... to be promiscuous, it's Richard, and Richard only, who tries to shut it down. Does else find Sheryl's reticence rather odd - and unsettling? She is Dwayne's mother, after all.
sharePerhaps she wasn't saying anything because Richard was already yelling at him to stop it. Both of them need not yell at the same time to make the point.
Maybe there were a few reasons why Sheryl didn't speak up:
1. Richard was already telling him off, why add more loud voices to the mix
2. It wasn't her father, it was just her father-in-law and she didn't feel comfortable telling someone outside her family off
3. It was a grown man and she wasn't comfortable telling a grown man off
4. She already displayed comfortability with being open and honest with feelings, as evidenced by allowing Frank tell her 7 year old daughter about his suicide attempt. Maybe she was ok with Grandpa telling 15 year old Dwayne about the birds and bees, no matter how vulgar the speech was
5. She was probably tuned out. Honestly, she was probably so over Grandpa's voice that it became white noise to her now. Easier for her to just stare out the window and play the Chicken Dance in her head than listen to old Gramps whinging in the back seat
Throughout the story Sheryl attempts to keep everyone, including herself, calm, sane, and on track. She appears to be the one older member of the family, not hung up, nor side tracked by issues affecting herself. She is therefore prepared to tolerate Grandpa's at times, vulgar behaviour and language.🐭
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