Hollow Grace

sɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ - ꜰɪʟᴛʜ

October 18th

Mom was busy applying a cheap, pale pink lipstick, sitting in the front seat of dad's car. On those rare days when they went somewhere together, she allowed herself a little adornment. Of course, only when her husband wasn't looking at. Linda like any conservatively raised woman was firmly convinced that a man should not see these 'little secrets'. Such as cosmetics, menstruation, feminine hygiene, and other related trifles. In a marriage with Harriet Wright, such caution was understandable... He never hid the misogyny that was bursting within him. Charlie was sure that if a girl had been born instead of him, dad would have choked on bile. And if no one had been born at all, his father wouldn't have hesitated to beat his wife.

How fortunate that a boy was born after all. Such a convenient way to let off steam under the guise of upbringing.

Standing on the street and wiping the dust off the hood, Charlie, of course, saw what his mother was doing. As a child, he once found his mother's makeup bag, carefully hidden among boxes of her yarn. With the curiosity of a child, he examined the few jars and bottles. A couple of minutes, until Linda discovered it and hastily, before his father saw, took the bag away from him. It's scary to imagine what would have happened if Harriet had found it. Of course, Linda didn't initiate her son into all these women's things. He didn't know about many of them until he started dating girls. He still didn't understand some things.

Linda Wright was terrified of anything that was even remotely connected with any manifestation of freedom and difference from others. She perceived her son, who was constantly getting into trouble and dishonoring the family, as nothing more than divine retribution for her and her husband's sins. A punishment that could only be accepted meekly and attempt made to set him on the true path.

"You never told me how your first day of work went," Linda asked as Charlie finished with the dust and sat down at car.

"I've done well. Raine is a good teacher, he explained everything clearly," Charlie replied. Yesterday was Monday, which he had indeed spent at the Morgan workshop. Raine had taught him for all four hours, patiently and meticulously explaining working process. Evan had helped him with that.

"Your father liked him too. Although, I've never seen this guy at church," the woman said and, noticing her husband returning from the garage, hid her lipstick in her purse.

"Raine and Nova don't have much free time. They work seven days a week, so they don't have time to go to church or anywhere else," Charlie replied, turning away to the window. He didn't add that they also didn't pray before meals and generally didn't mention God in their home. Nevertheless, having dinner with them and Evan was a billion times more pleasant than just breathing the same air as his parents in this car.

"You can find time once a month. It's a matter of priorities," Linda sighed.

"What's the conversation about?" asked Harriet, sitting behind the wheel and starting the engine.

"I wanted to know if everything was okay at work for Charlie. Have you heard, Harry, what they say in church about the Morgan family? This Raine's parents were drug addicts!"

"Who said that?"

"Penelope Rose, she's known everyone here forever. So, their parents were drug addicts, they stopped going to church too. The mother even committed adultery with everyone who was ready! In the end, the father killed her and went to prison!"

"What does it matter to you?" Harry asked reasonably. "Instead of gathering empty rumors, it would be better to do something useful."

"What matter?... Can healthy children be born from junkie? How would it not spread a bad influence on Charlie!"