Dangerously Damnaged Goods

Walking on Eggshells

Emma dinner is ready. Come help me set the table. I heard my mother yell as I finished the final chapter of my essay. I figured I would have gotten a decent partner in class this time, but I always get stuck with someone lazy. Of course, I'm left to do the work all on my own. It was nearly 7:00 and I had just finished my school work. Math would have to wait until Sunday. I hurried to go get washed up before I helped my mother set the dinner table, when I heard my mother yell at me again. My mother has very little patience these days. It's not her fault though. My stepfather is very strict and doesn't like anything off his beat. We are all required to eat together. My stepfather, Bobby, sets a schedule for all of us to do what we have to do. The schedule he sets doesn't give my mother or me time to attend to our personal needs. His schedule is set to meet his own needs. He cares not about my mother and I. this is why I will have to lie about my math work. I've always done what I was told. I made all A honor roll throughout school but this did not please Bobby. I despised my stepfather. My biological father died when I was three. It was sudden, but he had liver failure. I don't know much about him really, but from what my mother has told me he was an alcoholic. My stepfather went with my mother when I was five to that's when everything changed. My stepfather met my mother in a library during a last minute shuffle in one of her court cases.Kathy my mother was in a rush and had bumped into Bobby and dropped her files and papers scattered the floor. she quickly bent down to pick up all the papers from the floor the files she had dropped we're very personal and private to a case she was working. she was so furious with Bobby for bumping into her she wanted to just slap Bobby then and there. Instead, she collected all of her files and papers that were scattered throughout the room and was in a rush to get out the door. Bobby had grabbed her by the wrist to apologize as she tried to fly out the double doors, Bobby then decided to ask my mother out on a date. They have been together since then. I haven't the slightest idea what my mother saw in such a brute. During the time that Bobby and my mother met, Bobby was just an errand boy for an accountant in the city. The first year of their relationship was great. My mom had a great job working as a lawyer. Bobby had just got a promotion and taken over the accountant's position that he used to run Aaron's for. Bobby had first handled the lower class rich people's accounts. At the start of my mother and Bobby's relationship, Bobby was a pretty decent guy. Something had happened at the office Bobby worked at. Files claimed to have gotten lost and he was fired. Once I was old enough to understand things more, I put two and two together. I personally believed he got caught stealing from clients, but after he was fired there was a lot of gossip about him releasing clients' personal information for his own gain. He did bring home an abundant amount of cash for an accountant. He said it was bonuses from his big clients. Nevertheless, once word got out and rumors had spread, my mother's boss took her off because she had gotten to work in court. My mother's clients began to drop like flies. No one wanted a lawyer who was married to a thief, especially one that was said to have sold personal client information. Soon after, we were hit by poverty. My mother and Bobby began to fight all the time. My mother sold our home and we moved into an apartment in Midtown. It wasn't horrible, but it still was not easy to accommodate. After washing my hands and face, I rushed into the kitchen to help my mother set the table. What took you so long, she asked me. You know how bobby gets if things are not done before he comes home. My mother reminded me. Mother and I both had hoped Bobby was in a good mood for once. had been ever since he got this job as a tax consultant he, became dull and angry. A lot of his clients had the right to refuse him due to his past misfortunes, which resulted in him getting the lower-paying clients. My mother still consulted very few clients but was no longer a lawyer. She would build cases for clients and consult them in small legal cases where they could represent themselves, before they spent large cash on a lawyer. We both got stiff hearing the front door open. Bobby walked in, clearing his throat. He walked directly to the bathroom to wash up for dinner. Mother and I sat at the table quietly waiting for him to take a seat at the dinner table. When Bobby finished washing up, he made his way into the kitchen, asking my mother If she had finished his dry cleaning yet. Yes, I hung them up in the closet as well, she replied. My mother then made Bobby's plate of food. I watched as she piled equal portions onto his plate, one scoop of fresh steamed vegetables, one loaded baked potato and finally, a New York strip steak. She carried his plate to the table and set it in front of him. grabbing his drinking glass, she filled it with milk and returned it to where it sat in front of him on the table. After my mother had served Bobby his food, she began to make her own plate. Once she sat at the table, I got up to make my plate as well. Once I made my plate of food, I sat at the table and silently said a prayer to myself. As I ate, I wondered how Bobby could expect so much from us without so much as a thanks from him. I was tired of watching my mother bend over backwards for someone like Bobby. Both my mother and I constantly felt so like we were walking on eggshells even when he wasn't around. We were slaves in his present and prisoners to his Accord when he wasn't around. It's been years since I have seen my mother with unknowable strength. She used to smile all the time. Even in her weakest moments. She was once fierce and I looked up to her for it. My mother was once every bit of the woman I dreamed of being. I wish for both of our sakes we could get ourselves away from Bobby so we could get back to where we deserve to be. After all, it was Bobby's mistake that led us to living so poorly the way we now know. If my mother just divorced him, she could get her job back and I could get a job as well. I would do anything to go back to being a happy family with just my mother and I. We all sat in silence and ate dinner. I took a sip of my ice water, glancing at Bobby to see if he was finished eating after finishing the last bite of food on my plate.