His mother looked at him for a long moment with an expression of shock which he expected. Dana Berkowitz had three children, two through birth and one through adoption. Stanley was the latter and as for the former, Natalie was the eldest and Wendy was the youngest.
"You want to know about Wendy?"
"Yes" he replied.
Of all his family Stanley could say without a shadow of a doubt that he and Wendy had the least complicated relationship…because they didn't really have much of one. He loved his sister Natalie, he cared very much for his mother and he loathed his mother's ex-husband but when it came to Wendy however their relationship wasn't so easily defined. She never did anything to earn his animosity but at the same time didn't do enough to earn his affection leading her to fall somewhere in the middle between those spectrums.
It wasn't always like this, he could remember a time in their youth when she had a larger presence in his life. The reason for them drifting apart the way they did was almost completely out of her hands. Wendy was always her father's favorite and he was protective of her. It wasn't farfetched to say that the man saw Stanley as a bad influence and actively worked to keep them apart. His efforts only became noticeable to Stanley after Natalie left and even then he could see it before then with the benefit of hindsight.
Not that Stanley didn't shoulder any blame in this as he delved more into internet culture he became more reclusive and eventually stopped hanging out with her. Stanley could vividly remember a few times where he actually neglected Wendy while she made attempts to hang out with him, choosing instead to sit at his computer and immerse himself in the internet.
It also didn't help that he had a growing resentment towards Wendy since she was treated much better than him by her father. Back then Stanley actually thought of the man as his father figure, cared about his opinion and wanted validation. Stanley would eventually learn about his adoption after which all his anger and resentment turned towards the man whom he would forever refer to as that guy or he/him but mostly he just called him asshole.
Unfortunately the revelation and subsequent pivot of his emotions came too late as by that point the distance between him and his little sister grew to the point where they were essentially strangers sharing a living space. In public they don't hang out and in fact avoid each other unless it couldn't be helped. In private their interaction kept to customary greetings or relaying messages. On the rare occasions that they find themselves alone together there's this awkward silence that permeates until one of them leaves the vicinity and he's usually the one who caved first.
Their relationship was seemingly unsalvageable not that he (or Wendy for that matter) was in a mental or emotional position to even attempt to fix it. Their mother on the other hand being aware of this actively kept trying to mend that burnt bridge. She was actually responsible for a few of the aforementioned rare instances that the two were left alone together and/or forced to interact with each other more than strictly necessary. She didn't stop trying even up until he left for college but it never worked.
Not even Natalie bothered to give him updates about Wendy when she deigned to inform him about the family. Or maybe she did but Wendy's presence was so minimal in his mind he might have actually blanked on whatever information was told about her. He knew for a fact that barely if any thought was spared for Wendy that wasn't prompted by a mention from someone else in the years since he left home.
He assumed at this point his mother might have given up on salvaging that relationship since even in her recollection Wendy was hardly mentioned. Or maybe she was merely biding her time until she was ready to broach the subject again. It hadn't escaped him that his mother was walking on eggshells around him, afraid that saying the wrong thing might set him off.
She could never have expected him to be the one to inquire about Wendy but all the same she was all too eager to speak about his estranged younger sister after getting over her shock. From what she already explained his presence or lack thereof didn't really change the status quo all that much which was expected. Though having two of their kids cutting ties with the family did cause some underlying tension.
The asshole was willing to write off Stanley and Natalie and pretend they didn't exist, his mother naturally didn't. This as well as how he handled the situation with them to begin with was the source of many arguments between them. He seemed to put all his attention on Wendy who miraculously turned out seemingly better off than Stanley and Natalie. She maintained a 4.0 GPA at minimum, did chess and volleyball as extracurricular activities, had friends who weren't a 'bad' influence and didn't resist his orders or directives. By all accounts she was the model daughter and student that was set to become someone who would go on to achieve great things.
So you could imagine how surprised they were when they found out Wendy smoked weed. Stanley was surprised too, it was a little hard to reconcile the memories of the little girl he knew doing something like that but he knew next to nothing about the 'stranger' she became. Then he thought about it logically and it started to make a lot of sense. For all that she seemed like a well adjusted person he could imagine her needing an outlet for all the pressure of meeting the high expectations of her parents, teachers and peers.
So how did they find out?
Wendy got ratted out by a classmate to one of the teachers who searched through her bag and found a couple grams of hash. Teacher told the principal who reported it to the police and contacted her parents. Amusingly the asshole seemed less concerned with his daughter doing drugs (for a definition of marijuana) and more vexed by the manner in which she was found out.
As much as he hated to admit it Stanley agreed and he could only imagine that whoever the classmate was that rat her out had to be a dickhead who was jealous of her. Who else would be lame enough to rat out a classmate for smoking weed? Stanley hated the smell of weed and not even he would be that joyless.
His mother adamantly disagreed but this was expected since she's one of those parents who thought violent videogames acted as a primer for kids becoming criminals. His mother hated drugs of any kind and did not differentiate one from the other. To her weed was just as bad as heroin which unfortunately made her recollection of events and impassioned admonishment of Wendy sound worse than it probably was.
Personally Stanley thought marijuana was one of the least damaging options she could have gone with. Marijuana is not a gateway drug and imbibing won't necessarily lead to Wendy's downfall which makes it better than alcohol and actual hardcore drugs in that sense. The fact that she was able to maintain her model student image proved that point and says more about her than what his mother was willing to believe let alone admit.
Also Stanley knew plenty of people both online and personally who did recreational weed smoking and still turned out to be productive members of society. In his unprofessional and totally subjective opinion smoking weed only becomes a problem when the person doing it is stuck in a situation where they feel it's the only way to help them cope. Take them out of said situation and at worst they might do it every once in a while.
It shouldn't be a coincidence that this came out around the time that her parents were going through a rather heated divorce. When life is shit you need a means to cope with the shittiness. It's a concept that Stanley was very familiar with, the only difference is he went with videogames and junk food. He supposed it's a good thing his idiosyncrasies didn't make him brazen enough to even try drugs and alcohol.
Most people, teenagers especially wouldn't be able to handle the exposure but Wendy was clearly an exception. Wendy had always been an oddly well adjusted individual and very amicable by the standards of teenagers in her position. Said position was being her father's favorite where she got special treatment and was coddled. With him being more agreeable to her demands technically she could get away with things neither Stanley nor Natalie could back in the day.
Surprisingly she never became a spoiled brat or entitled despite the situation leaning towards that. He chalked it up to their mother's influence because say what you want about Dana Berkowitz but she did not tolerate certain things in her household and curb stomped any budding entitlement issues before they could take root. Even the asshole knew to stay in his lane when it came to the domestic stuff.
You'd think the discovery of her 'unsavory' hobby would induce some kind of major fallout but overall it seemingly didn't change much. Or maybe his mother was an unreliable narrator because she was going through a lengthy divorce proceeding at the time and only got custody of Wendy every other week for a little bit before she was sent off to University.
And that's where Wendy was by the end of the retelling, at University studying for a degree. There was a lull of silence then that was interrupted by Stanley.
"I had no idea…"
"Why is that?" his mother questioned "didn't Natalie tell you?"
"In her defense I specifically told her not to tell me anything about you guys."
"O-oh…"
It didn't stop Natalie from giving him updates but not consistently since her talking about them would immediately set him off and their interaction would be forcefully cut short.
"Sorry about that" he apologized.
"It's alright."
It wasn't but he wouldn't comment any further.
"Since we're on the topic of your sister could you find it in yourself to talk to her again?"
Stanley blinked before his expression turned uncomfortable "I mean, it's not like I was ever mad at her or anything."
"Then you wouldn't mind if I bring her along when I eventually visit your home?"
Stanley gave a long drawn out "uh…"
Finally after nearly a minute of this his mother decided to give him a break "you don't need to give an answer right now just think about it."
"Yes!"
His mother giggled in response before looking to sky "well I'd say today has been very productive don't you think?"
Stanley blinked then looked at his phone seeing that another hour and a half has passed 'damn.'
"Yeah" he replied then stood up and stretched with a grunt "so where are we going?"
"We?" his mother asked while getting to her feet.
"I need to know where I should drop you off."
She blinked at him before speaking "that's not-"
"Mom, I'm not letting you take the bus" he interrupted with a deadpan stare to which she raised a disapproving brow that he wilted under "s-sorry."
"Stanley, I have a car" the woman responded with a huff.
That threw him for a loop "since when?"
"Since I had reasons to travel frequently" she paused "didn't I mention that?"
"You didn't" he shook his head.
"Are you sure you didn't just forget?"
"Not this time."
He was actually locked in during their entire conversation.
She hummed in thought at that before smiling at him "well now you know and I appreciate the thought."
For some reason Stanley felt his cheeks heat up and he forced down while looking away from her. The short giggling did not help at all and he once again cursed himself for getting flustered.
His mom just had that kind of effect on him.
The two left not long afterwards with Stanley 'escorting' her to her car which was only a couple dozen feet from where he parked. He received a hug in return that yet again flustered him as she went and did it in front of passing pedestrians. Luckily no one really cared about the PDA of a mother and son so he was spared the discomfort of their attention.
Once he saw her off Stanley returned to his own car and drove home with much to think about. After what he went through today it felt like he experienced a freaking episode of a drama series so he was prepared for the rest of the day to be relatively smooth sailing. He'd go home, take a bath, eat some delicious food and cap the night off going balls deep inside Ezraphel.
Easy, clear cut and simple right?
Unfortunately for him the world wasn't done with him yet.
To preface the regular route he would usually take to get out the neighborhood had been under construction forcing him to take a path he'd never really been to before. It wasn't hard to navigate but it was definitely a more scenic and roundabout route. It was a minor inconvenience at best but as he turned a particular corner he almost did a break check but managed to smoothly turn the corner and park inconspicuously near the curb.
"What the fuck?" he whispered to himself in disbelief.
It shouldn't be possible what he was witnessing right now yet seeing was believing and the more he saw the more he believed.
*Twitch*
Shock turned into anger as Stanley gripped the steering wheel tightly as his enhanced eyesight saw everything clearly despite the distance.
And what did he see to elicit such a reaction?
Why, it was that one Golem that Ezraphel made last Easter walking hand in hand with some random dude and they were clearly acting like a couple.
"Oh Ezraphel" he seethed with gritted teeth "you have some explaining to do."