The Talk

My husband, Andy, is not a happy bunny these days.  Have you ever seen him look like this?
First, the camping trip he so looked forward to had to be postponed...

..and now he's got to deal with the person who made him look like this.  Our youngest daughter, Skylar. 

I didn't catch the entire argument, but apparently Skylar wanted to go to a fellow singer's party downtown.  This singer is an adult.  And Andy wouldn't let her go.

Skylar went off.  Completely ballistic.  Stamped her feet and basically called Andy every name in the book.

When I talked to Andy I could definitely see the disappointment on his face.

Is Skylar's behavior that of a typical teen?  Or is there something going on?  I haven't quite been able to figure that out yet.

I mean, when Sierra was doing what she was doing, we knew what she was doing wasn't at all typical, especially since the police was at our house every other night.

Sage didn't do any of this stuff.  Nor did Satis, for that matter.

We can't really tell with Skylar.  We don't know if she's acting this way because of Kaydence or what. 

Meanwhile, we sent Kaydence on a visit to her dad, who'd returned basically to have his son.   And not much has changed...she still lectures him like I lecture my own kids.
Mostly, though, it's reminders about meetings and financial matters, stuff that she's handled pretty much since she was a tot.

At the end of the day, though, it's all love, although her sharing his bed at her age is a bit creepy to me.

The next day I went over to Bassy's to pick her up.  He'd installed security gates outside his new rental home because paps were climbing windows just to get pictures.

"Hey Sis!" I heard Bassy call from the backyard.  For a moment there it sounded like the old Bassy.  The Bassy I knew before he went to Bridgeport.

He had a broad smile.  It was like he wanted to see me.
He was dressed in a costume, I assumed it was for another role.

I looked closer.  His smile seemed tired and forced, and his forehead had creased into worry lines.  I knew he was aging but still, there were signs of the real Bassy underneath this shell of a person. 

I know my baby brother is in there somewhere.

"What's up?" he asked me.
"I came to pick up Kaydence."
He sighed.  "She's not here, she went to the studio."
I'd forgotten she had an acting job, in addition to her extracurriculars and her school work.  Seriously, the girl doesn't know when to stop.

I told him about the Skylar incident with Andy, probably against my better judgment.
He laughed.  "That sounds familiar."  He cited his own recent blowup with Kaydence before he left the first time. 
"Andy seems really hurt by what she said.  I don't know how to cheer him up."
"She'll cool off.  She'll realize what she said and come groveling to him in apology."
It's funny how the roles got reversed... and now I'm asking HIM for advice.

While we continued to chat, one of the paparazzo still managed to find her way in to snap pictures.

Then Bassy got serious.  I knew that look.  He wanted to tell me something.
"This is my last film role," Bassy said.  "I've decided to leave the movie business for good."
"Does Kaydence know?"
"I haven't discussed it with her yet."
"So, what are you going to do now?"
"Well, I've paid off most of my debts and because of this latest project I've got some left over to live on, so I'll figure out what I'm going to do next.  Right now I promise to spend more time with Kady and Jazz."
I'm wondering if he's just tired and needs a rest - or he's really going to walk out on his life's work.  Either way, maybe some time off would do him a lot of good. 

All the time he's spent running, he can't run anymore.

That bitch Madison broke his heart, took his money, and sapped his spirit.  Now that he is back in the Valley, in familiar confines, hopefully he will start to recover at least some of what he lost.