13 Sylvia (2/2)
”Came home late every other day of the month and sometimes not even coming home at all! She even lied that she was staying at a girlfriend's house but it was a strange man all along! Is that proper conduct for a respectable young lady?! For shame, for shame!” Sighed Mrs. Xu as she shook her head despondently.
”Grandma, I have already told you he is not some strange man. He is my friend, although I suppose you could call him a close friend…”
”Mother, see! She has already explained herself. It is just a friend of hers. You cannot impose your outdated views on Sylvia, the times have moved on. If anything, this is more your fault for refusing to change your views than hers!”
”Mom, that's taking it a bit too far. Grandma is just looking out for me, there is definitely nothing wrong with that…”
Joann shot Sylvia a look and the latter shut up immediately. Sylvia who was half-lifted off the floor decided upon a compromise and slid silently onto the sofa. She was going to sit this one out then.
”Do not try to turn this on me, if anything, the fault falls on your shoulder because she turns out this way because you were not around to present the girl with a good example to follow.”
As all fights tended to, the argument soon moved away from its original point of contention and it devolved into a fight for the sake of a fight.
”Mother, you suspect my parenting skills but you have not done so well for yourself either. It was because you were and are such a helicopter mother that Xu Jing turns out to be such a spineless man, afraid of anything and everything!”
The term helicopter parent was a derogatory term used to mock mother or parent who refused to have their children leave their side and swiveled around them like an actual helicopter.
”I should have known you would not the hardship and responsibility of a mother since you were raised without one to begin with. To stress what I have said earlier, this is why Sylvia turns out like this. She is going to grow up to became an insolent and rude wild child, not unlike yourself if myself and Xu Jing had not stepped in!”
Sylvia did try to step in to mediate the argument but she was either shot a warning glare by either one of the women or was told directly, ”Shush, this does not concern you!”
She too was feeling quite helpless being stuck in the middle.
Before the fight could have the chance to escalate further, i.e. before the two elder women turned physical, Sylvia decided to jump up from the sofa and shout at the top of her lungs apropos to nothing.
”CHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILDREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!”