How Bad Could You Really Be?

That voice that hides in the back of our head.

Over the next few weeks I observed his family while I wrote outside. His mother and aunt seemed to delegate the work to the men. The idiots, they were too stupid for me to use their given names, slowly picked tufts. The uncle half heartedly pushed the cart when it was full. Word had spread to other towns of Oncie's thneed. So of course his orders increased. His mother complained every day about the work even though she never lifted a finger. I finished a rough draft and sent it out to Harold. What can I say? When the mood to write hit I could really get some work done. I walked in to see Oncie at his drawing board.

"Did you have lunch yet?" I asked.

"No," he said shortly.

"I just finished my draft and went to send it out. Now we just wait."

"That's good."

I walked over to him and slipped my arms around him. I kissed his cheek. He put his pen down and sunk back into my grasp. A loud sigh escaped his mouth.

"What's wrong, Oncie?"

"Business is increasing."

"That's good, right?" I chuckled.

"No, we can't keep up with thneed production. It's moving too slow."

"Not to be rude, but have you seen how slow they are working?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean three of them aren't even collecting the tufts. I could probably collect more than them," I sighed.

"You really hate my family, don't you?"

"No. I just don't like how they treat you. I am pretty sure they are just here for the money. Some of the things I hear your mother say are very hurtful for me to hear her say to you. I don't know how you still put up with them."

"They're my family, Skye, I..."

"I understand," I whispered in his ear before giving his cheek another peck, "how about some lunch?"

"Lunch sounds good."

I walked to the fridge to grab some ingredients for lunch. I started cooking. There was a knock at the window as his mom popped her head in.

"Wuntsee," she whined, "collecting just the tops is taking too long. Couldn't we just cut a few trees down?"

Oncie sighed. Whether or not the trees were cut down it wasn't hard if you tried to do work. But these people were just lazy. They wanted his money quicker is all. I set the table with two salads and utensils. His mom glared over at me. I kept my gaze down to avoid looking at her.

"Well, I don't know. Mom, I made a promise."

"But..." she paused, lowering her voice, "was it to her?"

"Well, yes, but the lorax too," he said, "he's kind of the protector of this forest."

"Oh, Oncie you're speaking nonsense. What has this girl filled your head with?"

"Oh, if you don't mind, we're about to sit down to lunch. I'll be outside to harvest tufts afterwards."

His mother frowned and left from the window. Oncie dropped his head back. His hands ran through his hair as he made a frustrated noise.

"Don't worry, I got some time to help you. I'll double your tufts."

"Alright."

Oncie walked over and slumped into his chair. He was worn down. I had never seen him this stressed before. He barely ate anything before heading back to his machine and making thneeds. I grabbed a pair of shorts and t-shirt and went into the bathroom to change. Our relationship was wearing down because of all the stress. I pulled my shirt off and picked up the new one. For a moment I stood there just staring at the ground. What could I do for Oncie. If his business continued growing in such a way, would I still be able to help him? The handle on the door shook. I figured it was someone from his family, they never knocked. When I looked back I saw the door wasn't locked.