Helen was finally ready. She never wore too much make up to go to work; just a little powder to smooth out her aging, yet still beautiful skin
and some lip
gloss. She drove to work but not before saying goodbye to Miss Daisy and Tony one more time. "You two be good kids until mommy comes home!" She hanged her jacket in the back of her car. It was an excruciating summer. Texas had broken all kind of record this year from heat to draught. Early in the morning her car temperature read 106. All these years she had been in Texas, she did not remember anything like this, even in 1980 and 1987 which she recalled clearly how the summers were dry, hot, and unbearable! This year's heat combined with draught had caused a huge disaster for Texas farmers. The insects in search of water and cooler temperature were coming inside people's houses. She read a story about it in the Internet and also saw the same story on the local news. Her own apartment was infested with dead or almost half alive insects. She had called someone to come and spray her place. The man told her the same story that she had read on Internet and saw it on television.
She was happy that she did not have a yard to worry about the trees and grass and flowers. She recalled her house which she had shared with Steve, her former husband. They had a huge yard with many trees and flowers and a pool. Because of the draught the foundation of the houses all had moved. She had a call from Steve the other day telling her that the pool had cracked and lost all the water in it.
"I'm not going to fix it. I'm just going to fill it up. Texas is like a desert." He had said.
With all the work she had at home with children and a man like Steve, she loved to get her hand dirty in the dirt. She was always busy either planting flower or vegetable garden. She even cleaned the pool, since Steve mostly was not home, and when he was, he was either out getting drunk or with his girlfriend. When he was home, he acted as if he was a guest.
Her daughter, Elizabeth was now married for the last twelve years. She already had four children. Even though, she was mommy's girl when she was little, for some strange reason, she reminded Helen of her sister Charlotte. Later, when she was older, and in her teenage years, she began loving her father, Steve, more than her mother. When she was mature enough to know about her parents' constant fight, she always defended her father. Now that Helen and Steve were divorced, Elizabeth and her husband and children went to Steve's home every Sunday. Steve was now retired, and Elizabeth used her father as a baby sitter a lot. Once in a while she called Helen; and if mom complained, she just said:
"You've decided to work in your old age; you're never home! What do you want from me? You don't even miss my children, your grandchildren, but dad does."
She was right; nonetheless, Helen always wondered if Steve had been like her father, the way he had molested her and Charlotte. This was something that was always in Helen's mind, but she did not dare to ask Elizabeth about it. Nevertheless, she always answered her own ambiguity: "No, no way, not Steve! He couldn't be like my father!" She also knew that she was not like her mother. If something like this was happening under her care, she would had known and had stopped it.
Her son, Chris was cause of much pain for her. He and Steve never got along and always fought. Chris was still mommy's boy, even though he was thirty nine years old. Chris had dropped out of high school when he was in tenth grade to follow this band all over the country. He played Guitar. When things did not work out for him, he came back to Helen. With his mom insistence he got his GED; but never went to college. He had had so many different jobs, and none was his dream jobs. He always came back to Helen, lived with her for awhile, and left again and did not show up for a while. Whereas him, at least Elizabeth, as unfeeling as she was towards her mother, had gotten her master degree in music and was a teacher. So if Helen could not accomplish her dream of teaching, Elizabeth did it for her. No matter how she hated her mother, she was as motivated as her.
Every time Chris showed up at her door, Helen knew that he wanted money. He always would say:
"Just this one time, mom! I'm just between jobs now!"
It was painful to have a son like Chris, But Helen liked him more than Elizabeth. Even though he was not an achiever like Elizabeth, Helen knew that he had big dreams and hopes that he could not reach them. Now he was leaving with a friend and they were working on opening a mechanic shop together. The worse thing had happened lately! Helen had just recently heard that Elizabeth had quit her job to stay home and take care of her four children. Why then go to college all the way in New York, to get a Master degree if she wanted to stay home. Oh, how much she reminded her of her sister, Charlotte.
And oh, let's not talk about Rosalyn! How did she show up at the moment that Helen had taught she was finally getting her freedom back!
To Be Continued
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