I continued to kick and scream for you to put me down. And you did, throwing me on a lumpy sofa while dropping my bag at my feet. You scowled looking down on me. “ Clean this place up, “ you said, “ And have my dinner on the table when I come from the fields.” With that, you turned to leave. I glared, watching you storm out the room.
I heard you start the truck and leave, yet I didn’t move. I looked around at the brown furniture, which was worn, and the junk you had stored everywhere. From my position on the sofa, I could see the kitchen where dishes sat in the sink that ha a hand pump. You didn’t even try to make it presentable. I finally stood to look at the pictures of your family that hung on the walls. Mother, father, brothers and sisters all smiled down at me. There was one of you as a young man. You stood next to a woman, both of you were smiling, happy. I turned from those pictures to look at this place, it needed a lot of work. So I got started.
You never said a word while you ate, just kept your head down shovingly food into your mouth. I didn’t have an appetite, after cleaning your house, washing your dishes, cooking your meal, and feeding your chickens. I sat patiently waiting for you to finish. When you finally did, you pushed the plate across the table at me and stood. Looking down on me, you pull out your pipe and lit it, then headed out the door to sit out on the back porch. I stood to wash dishes, tired to the bone.
I heard the sound of the swing banging against the house, smelled the sweet sicking smell of tobacco in the air while I sit in the living room thinking about the one bedroom.
I would wait you out, I thought, or I could sleep out here on this lumpy sofa. I had made plans to leave as soon as you fell asleep. I could run off to Aunt Pat, she would take me in, I just had to get to Georgia, two states over. But the later it got the sleeper I became. Finally, I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep.
Copyright © 2013-14 Glynis Rankin
Debt Part 3
