Riley

29

Sally returned to the house at five o'clock in the afternoon. Instead of entering through the window as she had always done, she decided to go through the front door, aware that she would pass her mother.

She lowered the handle and pushed open the door. He did not have time to take the first step that the croaky, joyful music of the twins' electronic toys slipped into his eardrums to hammer them with repetitive, annoying refrains.

She set her backpack on the ground, took off her jacket and then her shoes. She shouted in a tepid voice, "I'm home!"

No response.

"Mom? Did you hear me?" Sally began to worry. "Mom?"

Across the hall, the echo of her voice reached her ears. The 11-year-old realized that she was in the kitchen doing who knows what. He glanced toward the living room; the twins were playing in the small playpen his mother had bought to keep them under control. They looked like dogs in a kennel. I wonder if one of them needed a clean diaper, he wondered.

She made a quick run to her room to hide her backpack, then returned to the ground floor where she headed to the kitchen. She was not surprised when she saw her sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hey, Mom," she said coldly to her as she took her seat.

"You finally showed up, Alexandra," exclaimed the woman at the edge of her seat. "What part of come straight home after school don't you understand?"

There she began, as usual.

"Mom, I came home early."

"Earlier when?" she asked decisively. "You mean now!"

The little girl remained calm. She still had to pee from earlier, she could pee now, the diaper was a long way from reaching maximum capacity. Thus, she emptied gradually.

"Mom," she began while keeping calm, "you saw me at lunch today. I made myself a sandwich while you were holding Hector. You even told me to hurry because you had to warm the milk for Hector and Timmy!"

Her mother stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "Don't talk like that to me! Has anyone ever told you that lies have short legs? But what am I telling you, you never learn anyway, you ungrateful brat!"

Sally remained impassive. "Mom, I'm telling the truth. You even talked to me. Why would I lie to you?"

Her mother laughed. Whatever the little bastard was saying, she was digging her own grave. "I don't know, you're the professional in the business aren't you? You've said one now and you're wrapping yourself up! A first-class liar!"

Sally raised her eyebrow in puzzlement. "What are you saying, Mom?"

"Hey, brat, you're not the one asking the questions, okay? Rather, tell me where you went! You'll probably tell me that you stayed at school to study to catch up, or rather, to waste time away from home!"

Sally opened her mouth to retort, but was interrupted soon after.

"HA-HA! I had it right! I was right all along! You're not getting away with it this time, my girl! Uh-oh, you can't imagine what I have in store for you!"

Sally began to tremble. In her mother's voice, the undertones of liquor-induced delirium could be heard very clearly. She was not drinking coffee, but alcohol! There was no bottle on the table, not even on the floor. Perhaps she had filled the last glass and subsequently thrown the bottle in the glass bin behind the house.

The fact that she was talking about reform school froze her in her chair. First the rant of Theo's mother and now the delirium of her own, a day like this she had never had before. She tried in vain to hold back tears.