The Drunk & Disorderly: A Trailer Park Soap Opera

Scene Four: Laci-who has so many children she doesn't know what to do ...

Laughter comes from inside as Laci climbs the short steps into her doublewide. Her thighs burn with every step after finishing up the shift at her second job. The boots on her feet feel heavy as if they are made of concrete. She pauses outside the door for a moment and takes a deep cleansing breath before entering her tiny home that smells of stinky shoes.

"Give it back!"

Laci instantly regrets not taking an extra moment at the door, but knows that any God-fearing woman should feel guilty for thinking that way. Instead, she walks into the living room and waits for the couch to bump into her leg before dropping down on it.

"Momma's home!" echoes through the trailer and into her ears.

Tears form behind her eyes that someone is happy to see her after all her hard work today. She could probably miss work at two of her three jobs and no one would notice. She would, though, when she received her paychecks. But if she were even ten minutes late getting home, her children would send out a search party looking for her. They knew every minute of her daily schedule.

As much as Laci loved her children, some days she feared for her life. They were a ruthless bunch and she worried if she slipped into a horror movie at times. Although sometimes she wasn't sure if the horror was having so many children who loved her so intensely or having demented children because she had to work all the damn time and couldn't spend quality time with them. She guessed only time would tell.

"Yes, Momma's home. Please stop yelling and let me rest for a moment," Laci lovingly begged.

"But, Momma! You promised me you'd read to me."

"Yeah, but she promised me we'd make my science project tonight."

"No! Momma said she'd help me make my baby doll dress!"

"Mom said she'd help me with my homework since I was home sick with three of you last week."

And the arguing commenced. More comments by more children, and rebuttals to boot. Laci hated telling her kids no if it was something she could do for them. But there were so many of them. Eleven to be exact. And all of them were talking at the same time.

Eleven children and herself called this four-bedroom doublewide home. She was happy to even have that much space for all of them. Their shit stain landlord wasn't too happy about it, but her kids kept the yard picked up and kept the trailer cleaner than most the other tenants, so he couldn't really say much.

Only problem was, with 12 people living in one place, and almost all of them wearing used shoes, that stench can linger forever. It was the one thing Laci couldn't stand. She wasn't home most of the time, so every single time she walked in that door, that's all she could smell: sweaty, stinky, stale odor of feet. Big feet, medium feet, small feet. All the feet.

She had tried just about everything to get rid of the stench, save setting everyone's shoes on fire. No way could she do that to her children. They didn't have a lot as it was.

Ignoring the shouts of her children, Laci leans over to the rickety side table and grabs the powder scented air freshener. Tilting the bottle over the top of her kids' heads, she pushes the button so hard she swears it cracks beneath the pressure. The mist spreads out around them looking like an aerial attack of sorts before falling on top of the children's shoulders and face.

"Momma, stop it! I can taste it, and it's gross."

"Close your mouth then," Laci responds as she squirts one last squirt above their heads and they squeal. It makes Laci chuckle as she sucks in the smell of baby powder and relaxes for a moment before it dissipates and the funky odor returns.

She pushes herself to her feet with a sigh and heads to the kitchen to cook dinner. As she glances around, she sees that the mismatched dishes are already stacked neatly on the small kitchen table and utensils lay next to them. Her oldest children are hard at work prepping dinner for all of them. Having to feed twelve hungry mouths isn't an easy task.

"What are we cooking tonight?" Laci asks as she walks up behind them and wraps her arms around their shoulders.

"Franks and beans and mac n cheese," one of the twins blurts out.

Laci nods her head. It's the same thing they've had the last three nights in a row. She is just thankful they have any food to eat at all.

"I'm gonna go shower. I'll be out in a minute," she says to her kids, then pats their shoulders and walks away.

Laci allows herself a few extra minutes standing below the spray to loosen up the tight knots in her shoulders. Once out, she dries off and wraps the towel around her body. Her hand halts towel drying her hair when she sees one of her middle daughters sitting on her bed with a book in her hand. The smile on her face begins to slip away though. Sitting in her daughter's lap is a dead squirrel, and she's stroking it from the top of its head to the tip of its tail.

"Jenny," she says, not wanting to frighten her, "what do you have there?"

She smiles up at her momma with a bright grin, one tooth missing in the front. "This is Twitchy. He's my new friend."

Laci frowns. "Why do you call him Twitchy?"

Jenny shrugs her shoulders. "Because he twitched a lot when I threw the rock at him before he fell over dead."

"So you know that you have a dead animal in the house?" Laci asks, her voice rising.

"Yeah. I wanted to keep him and I knew you'd never let me have a live squirrel in the house."

Laci stares at Jenny completely confused by the situation and her daughter's decision making skills. "What makes you think I want a dead squirrel in the house?"

"Because, silly, now it can't hurt anyone or poop and pee on everything." Jenny's smile spreads over her face, proud that she was able to come up with all of this on her own.

"Momma's allergic to squirrels, button. Can you take it out back and leave it by the tree?"

Jenny eyes her mother suspiciously. The look in her eye both worries and scares Laci a bit. To keep up her lie, Laci pretends to sneeze and grabs a tissue to blow her nose.

"Okay, Momma. I'll take him outside."

Jenny picks up the limp animal and drapes it over her forearm. It's body sways as she slides off the bed and walks toward the door. When she gets to the door, she glances over her shoulder. "I love you, momma."

"I love you, button," Laci automatically replies then turns to her dresser.

"I love you, more."

The whisper causes Laci to freeze as the door clicks shut. A chill runs down her spine as she watches Jenny run to the tree outside the window. What kind of shit is that child capable of?