Just Me - [S. Barber]

Two Fights

"SYDNEY! IS that you?" Their mother calls once more as the door closes with a light thud. "Nope. It's an axe murderer. Good thing you asked." Sydney sasses, keeping a straight face as she removes her jacket. She places it on the coat hanger, then enters the kitchen.

"Ha—Ha! Very funny." Mrs. Novak responds sarcastically. Just as Sydney enters the dimly lit kitchen, the woman speaks up once more. "Hey. So apparently, Karen's dog ran through a screen door or something," she begins, frantically lifting boxes, seemingly searching for something.

"so she had to go to an emergency vet." She finished. Sydney opens the fridge, taking out a box of yogourt. "Okay." She simply responds, leaning back on the yellow rusted metal.

"—So Im gonna pick up her shift tonight, which is fine 'cause I owe her two shifts from the time Liam ate all that cheese." She adds, peering over around the fridge.

"Yeah, That was Lia's fault for letting him do that. Not mine." Sydney defends, holding up her hands. Mrs. Novak pauses for a moment, the nods, returning to the Laundry closet.

Sydney rolls her eyes, fidgeting with the ice cream box that's nearly empty. "Well, thanks for telling me your life story, Mom." She begins walking away.

"No. Wait, come back here. I'm not done yet." The woman calls, walking out behind her. "Eyes on me." She points to herself. Sydney slowly turns around, eyebrows raised.

"Okay. Question. Big question. Have you seen my stockings?" She asks. Sydney eyes the woman in disbelief. Big question my ass. She thought.

"They were in the bathroom. They were hanging over the shower curtain?" She continues, ending her sentence in a questioning tone. "Oh, sorry. I thought they were dirty." Sydney replies.

"No, they were drying." She says angrily. "Well, I found them in the bathtub." Sydney defends. "D— well, where are they? They're my last pair." She inquires.

Sydney pops open the lid of the yogourt, stabbing it with the metal spoon. "I sort of...washed 'em." She shrugs. "Wait. In the washer?" Mrs. Novak asks, as if it weren't obvious enough.

"Yeah, And I guess they sort of ended up in the dryer, so...." Sydney trails off, chuckling. The woman turns around, groaning as she opens up the old dryer, pulling out a pair of moist stockings.

"Oh, great." She places them in her purse. "Now I get to feel like sausage while I'm serving it." She sighs. "You don't really have to wear 'em do you?" Sydney questions.

"No one wears 'em anymore. Like, since the '90s." She finishes. Her mother sighs. "Can you— Can you just make sure that Liam does his homework and that Lia gets some sleep? Also make sure they eat dinner?" Mrs. Novak requests as she puts on her orange worn out jacket.