Demons (Abandoned)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

            I was on my second trip, lugging in an arm full of groceries through the front door. I set them all on the counter and was about to go back out to get more when I heard Addie behind me. “Do you need any help?” she asked me.

            “Oh, sure sweetie,” I said turning around to look around her. “Can you start putting these away while I bring the rest of the bags in?”

            “Okay,” She said walking into the kitchen. I smiled at her and then walked out into the early evening air.

            I walked to my car and grabbed the rest of the groceries, shutting the door with my foot. I walked to the front door, which I had left open, walked through, and also shut it with my foot. I made my way into the kitchen and placed the rest of the groceries on the island. “So what do you want me to fix for dinner?” I asked her as I began to empty out the grocery bags.

            “Spaghetti?” she asked me, holding up a box of pasta.

            “Okay, that sounds good,” I said. I helped her put everything away but the pasta and a jar of sauce. I looked through the cabinets to find a sauce pan and a pot to cook the noodles in. “Why don’t you go relax a little, watch some TV or something,” I suggested to Addie who was leaning against the counter.

            “You’re sure you can handle this?” she said with a smirk. I fought back a smile; she was the same old Addie.

            “I’m sure, just go do whatever,” I said.

            Addie left me and went one room over to the living room where she sat on the couch and turned on the TV. She was watching one of the Law & Orders or something like that. It was some type of Crime Show. I wasn’t really paying attention.

            I went straight to work on dinner, filling a pot with water to set on the stove and boil. I put the noodles into the pot and let them sit there. Next I poured the spaghetti sauce into the pan and set it on a burner to simmer.

            I turned my attention half on the food and half on what Addie was doing in the living room. This is how it was going to be for a while. Carlos moved out. Kendall was touring. And James was working and in the process of moving. This house was mine for now. It was just me and my daughter, at a closing to a horrid summer.

            Then a thought crossed my mind. School. Obviously Addie wasn’t ready to go to actual school, but was I really prepared to have her be homeschooled? That meant that I’d have to be home during her school hours because no one else would.

            I shook my head. For Addie’s sake and my own sanity I had to live in the now. I turned my full attention back to the stove top and turned off the burners. I finished preparing our food and then set the table.

            “Addie,” I said quietly from the doorway to the kitchen. It was dark outside now. The kitchen light was on, but not the living room. The house looked sort of eerie this way. “Dinner’s ready,” I told her.

            “Okay,” she said without turning around and looking at me. She turned the TV off and came over to where I stood near the kitchen. She didn’t say anything else.

            We sat down across from each other at the table and started eating. Again, it was silent. I wanted to make an effort at conversation with her, but I didn’t know what to say. I remember Demi said to keep conversation light, but even then I still didn’t know. In the end it wasn’t me that started conversation.