IX - Breakfast of Champions
1077 Words
I got up late. Groggy, and disoriented, my surroundings felt wrong as I took at the unfamiliar sight. This was not my bed, I told myself, and it was way too damn bright to be my bedroom. Then I heard Becca downstairs talking with Jessi and Tammi amidst the sound of dishes scraping and food sizzling as it cooked and it all came back to me in a flash. I was soon pissed off at Derrick all over again.
More poignantly, I was pissed at myself for allowing all this to go on for as long as it has, however long that it has been going on. I quickly realized that I really had no clue how long that was. Has it always been like this, or was his paying strippers for s*x something new? I severely doubted it. You don’t just wake up one day and say to yourself “Hey! I want to go catch the Clap from some strange!” Well, there might be one person out there in the world that would, but… Why?
The smell of fresh coffee wafted up into the loft and I begrudgingly got out of bed and followed the alluring scent downstairs. I joined them in the kitchen area and sat at the bar, watching as Becca made omelets for the girls. I was satisfied with just the cup of coffee Beccs handed me.
“Good morning, Mom,” Jessi said as I took my first sip.
“Morning, Mom,” Tammi said, a few beats after her sister, now realizing that I had joined them in the kitchen. Her face had been buried in her phone.
“Heya, Chica,” Beccs called as she sprinkled cheese onto both of the omelets she had cooked in separate pans before folding them over, plating them, and handing them over to my daughters.
“Hey, yourself,” I responded, unimaginatively. You try staying up all night following a philandering husband around Hell’s half-acre and see how snappy you are with words when you first get up. She was lucky I didn’t just grunt at her I was so tired. She looked like her normal bubbly self. I’m starting to think the Universe likes to play favorites…
“We were wondering if you would ever get out of bed,” Becca said, looking at me intently. “If you had stayed up there another hour, I was going to have your kiddos here jump on the bed… With you in it.” She smiled. “So Allie, what would you like for breakfast?”
“First,” I drained the cup she had handed me earlier and handed it back to her, “I would like some more coffee, please. This time do you think you could mix in some of that ‘tonic’ you gave me last night. I feel like I could use it today.” I rubbed at my temples to prove the point.
“Anything for a steady customer,” she said as she uncorked the bottle, poured three fingers into the cup and drowned it with coffee, creamer, and sugar. It was steaming as she handed the cup back to me, the smell of the bourbon tickling my nose as I lifted it to my lips.
Jessi looked at me questioningly. “Momma,” she started, “how long are we going to stay here with Aunt Becca?”
“I’m not sure, Jess. There’s a lot of things that need to be done right now, but it won't be forever.” That really was the best answer I had for her. Just what needed to be done in the first place? Oh, this is going to be an absolute nightmare!
Tammi had looked up from her phone when she heard the question, apparently curious what the answer would be. She didn’t look back at her phone after I finished speaking, seemingly not satisfied with my response. Her face was impassive as my mind started making a list of all the things I would now have to do, making me feel as though she could sense what I was thinking about.
Becca smiled at my oldest, “Don’t worry about it, hon. You are all free to stay here for as long as you need to. It’s not like I have anyone else to share this big old building with.”
This seemed to satisfy Tammi, who went back into her phone, but not Jessi.
She looked right at me and asked, “May I ask you what you found out when you followed Daddy last night?”
“You may ask, but I won’t answer. You don’t need to know and I really don’t want to tell you.” She looked annoyed at this response. “Sorry, kiddo…”
Tammy spoke up, never taking her eyes off her screen, “It’s because you found out that Daddy cheated on you, isn’t it?” I tried really hard to hide the shock from my face as soon as I heard her say it. Time to change subjects.
“Hey, did you two remember to grab your permission slips last night?”
“Sure,” replied Jessi. “I have them in my bag.”
“Would you mind bringing them to me, please?”
She hopped off the bar stool and walked into the living area, where their stuff was and pulled out two slips of paper from the front pocket of her suitcase. I looked them over after she handed them to me and signed the appropriate lines. I handed them back to her and she put them back into the pocket she got them from.
Becca spoke up, “Hey, when you two finish your breakfast, would you like to go somewhere?” She was hiding a concerned look at me under that smile of hers, as if she were trying to say to me, “Let’s get them in an open area so they can’t eavesdrop on the conversation you know we’re about to have.”
“I would like to go to the park,” I said quickly.
“What a great idea! We’ll go as soon as these two are done eating breakfast.”
“Hey, Mind if I get another cup of coffee?” I handed my cup over to Becca for a second time, this time it didn’t have a bracer in it. My headache still wasn’t going away.
- Writer
