When Mary Met Halley

Four

She turned and went out the front door instead to throw an old dog toy for Poe.

Jasper crept back into the kitchen and under the table. He didn't talk yet but he was smart, perhaps even more so than his sister. I was glad, because Hazel had smoked while pregnant with all three of them. Cigarettes and marijuana. "Hi, Jasper. No hug for Auntie?"

He waved but remained on the sticky floor next to his mother's dirty bare feet. He had an old pair of my dad's glasses that he always carried around, though they had no lenses. 

"We need some money," Hazel said, unscrewing a jar of nail polish.

"I just gave you two hundred bucks like three days ago." I went into the living room, felt anger rising at the mess everywhere, and looked for diapers. "Where are the diapers?"

"That's the last one," she said flippantly. "I was thinking about toilet training him soon."

I looked at the six-month-old baby, who grinned gummily at me, drool running down one side of his chin. "Have you heard from Dad?"

She snorted, painting a nail. "Uh, yeah. He's on a big winning streak. Ha."

"Fuck," I said. I got my purse and took three twenties out. "Go get some diapers, and formula. The good kind, not the crap. Bread, turkey, cheese. Bananas. Peanut butter, Cheerios. I'll order some groceries tonight to be delivered tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes. "Why can't you go?"

Because they're not my kids, because I'm trying so hard not to slap you, just because. "Uh, because I was at the hospital all night with my pulverized fiance, who has been cheating on me the whole time he was gone, and I'm not in the fucking mood. Okay? Good enough?" I said it low enough so the older kids didn't hear as I put the naked baby in his playpen, fishing out a rotting bottle and an AAA battery first. 

He chewed on a plastic ring, watching us happily.

"None of that's my fault," she grumbled, but she got up. "Really? Cheating on you? That doesn't sound like Prince Caleb." 

I paused to get out another twenty, and handed it to her just so she'd shut the fuck up and leave me alone. "Just go, okay? I need to go home soon. Get some new baby bottles. And no liquor." 

She got her keys as Jasper came out from under the table to stand by her. "I'll be right back," she told him, patting his head. She pulled on a pair of jeans from the laundry chair and slipped her feet into her Dollar Tree pink flamingo flip flops. She went out the door, yelled something at Shiloh, and I heard the fan belt squeal as she left.

I made a bottle with the last of the formula and gave it to Hank, covering him with a mostly clean blanket until he had a diaper on and could be dressed.  

"You hungry?" I asked Jasper back in the kitchen. He had just turned three and was as adorable as his siblings. My sister made cute kids. 

He nodded and I opened the fridge. Nothing but browning lettuce and hard cheese that was unwrapped. I resisted the urge to hit the fridge, mostly because the kids were watching. "Did Mama have her friend here?" 

He nodded again. Her latest boyfriend, freeloading as they all did. She would be pregnant again next.

I found some stale cheese crackers from the dollar store and put some on a paper plate for him. I waded through trash and toys to the old box TV and turned it on. Cable was something I paid for so the kids would at least have cartoons to watch. Mickey's voice filled the room and Jasper centered in on that. With a sigh, I got a garbage bag and gathered up the kids' clothing.