No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
My boyfriend’s cousin Karen is an idiot, and her husband Todd and their kids aren’t much better. There had been a terrible fire in Karen and Todd’s home and while they and their kids were unharmed, their possessions were destroyed. They did have insurance, but claimed that they couldn’t afford a hotel room till things got sorted out. Normally, my boyfriend’s parents would have allowed them to stay at their place, but they were out of town and wouldn’t return until a couple of days later.
Plus, they knew better than to let this family have free rein over their house. My boyfriend’s sister was likewise suddenly “unwell and unable to have guests in her home”. I DO NOT blame her one bit. I would have done the same. So the responsibility to be there for family fell squarely on my boyfriend’s shoulders. He agreed to let them stay in his guest bedroom until his parents got back.
I tried to talk him out of it but my man is kind and caring to a fault. It’s what I love about him the most, but sometimes it’s also the one thing I wish I could change about him. We lived to regret this act of kindness. Anyway, I had been out of town for a few days and he picked me up from the airport and we went straight to his place.
Karen and Todd acted happy to see me. Of course they did. What choice did they have? After a surprisingly quiet and peaceful dinner, we decided to go to bed. This is how the conversation that followed went. Him: Karen, we are going to bed. If your kids are going to watch TV, just make sure the volume is down. Karen: What do you mean “we”? You can’t sleep in the same room. Not while my kids are here.
Him: What??? Karen: You can live a sinful lifestyle all you want, but I don’t want my kids exposed to it. I don’t want to have to explain to them why a man and a woman who are not husband and wife are sleeping in the same bed. It’ll be a bad influence on them. Him: You’re in my home Karen, you can’t enforce your rules here. Just go to bed and keep your nose out of where it doesn’t belong.
Todd: She’s right you know, you really shouldn’t be sleeping together if you’re not married. But if you’re gonna do that anyway, you should just go to her place. I was so proud of what he did next. Him: I have a better idea. Why don’t you pack your stuff and get the heck out of MY apartment? Karen (wiping off invisible tears): How could you say that? We’re family. Why would you try to cruelly traumatize our kids with your sinful lifestyle?
Him (now raising his voice): I haven’t started to get “cruel” yet. Just pack your things and go stay in a hotel room. Todd being the slightly more sensible one, knew that my boyfriend meant business and he somehow got his wife to go to the guest room. He then apologized to my boyfriend and spewed some kind of garbage about his wife being upset due to recent events (the fire) and that she didn’t know what she was saying.
It was all just an excuse for her behavior. My boyfriend told him they could stay, but to remember that he wasn’t going to be pushed around in his own home. Later on, as we were busy engaging in our “favorite” activity, my dramatic side had the urge to scream loud enough for the entitled family to hear me. But, as I didn’t want to muddy the waters anymore, I decided against it.