a cat she was petting. She was busy talking to a girl across the table and she didn’t turn to look at me; just her hand on my leg. She stopped when Kelly came back with a tray of drinks.
I didn’t say nothing to no one and certainly not to Kelly. Everything just slipped back to normal after that and at the end of the evening I wasn’t really sure that I hadn’t imagined it. And Kelly’s mam didn’t let on neither.
We went back to Kelly’s mam’s house and we had something more to drink and I stayed over, same as usual. But this time I was a little more conscious of the noises me and Kelly made in bed and I wondered if Kelly’s mam could hear us through the wall. Even after Kelly was sleeping beside me, dead to the world, I lay back listening for the small and smallest sounds of the house settling down, and I thought I heard Kelly’s mam turning in her bed and making a noise like sighing.
It got a whole lot weirder the next day. Kelly was up and off to work pretty sharp and after she’d gone her mam came through without saying a word and she got into Kelly’s bed beside me. She smelled of roses and toothpaste and she’d brushed her hair and her nightdress was uncrumpled so I knew it was not something she’d slept in.
She lay with her head on my chest and one hand caressing my neck. And that was it. We stayed liked that for maybe a half hour, like we’d been and done the business and it was after and we were just being close and warm. Then, a little before eight, she leaned into me and kissed me – and I mean she really kissed me, like we was lovers; and I suppose I kissed her back. Really, that was it. She got up and left the room and I could hear her dressing and singing to herself through the wall.
I got up and dressed and went to work. Not a word was said and I didn’t know what to think – still don’t, except I can’t get Kelly’s mam out of my head and I can’t get that kiss out neither. Liking your girlfriend’s mam is one thing, but this was a whole different ball-game. I knew that, a whole other game entirely, and I wasn’t sure I even knew the rules. And in my head I could hear Kelly saying that she really appreciated me taking care of her mam the way I did, her voice all soft and cooing, and it’s like I am caught between a rock and a hard place… except that both of the places I am caught between are soft and warm, but no less dangerous for all that.