Page 5 of Enough
“I forgot I need to bring cookies to karate tonight.”
I close my eyes to stop myself from asking why he didn’t tell me this morning so I could have picked some up from the store. I open the pantry and grab a bag of Oreos. “Done,” I tell him.
“Those are open!” he states in utter disbelief.
I glance into the package. There are only a few missing. I’m pretty sure I ate them in the car on the way home from the store. “It’ll be fine,” I assure him.Check. He mumbles something under his breath as he makes his way back up the stairs. I’m too tired to ask him what he said.
“Mom… toilet paper?”
I hurry into the laundry room and grab the new pack, pulling off the plastic wrap. I knock on the door before I open it slightly to her shriek of horror. “I’m in here!” she yells. “Privacy!”
I roll the paper to her and close the door. Check.
No more screaming. No more angry husband. All butts are accounted for. I lean against the wall and sigh as the fire alarm blares into my ears. I turn and see smoke coming from the stove.
“Should I call 911?” Kale screams from upstairs.
“What? No, Kale! Everything’s fine!” I open the oven and take out the burning roast, waving the smoke and opening a window.
“What?” he yells over the deafening sound.
I wave my towel in the air under the smoke alarm in the hall.
“Should I exit the house from the window up here like we practiced in the fire drill?” Kale asks in a panic.
“Kale, for Christ’s sake, there’s no fire!”
“There’s a fire?” he screams.
I hustle back into the kitchen and wave the smoke toward the open window. The blaring stops and I take a calming breath, staring at the crispy roast for a moment. In the distance, I hear sirens. They seem to be getting closer. I silently pray it’s the hospital coming to take me away.
“ARE YOU KIDDING me?” Gwen asks through a laugh.
“Nope. That was my day, so far,” I respond. “I dropped Kale off at karate and now I’m sitting on the damp ground at Marlow’s soccer practice. It’s the first of the season at the park district.”
“Did the fire department come?”
“No. I think the sirens were in my head, but I was seriously freaking out that he’d called 911 for like two minutes.”
“I love that kid,” Gwen responds. “He takes after his Aunt Gwen. I would have pissed myself laughing if I were there.”
“Oh yeah. It was hysterical,” I say with a fake laugh. I dig through my purse for a piece of gum.
“Did Mike call back?” she asks.
“Yes, three times. Twice on my cell.”
“He’s such an asshole,” Gwen exclaims.
I can’t disagree, although asshole doesn’t seem like a strong enough word for what I feel for him at the moment. I open the wrapper and shove the minty gum into my mouth. I feel better for half a second. “He’s been downright nasty lately. I know I don’t work a full-time job, but it’s not like I sit around all day doing nothing.”
“You need to kick his ass to the curb. I never knew what you saw in him to begin with. You could do so much better.”
I roll my eyes, thankful Gwen can’t see me do it. I play with the wrapper in my fingers. “I’m starting to think I’m getting exactly what I deserve. I must have really wronged someone in a past life.”
“Stop! This is all on him. You give and give to him, and he just takes. It’s not fair, Ev.”
I glance down at my thighs and feel a little sick to my stomach. “I have gained some weight. Maybe he just thinksI’m fat and ugly and that’s why he wants nothing to do with me.”
