Easy Does It.

She wasn’t going to mess this up. The child was obviously upset and that was not good.

“Stop it!” she told her husband, “You’re only making it worse!”

The child wailed, closed her eyes and threw back her head. No, ‘upset child’ was definitely not the state she enjoyed.

“Jimmy why do you have to tease her like that!”

“Jesus I’m not teasing, I’m serious. She has to do this.”

“Jimmy she doesn’t want to! Now go work on the garage addition you promised me. I don’t see you finishing that. You just sit on your ass all weekend and watch movies. I’m tired of living in the dust and garbage from your projects!”

The girl, sensing the tide had shifted, snapped her head around to her father, “Yeah dad!”

This was better, she thought. The child was angry but that was better than sad. Jimmy could be such an ass after all. And why did he have to bring this up at dinner? Couldn’t they talk about it later when the child wasn’t around? All she wanted was some peace.

She looked over at the child who was now dipping her macaroni and cheese into her ketchup. That was better.

Jimmy had his phone out looking at Facebook and seemed to have forgotten the whole thing. His brisket was good but it was a little burnt on the edges so she picked at it but left most on the plate. She got up and got another handful of chips and the onion dip. She couldn’t eat burned food. That was disgusting.

Later that evening she and Jimmy sat on the sofa watching Dancing With the Stars. She felt much better. The weed this week was good because Marvin had just made a run to Little Rock. Funny how Arkansas had been the state to make pot legal after California. Or at least Jimmy said it was funny. She didn’t like politics.

As she felt the weed she felt life get much better. Not that it was ever bad. She loved her life and she loved her family. Things were perfect and would get even better if Jimmy would just finish his projects. He was such a lead ass! And tight! He told her that she couldn’t buy the new sofa because they had already spent their furniture budget this month. Why did he have to act like the boss all the time!

“You’re not my dad you know.”

“Hmm?” said Jimmy.

“I said you’re not my dad.”

“Ok,” said Jimmy.

“If I want to buy furniture I can buy furniture.”

“Babe I told you, with the renovation we’ve already gone too far into our retirement and we can’t..”

She cut him off, “Jimmy I don’t care about that! We are the only people I know who can’t buy a piece of furniture when we need one! Look at this thing –the dog has ruined it. You go play golf whenever you want..”

“I’ve only played once this year.“

“You do WHATEVER you want and you don’t even let me get a couch. Ooh I love this song.”

Jimmy looked up at the new set of dancers and they watched the routine.

Saturday morning she woke up and felt the knot in her stomach. She rolled over and grabbed her favorite pillow, squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to go back to sleep. She could hear Jimmy. Dammit why did he have to be so loud! All he had to do was feed the bird and the dogs. It wasn’t rocket science. Thank goodness the kids weren’t up yet.

She must have fallen back to sleep because it was close to eleven when she opened her eyes again. She loved Saturdays so much! She rolled over and grabbed her vape and took a tiny hit. Now she felt perfect. She could already see the day in front of her. She and the child would go to the store and look at those shoes she found online. She had to return some shirts because last weekend she got them home and they didn’t hang right in the front. She was going to return the pants too because once she saw them in the light at her office the red looked burgundy and it really didn’t match her shirt.

The child groggily came into the room and snuggled next to her. These moments made being a parent so worth it. The child and she had a special bond – they always had – and Jimmy would never understand.

“Marvin and I are going to the mall,” the child said.

“Is he awake yet?” she asked.

“No not yet. We stayed up late playing video games.”

In a little while Marvin’s heavy steps on the stairs broke the silence. They could hear him move to the kitchen and rattle the pots and pans.

“Please make sure he cleans the kitchen.”

“Mom!”

“You guys never clean up after yourselves.”

“Mom yes we do!”

“Just please don’t make a mess.”

The child rolled over and left the room to join her boyfriend Marvin in the kitchen.

“What time are ya’ll leaving to go to the mall?” she shouted after her. The child didn’t answer.

She heard the front door slam and the car start. She loved those two kids so much! Truth be told, they were never a bother and she didn’t understand why Jimmy made such a big deal about them living together here. He could be such an ass sometimes.

“Jimmy?”

“Yeah babe?”

“You wanna go to the mall?”