Broken Bottles

Broken Bottles: chapter 3

"Sadie, you have to finish all of your food. We can't afford to let it go to waste." I gently scolded the tiny seven year old. We were all at the table eating breakfast and I noticed Sadie hadn't touched her plate in a while.

"I'm full." She said as she pushed the plate away from her.

"How about two more big bites and then next time I won't make you as many?" I urged her to eat just a little bit more.

She looked at me and then down at her discarded plate before making up her mind to listen to me. She scooped up a spoonful of her scrambled eggs and shoved them in her mouth. She chewed it slowly, like the taste was unbearable, but managed to swallow it all down.

"All done." She tried.

I shook my head at her, "Our deal included two bites."

She let out a sigh before scooping up another spoonful and forcing it down.

"Good job, now go get dressed for school." I instructed. Sadie followed my instructions and bounced up the stairs to her room. Polly and Sidney finished shoveling down their eggs before going to get dressed too. That left me at the kitchen table with Penny.

"What happened last night?" I asked. Penny didn't need to ask me to clarify. She knew I was talking about our father and Sidney sleeping in the girls' room the previous night.

"Dad came home drunk of course, but he kept insisting Sid knew where the money you took was. We kept telling him that you had it with you at work, but he didn't believe us. Sidney was afraid he would barge into his room in the middle of the night, so I told him he could have my bed." Penny explained.

I sighed and looked at Sadie's abandoned plate of eggs on the table, "He didn't harm anyone right?"

"No," Penny quickly said, "of course not."

Our dad was an angry drunk, but he was verbal in his abuse not physical. He's never laid a hand on any of us, but I was always afraid that the day would eventually come when he did. I just hoped it was me and not one of my siblings.

"Do you want the rest of her eggs?" I asked Penny, motioning towards Sadie's plate. Penny shook her head at me and got up from the table. I watched as she cleaned her dishes and then went up the stairs to get changed for school.

I took the remaining three bites of Sadie's eggs and washed all of our plates off in the sink before heading upstairs myself. I pulled on some black jeans, a simple gray tee, and picked my book bag up off the floor. I decided I would keep the money with me again today until I had time to sit and think of putting it somewhere dad wouldn't be able to find. By the time I made my way back downstairs, my four siblings were all packed up and ready to go.

"Okay, I have to work right after school today, but I'll be home by eight. Penny works from three to nine, so dinner is on you tonight Sid. I think there is some macaroni and cheese boxes in the pantry you could make for the girls." I gave everyone the day plan.

"Boxed macaroni it is." Sidney faked his enthusiasm.

"Sadie, I better hear from Sid that you ate all of your mac and cheese, deal?" I crouched down to her height so she could see my face clearly.

"Deal." She muttered half-heartedly. I ruffled her hair lightly before standing back up to my full height.

"Okay, let's go everyone." I ushered everyone out the door as the big yellow school bus rounded the corner onto our street.

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It was finally the last period of the day and I was so over it. It was the second day of school, so teachers were starting to actually give out assignments. My last class of the day was English and when I walked in the room the teacher had a seating chart posted on the board. I found my name and took my new assigned seat. My desk was near the window which I was grateful for. I could see the board easily and also had a view of the track and baseball fields in the school yard.