I get off the bus at around 3:30, so when I got home my mom was still at work. She's been working two jobs since dad left and took all of our money. It's been five years and I still hear my mother crying from time to time. This October marks the sixth year anniversary of when that ass hole left us in the dust.
I twist the key into the lock and open the door. The house is quiet, except for the hum of the house alarm system. I walk down the hall and disarm it, then continue to my bedroom.
I kick off my black and white converse high tops and toss my jacket aside. Summer vacation is finally here and I can relax, but along with that it also means it's time for me to find a summer job. I'm sixteen now, so it's time to start helping support the family.
My little brother, Max, is only 7, so he can only do so much around the house. Most of the chores are left to me, so I quickly change into something I can get dirty and then get straight to work. I scrub the toilets and sinks, sweep and mop the floors, dust off the furniture, and empty the dishwasher.
As I am putting away the last few dishes, I hear Mom come in the front door. "I'm home! Catherine?" She calls out with a tired tone and I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. "Yea, Mom, I'm in the kitchen!"
"How was your last day? Have plenty of work to do over the summer?" She asks teasingly as she sets her purse down on the newly cleaned contertop. "No, Mom, I dont. Where's Max, I thought his last day was today?"
"He went home with Jasper again. He called and told me he wanted to go with them because they're going to the Waterpark this weekend." She sat on an island stool with a sigh and rested her head in her hands.
I don't blame her for being tired. She gets up at four in the morning to get to her first job and then only has an hour in between that and her second job. Doing all that everyday, I'm surprised she doesn't just get home and go straight to bed.
"How was work? Did the office meeting go well?" I asked her this so she could keep her mind occupied before her thoughts wander towards Dad.
"Yes, but still no change of pace. Things are always so hectic around there it's hard to get any work done without getting interrupted by new work." She says with a slight smile. To this day I still don't understand how she keeps going like this. All the shit that we have been through, and yet she still works for twelve hours everyday.
"You should rest. Dinner won't be ready for another hour and a half and you look like you could use a nap." I set down the towel I was using to dry my hands and cross my arms."No, I'm okay." I know this is bullshit, so I walk towards her and place my hand on her back. "Come on. Let's go. Your napping whether you want to or not."
I tucked her in and it was only around 3 minutes before she fell asleep. She lost all signs of stress and pain when she was asleep. She looked like a normal mom, taking a nap on a Friday afternoon. It was strange to me, how someone so fragile and hurt could look so happy in sleep. If only she always seemed so happy. I would do anything to see her genuinely smiling again.
I went downstairs and started on dinner. I was going to make a stew of some of the vegetables from the fridge. It was finished in around half an hour, but since Mom was sleeping I decided to just leave it on the stove so it could cool and then reheat it for her later.
I watched TV for a while, then I got bored so I went upstairs to my computer and decided I would answer some emails. All of that took up around an hour so I decided I should see if Mom was awake.
I slowly opened her door and peeked through to see that she was still asleep, so I decided to let her sleep as long as she needed.
I put the stew in a Tupperware and put it in the refrigerator. I also left a note telling her where the food was, how long to heat it, and that I loved her and had gone to bed.
I slipped off my clothes and got in the shower. I looked down at my legs, thinking dark thoughts of a time passed. I told myself never again, but dealing with all of the work around the house, doing all of my homework, and taking care of my brother all at once has been a really big job for me. I got out off the shower and went to bed, still asking myself if I was stupid enough to do that again, and then answering with no.
