Venus [BARRETT]

TWO

RED BUTTONS

☼

I couldn't stay at home full-time, as much as I knew I should, but I did spend some nights there. Mum was doing okay for the time being. I helped get her some different help, and now she was taking some new medication (I told her to take a pill morning and night, and to flip the bottle over after each one so that she'd know if she took it or not).

However, Tom wasn't too impressed. Lately, he'd been a thorn in my side - cold and withdrawn, as though I'd said something that had wounded him without my knowing. I chalked it up to my hyper-focusing on my parents and how moody he could get when I wasn't paying him attention, but I couldn't be sure.

"You working tomorrow?" He asked me. He was sitting to my right as we watched television on the couch together with the lights off, although I desperately wanted to finish reading the book on my nightstand.

There was a gap between us, like an invisible barricade, that I had to consciously squish by leaning my head on his shoulder. "Yeah. Only a few hours, though."

"Can't you ask for more?" Tom said.

I sat back up again, looking at his face in the dim lighting. "Why? I thought we- I was going to come home and clean."

"We've got rent and shit to pay, you know." Tom, too, sat up a bit more. "And plus, we were supposed to be saving up for a new car."

Taken aback, I pulled my legs up on to the couch and turned to face him. "This isn't just my responsibility. Why don't you ask for more hours, too?"

"I earn more for less time, Myra." Tom almost scoffed at me, getting up from the couch, chuckling a bit.

In pursuit, I picked up the remote and turned off the television. "That's not fair! If anything, you should be getting more hours so we can have more money."

"That's not the point," Tom yelled back from the bedroom doorway. "Just because I earn more doesn't mean you get to be so fucking lazy all the time."

I sucked in my lips, narrowing my eyes as I felt the familiar pricking of tears. "I don't swear at you," I managed to reply, folding in on myself.

Silence. Then Tom's footsteps came closer and I felt his weight on the couch again, his arms wrapping around my shoulders. The familiar scent of his deodorant washed over me and for a second, I almost felt like that young girl in high school again. She used to give in to Tom's persuasion and skip school to share stolen alcohol in the park.
Now she's perpetually timid and rides the highs of accidental eye contact.

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered into my hair, light amusement in his voice. "I just had a bad day. Why are you so upset?"

I shook my head, already feeling stupid. "Stop."

"Come on, no more crying." I could feel him smirking against my skin, urging me to do the same. "Baby, let's go to bed so you can sleep it off. You've been feeling weird all day, silly girl. Did you drink any water at all?"

☼

Ben snatched my cup from my hands as I finally finished the last mouth full.