Page 17 of Enough
“I didn’t want to ruin the movie so I fibbed. Then I forgot.”
“You lied? What have I told you about lying?” His lips purse and he rolls his eyes at me.Oh hell no.
“I forgot, okay?” he says with the attitude of an angry teenager rather than a ten-year-old pre-pubescent child.
“I forgot” is a learned expression from his father that I’ve heard way too many times over the years. The eye roll is new and sends me over the edge. It has been a long day of kitchenduties and insane amounts of laundry. I sat down for five minutes the entire day and my exhaustion level is nearing the edge of insanity. I thought I had thirty minutes until I could have some me time. Thirty minutes until they were in bed and the night was mine. Now there’s homework to be done. Blood boiling… “Don’t youeverroll your eyes at me! Do you know how angry I am? How frustrated I am?”
Mike approaches with his fingers in his ears. “I think we can all tell you’re angry. You’re going to cause us hearing damage with the yelling.”
I watch as Kale laughs and makes eye contact with his father. He slides his fingers into his ears to mimic Mike. What’s the stage of anger after boiling? Nuclear explosion? I’m pretty sure I’m about to blow.
I pull Mike’s arm away from Kale and attempt to whisper in my nuclear voice. “Don’t put me down in front of him. You do this all the time.”
My whisper is met with his full voice plus a degree. “I just think you’re overreacting. So he has homework. He forgot.” He shrugs. “We can’t all be perfect like you.”
Kale wrinkles his nose at me. “Yeah, Mom. Why do you think I need to be perfect like you?”
I have a moment. I feel my heart constrict. I remember lovingly watching that nose wrinkle and thinking it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Now I suddenly want to grab him and shake the condescending expression off his face. Right after I slap it off his father’s.
“How dare either of you turn this on me! I asked you repeatedly…”
“You’re beating a dead horse, Everly. Kale, get your book and start it now.”
“Will you help me?”
“I need to go finish a report for work tomorrow.”
“But Dad, I need help. I don’t understand it.”
“Well, I have my own homework to do. Just do your best.”
Mike trudges up the stairs and Kale’s eyes fall to the floor. I’m still seeing red, so I make way back into the laundry room and the stack of socks that need to be sorted.
“Mom…” Marlow calls from the bathroom. “I forgot a washcloth.”
“Mike… can you get a Marlow a washcloth?” I yell toward the stairs. No response. I sigh and trudge up them. Mike is lying on the bed laughing at something he’s reading on his phone, and I feel like I want to scream. Instead, I get Marlow her washcloth.
“Privacy, Mom!” she shrieks as I enter the room.
“How exactly do you expect me to bring you a washcloth without coming in here? I can’t even see you behind the curtain. Here… I’ll toss it over.”
I wait for it but hear nothing. “Do you have something to say to me?” I ask her.
“Oh. Thank you.” Her half-hearted response makes me cringe.
I amble down the stairs and hear Kale’s light sobs. I take a deep breath to steady myself. “Why are you crying?”
“I don’t understand this. I’m stupid!” He slams his book closed and leans his head on his arms.
“You’re not stupid! You’re tired. When you’re tired everything is ten times harder.”
“I wasn’t tired on Friday when Mrs. Romano explained it, and I didn’t get it then, either. I’m just dumb! Dumb, dumb,dumb!”
“Stop it, Kale! Show me what you’re having trouble with.”
I stare at problem after problem and realize I don’t remember any of it. I’m not sure when they started teaching ten-year-olds the things I learned in high school, but I’m pretty sure his math homework is harder than it should be for his age. After watching a few YouTube videos, I’m finally able to walk him through a problem his book didn’t explain. This new educational policy is for the birds.
An hour later, after I left Kale with a problem to work on while I put Marlow to bed, I think he’s finally catching on.
