Up In Smoke

Chapter 2

During her children's daily rundown of their schedules, Mrs.Barns starts tapping her foot against the wood floors as she gets more and more anxious, having to tell her husband she won't be home for dinner today. Mr.Barns takes notice of his wife's change in behavior and interrupts Grace, to ask her what is the matter. Mrs.Barns face turns the color of a sheet of paper, deer in the headlights look on her face. As her husband's patience withers away with every second she takes to respond, her mouth finally opens, and tells him that she will not be home for dinner tonight. Her children look at their mother in shock, Mr.Barns has a vein in his forehead that is throbbing as his face gets red with rage. He then starts screaming at his wife about how she has the audacity to not be at dinner with her family. That is the least she could do at the end of the night and make them all a meal. The yelling continues until Mr.Barns runs out of hateful things to say about his wife's lack of dedication and love for her family. Kennedy had just witnessed the most vicious argument she has ever seen her parents get into. She can't help but tear up as she sees all of her mother's light drain from her as a single tear falls from her eye.  In a shaky voice, Mrs.Barns states that she prepared a meal already and that Kennedy would be able to heat it up quickly so that it would be ready promptly at 6. Mr. Barns glares at his wife with such disgust but simply utters an okay and walks out the front door making sure to slam it behind him as he exits. 

Unable to move, the rest of the family sits there in silence as the anger and hate still hangs in the air from their father's outburst. Their mother is the first to get up and makes her way to the kitchen with her plate in her hand. They all follow suit, clearing their plates and handing them to her as she puts them in the dishwasher. The children looking at their mother as she silently tidies up the kitchen, and they walk over to give her a hug. Kennedy knew how much that fight added to the already crushed spirit her mother had. The change she witnessed from when she was a child to now was a severe one. The joy and happiness that once radiated off her, fear and sadness now took its' place. But her mother still managed to be there for them and always put on a smile. 

 At that moment Mrs.Barns wished that what she would be doing later that evening wouldn't affect her children, even though she knows it will. She savors the last moment she will ever have with them, eventually, they pull away from the embrace and Mrs.Barns ushers them to the door with lunches on hand and wishes them a great day at school with a smile. Mrs.Barns hands her children their packed lunches and watches as they make their way to the car. She doesn't shut the door till she sees the car disappear onto the street. The weather they were having that day fit with how she was feeling, gloomy and chilly. She finally shuts the door and cries, not only from the fight with her husband but the loss she feels in regards to her children. As quickly as those tears fell, they stopped, as she had no time to waste in what was going to be a very long and life-changing day.

While the three Barns kids are at school, typically Mrs.Barns does chores around the house, has the occasional tennis match with her friends at the country club her family is members of, or just a simple lunch with them. Mr.Barns goes into the office, running his technology company, L.E.K Industries. Everyone who knows the Barns would say they are two loving and dedicated parents, but behind closed doors, it paints a different picture. Mr.Barns is a bit of a control freak, has a very overpowering personality, with a temper that could be described as a volcanic eruption as witnessed at the breakfast table earlier that morning. He's cold and distant with the children and his wife. While Mrs.Barns is a people pleaser to a default which is very damaging to her mental health, she is a follower and can't make decisions on her own. But adores her children and tries to be the best mother for them. The relationship between the Barns parents is strained and distant unless out in public where they look like two people madly in love. The children assume the behavior between their parents and their behavior towards them is very normal. Even though nothing about this family is normal. 

While sitting in her 4th-period class, Kennedy can't help but think about her mother. While yes her father can be frightening, she knew he loved all of them. He just had an interesting way of showing it. Didn't help that her mother was a different person these days which severely altered the way she reacted to his outbursts. But deep down Kennedy knew that the relationship between her parents was not normal, neither was her and her sibling's relationship with their father. Not that she would ever admit that to herself or accept it as that would make her perfect life fall apart. For the rest of the day she thought about her mother, and how she must be feeling. Wondering if she ever thinks about leaving her father, so she can be as happy and joyful as she once was.