Three
1079 Words
I opened the door and then I heard Vivian squeal in excitement.
"Mummy!" She ran towards me and I caught her before she could hug me and set her on my hip.
I kissed her neck all over.
"How is my one and only baby girl?" I asked her and she laughed heavily.
I saw my mum come into our tiny living room.
"Selena why are you so wet?" Mum asked me.
I had completely forgotten all about how the rain had beaten me and then I hurriedly put Vivian down so that she didn't catch a cold.
"It's nothing mum, just that i sort of got stuck in the rain." I said and then I sneezed.
Mum looked at me. "Sort of? You are dripping wet all over and you just sneezed. Sweetie just go have a hot bath before you catch a cold."
Mum fussed about every single thing on the entire planet. She worried a lot, and that made me worry too.
Just so that she didn't worry and have a heart attack, I said to her. "Alright mum. I'll do that right away."
Mum picked Vivian as I went up the stairs.
"Are you happy that your mummy is back home? Are you?" I heard mum say in a sing song voice to my daughter as they went into the kitchen.
I walked up our rickety stairs and into my bedroom. My bedroom was small actually it was supposed to be for Leticia and I, but then because I had Vivian, Leticia had to move to Lionel's room. I felt terrible that Leticia couldn't have the privacy she truly deserved as a girl.
I got into the room and took off my clothes before dumping them in the laundry basket. I put on a towel and i tied my hair up in a rough bun above my head. When i got into the hot shower, I felt so much relief. It was so good to have such soothing feeling. At least, it helped me wash away the frustration I had felt all through the day.
When I was almost done with my bath, the shower stopped. I tried to turn it back on, but it refused to on. It was broken once again. I got out of the shower, got dressed in my pajamas and went down the stairs.
"Mum I think the shower is broken again." I said.
"That damn thing." Mum swore. "I keep telling your dad that we need to have an actual plumber come up and fix it, but he feels like he can fix everything."
I took a sit on one of the dining chairs as I entered the kitchen and Vivian ran up to me. I placed her on my lap and played with her nose like usually do.
"But you can't really dad for dad." I told her. "Plumbers are expensive."
"Selly, your dad feels like he can fix everything in the house. If it was possible to fix daytime and daylight, trust me your dad would be up for the task." She said as she worked on the stove.
I laughed at her joke.
"But you are right Selly, we can't afford a plumber." Mum said.
Selly was a nick name my mum had for me. It was my dad who had named me Selena in the first place. He had named me after Selena Perez who was his biggest music idol. Mum made fun of it and called me Selly to piss him off sometimes and the nick name stuck with her, but not with dad.
"What are you cooking?" I asked. "I am starving. Are you hungry from Grandma's cooking Viv?"
"Uh-huh." Vivian said as she giggled.
"Why won't she want Grandma's cooking, she eats it all through the day." Mum joked.
Despite how hard and difficult things were, my parents loved my daughter. She lifted up their spirits and claimed that she brought back their youth to them. I was forever grateful.
"I'm making pasta." Mum said and i felt my stomach grumble at the mention of the name. Then she turned to me. "How did it go?"
I was dreading this conversation so badly. I honestly didn't want to talk about it. I was too ashamed to even face her.
I was quiet.
"What's wrong Selly?" Mum asked me. She was beginning to have that worried face again and I didn't like it.
"I didn't get the job mum." I said as I looked into blank space.
She was quiet for a while, too quiet. The only noise you could hear in the house were the light droppings of rain on the roof and Vivian talking to herself. I even had to turn and look up at mum to see if she was ok.
She was fine. Then she smiled at me and turned back to her cooking.
"Don't worry Selly, you're going to get a job eventually. I mean this isn't the end of world is it?" She said as she stirred the contents of the pot together.
This was probably the hundredth time, mum had said this. Every time I came back home without a job, mum always tried to make the atmosphere light, by saying she was sure I was going to get a job soon off. And I couldn't help but deal with the burning feeling of guilt in my chest.
"Mum she turned me down because I don't have a husband.' I said. "She said I was going to soil her reputation in the restaurant."
I saw Mum's face cloud with anger.
"I'm sorry for her, but then she so easily forget that her vagabond of a son sleeps with everything in skirt in the entire town!" Mum snapped and turned back to her cooking.
Then she became quiet and I heard her say. "I shouldn't have let you go there. I shouldn't have."
"Mum it wasn't your fault." I said.
Mum was quiet.
"But it is. I'm your mother, I'm supposed to be looking at for you and not letting people humiliate you like this." I heard her voice begin to break.
I put Vivian to play with one of her toys on the floor and walked up to my mum and turned her to face me. Sure enough, there were tears in her eyes.
"Oh mum, don't cry or you're going to make me cry too." I said my own voice breaking as I hugged her.
- Writer
