Middle Class Love #Wattys2015

Mrs Doubtfire Somewhat

"Chelley!!!! Reenie!!! Wake up, you've got to go to school" I hollered. 

Two extended yawns met my unenthusiastic wake-up call. "C'mon you two!" I yelled. They sat up on the bed and stretched, making funny nasal sounds as their hands refused to stretched any further. Rochelle shot out of bed yelling "Da, you burnt the toast AGAIN????". 

She ran to the kitchen to survey the mess. She pulled the charred bread out of the toaster and threw it away screaming. I could tell that the heat singed her fingertips. She stood there, rapidly fanning her palm. "Da, we're not eating this trash, okay?" she yelled. 

I lost all control and started fuming although not literally like the toaster. "If you busybodies wanted good food why on earth didn't you wake early and prepare it yourself?." She stood with her hands on her hip. Maureen joined in with a bewildered expression on her face. She began tugging at my shoulder and I turned around to give her her share of shouting. 

She listened to every word out of politeness and suggested that I give them money to buy food at the cafeteria.  When I was calm at last, the girls were ready to leave for school. I mutely handed them the money and watched them as they set out to leave. Rochelle stopped in her tracks and look at me with a certain sadness in her eyes. "Da, I don't want to offend you. Mama said that you stopped caring for us when we were past the diaper changing stage. Is that true?" I evaded her question by glancing at my wristwatch and prodding them onwards.  

The question still hung in the air.  Shutting the door to the outside world, I stepped within the confines of the house. There was a peculiar stench that arose from the corners. On venturing closer I realized that the house hadn't been cleaned in a week or rather since Nikki left. Picking up the broom and the dustpan, I swept the floors of the house, panting and perspiring with the effort.  This was clearly not what I was familiar with. The curtains had to be taken down and washed.

My muscles ached from all the prolonged  bending, the lifting and sorting.  I coughed as I occasionally inhaled the particles of dust that threw themselves in the air before flying about the dustpan.  There was still the mopping left to be done. It seemed like forever until the water dried off the floor and I could finally wring the mop dry. Just as I could breathe a sigh of relief, I realized that I hadn't eaten a thing. The burnt piece of toast still lay on the kitchen floor. 

I collapsed on the sofa unmindful of the ocean of sweat I was drowning in. Poor Nikki, I thought, she had to endure this on a daily basis. Part of me wished she were around while the other part of me rejoiced that she had taken a break from reality. 

When I had opened my eyes, it was almost lunchtime. How quickly time had passed!! I hated how I had been unable to finish up some of the pending tasks on my official list. Was this why Nikki left? I tossed my now dried T-shirt that stank of sweat. With the pan on the hob and oil heating up, I dropped two pieces of salmon in it and headed for the bathroom. 

Ten minutes later,  I could hear an awful blaring that filled the entire house. Breaking out of the bathroom, I realized that it was the smoke alarm.  Even before I could turn off the heat to salvage the pan from the stove, there was a pounding against the door. "Roy Shaun!! Roy Shaun!!! Is everything okayy??? Open up!!' came the twin voices outside the door. On opening the door I figured out that my neighbours Anders and Angelika stood worried outside the door. They ran inside the kitchen without waiting for me to say or do anything. 

Angele turned off the stove while coughing fit to die of suffocation. Anders threw open all the windows in the hall. "Roy" she gasped "What possessed you to do this? Your poor girls will die if you feed them these charred artefacts. " Anders came and patted me on the shoulder like a father would his truant son "You haven't cooked a day in your life, I bet!!". The duo were kind enough to prepare lunch for us. 

An hour later, Rochelle skipped through the doorway with a smile that would give in to the pull of gravity. "Da, what's that awful stink?"

Avoiding her question I ask 'Where's Maureen?"

"Oh' she says "She's got detention."