Issues

Mercedes S-Class

Cinder woke up to the familiar smell of maple and pancakes, old memories of when she was 15, running down the stairs to greet her mom and little Peony for breakfast ran through her mind. She smiled at the thought. It seems as if the good days were nothing but a sore memory.
She reached to her right to find the bed empty, Peony must've woken up earlier. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling her growling stomach. Seeing as she didn't bother eating dinner the day before, she was hungry.

She took her phone and looked at the time, 13:42. She fixed her ponytail and got up, walking down the stairs. The old wood squeaked under her weight, alerting her mother and sister of her presence. Adri was cooking pancakes while Peony set up the table. She smiled at her.

"Oh, hey. I didn't want to wake you, knowing that you had a shift last night." She said and reached to hug her sister.

Cinder hugged her back and said,
"Thank you Peony, I really was exhausted."

"I still don't get why you work at night." Her mother stepped in the conversation.

"I work at night because Carlos is usually here." She said and sat down next to Peony.

"And?" She urged her.

"Really, mom?"

Adri didn't reply. It wasn't the first time she questioned Cinder about her working at night. She always played inocente as if she didn't know how much pain and misery Carlos was bringing into their lives.

"I didn't have pancakes for a long time." She said, trying to change the subject and brighten up the mood.

"If you lived here, you would eat pancakes every Wednesday." Adri said, in what Cinder liked to call, her judging voice.

"Well, I had to start my own life sooner or later, I chose sooner."

They ate in a comfortable silence, the only noise filling the room was the silverware hitting the plates. She felt the slight awkwardness but chose to ignore it. She reached for her glass and took a sip, feeling the cold water run all the way down to her stomach.

"Peony, don't you have school today?" She asked.

"Yes, but I wanted to have a little quality time with my sister." Peony said, smiling at Cinder. Cinder smiled back at her and continued eating. God, how she loved that kid.

They soon finished the meal, not another word passing between the three. Eventually Peony had to get ready for the day, leaving Cinder and her mother to clean up the breakfast.

"You need to spend more time with her." Her mother said and put down a glass in the sink for Cinder to wash.

"I try, but I mostly see her when she calls me crying, asking for me to come home." She replied as she washed the glass.

"And why do you think she asked you to come home?" Adri asked.

"Because Carlos is either acting up or throwing unnecessary punches." She replied and dried her hands with a towel. She knew that her comment would piss her mother off but she needed to know how bad things were, because apparently when things are right in front of you you can be oblivious.

"It is not your job to take care of that. I've got it under control." Adri said and crossed her arms, fixing her posture. She hates how she always tried to put up a good front, pretend as if everything was fine and solvable, even to your own daughter.

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows. "And Carlos hitting you in front of Peony is you being under control?" Cinder raised her voice, feeling the exhaustion and frustration hitting her in full force.