Suicide Box

Chapter 5

I could start earlier in the week, even. I' m not quite sure what drove the nail in, but for some reason, the Monday was the day. My mom had finally realised he wasn't coming back. When she woke up, she didn't make an extra cup of coffee. She didn't ring his phone to see if he would answer. She didn't even turn the channel to his favourite morning show.

See, these were all things she'd been doing to try to make my father happy. She had to make sure everything was done to his liking- making breakfast, cutting the grass, sweeping and ironing pants- but my father would never be pleased. When he got home, he would inspect the groceries and the clothes and the house, and there would be something missing- either one can of milk too many, or the grass too low, and that was when he would shout, and he would throw things, and she would cry, and he would call her names and he reminded her of why things had changed...