"Good morning!"
He grumbles.
"Rise and shine honey!"
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't bother me with your shine and let me rise when I want to rise." He turns away and pulls the cover of his head.
She looks out the window she pulled the curtains from and admires her newly planted flower bed out on the lawn. The grass stains are still on her knees. She sighs.
"Honey, you're going to be late to work."
He ignores her.
She sighs again and goes into the bathroom to run the hot water for the shower. He can't bear wasting too much water. Before leaving the bedroom, she picks up his socks from the ground and puts them in the laundry basket, leaving his (and her) fate to the alarm clock.
"Good morning sweetie!"
He grumbles.
"Come on baby, it's a beautiful day."
"Five more minutes?"
"Sweetie, you're going to be late for school again if you don't get up now."
"But I don't wanna go to school!"
She looks down at her apron and touches some of the grease spots. Breakfast is waiting for them downstairs.
"Now now, you have to go to school because that's what good boys do. Don't you want to be Mama's good little boy?"
He whines a little before pulling the covers over his head. She sighs and picks out some clothes from his dresser and lays them out.
She has to drive him to school because he missed the bus. He forgets his lunch at home and she drives back to school to give it to him.
She comes home and sits down at the kitchen table. She makes a decision.
"Today, I am going to do something for myself." Saying it out loud makes it more final.
She drives to the library and picks up a book she never finished, Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, sits down at a table in the library and starts reading. She loses track of time.
By the time she checks the time, it is half past six and both of them will be wondering where she is, so she rushes home.
"Where the hell were you? Did you know Timmy's been home by himself for 2 hours? Look at this place! It's a mess!"
"Sorry, I was at the library and just lost track of time."
"Library? I'm out having the worst day of my life at work and you're having the time of your life at the library? Well, you know what? If you can't even pull your weight so that I can have something to eat when I get home, then maybe I won't pull my weight."
"What?"
"Mom! I need help with my homework!"
"Not now honey. Go watch tv for just two minutes and I'll be right there okay?"
She turns to him.
"What do you mean you won't pull your weight?"
"I quit my job. I hate it, so I quit."
"What do you mean you quit? You don't have another job! How are we supposed to pay the mortgage and the rest of the bills? Why in the world would you...? You got fired."
He does not look at her.
"I've warned you so many times to at least show up to work on time, and this...this...what else can I do?"
"Look, I had a rough day. Can I have some dinner before we talk about it?"
"Can you have some dinner?" It doesn't help if everyone's hungry, so she drives to the grocery store to pick up some deli meats and cheese. Tears start filling her eyes. This was not how she imagined her life to be. This was not happiness. What are they going to do now? Today's dinner is paid for by what's left in her wallet. Tomorrow's lunch is today's leftovers. Then what? She sobs and tears blind her from seeing the stop sign.
At home, nobody gets dinner.
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