Hidden Burdens (working title)

Chapter Nineteen

Kimmy sat at the kitchen table, staring at the workbook page of basic division problems she had to do. She learned her multiplication facts last spring in second grade and was told multiplication and division would be a big part of third grade. Having been out of school the past month, Kimmy had missed out on reviewing multiplication after summer vacation. So, Mr. O'Reilly had given her a "mini review" while the other kids worked on a practice worksheet to make sure she was caught up. It may have been familiar to her.

Mr. O'Reilly wrote a few practice problems, walking Kimmy through the steps he had shown the other kids, making sure to pause and ask if she was still with him. If anything, what he said made more sense than what Kimmy remembered her second-grade teacher taught her.

He also walked her through to make sure Kimmy understood what to do when it came to division as well. "If ever you don't understand something, please ask me for help." Mr. O'Reilly also insisted not to be afraid to bring in homework unfinished the following day if no one at home could help. "I don't want anyone left behind. Okay?"

Kimmy had nodded her head at him.

So far, school did not seem so bad.

With even more of a refresher from the YouTube videos Ben had looked up, Kimmy did what she could of the math homework Mr. O'Reilly assigned. It was surprisingly way easier than the journal prompt she still needed to write.

For the most part, she couldn't hear the commotion from the other room where Mary and Miguel were talking to their caseworker. Occasionally one of them got loud, especially Mary, who did not sound happy at all and wanted nothing to do with their dad.

Kimmy didn't know much about hers and Zach's dad, other than he wanted nothing to do with them. It was mostly because of Zach being special needs and since Kimmy didn't talk; he thought something was wrong with her, as well.

He would smack her on the ear as if that would get Kimmy to talk and ask Stella, "What the hell is wrong with her?"

While they argued back and forth, she would sneak away and go hide in her room for a while. After she came across Stephen's channel, his videos were an escape and helped her to laugh through her tears.

Kimmy stared out the front kitchen window as those haunting memories flooded her mind. She hadn't seen their dad since she was six, when Stella had kicked him out after a fight they had regarding child support he hadn't been paying.

After he left, Kimmy offered to comfort her mom, who demanded why she was out of bed and ordered her back to bed. Tears filled her eyes just thinking how often she heard Stella cry herself. Her mom had to raise two kids on her own, one who had special needs and a dad who wanted nothing to do with them.

Kimmy quickly wiped the tears away and tried to focus on her homework.

She heard Mary say she would walk her caseworker out. Ben "flew" Miguel inside the kitchen to pick out what they would have for dinner. It was hard to tell if he was serious or not when Ben mentioned needing to work out after setting Miguel on his feet.

"You're old, Tio," Miguel pointed a finger up at him.

"Hey," Ben said, as if offended, holding his hands on his sides. "I'm only thirty-four. I'm not an old man yet." True, that was significantly younger than Kimmy's parents, who were both in their late forties.

Ben noticed Kimmy watching them. "You doing alright, kiddo?" He went over to check on her work, noting Kayla can check over her homework when she gets home.

The boys got going on dinner while Kimmy finished her homework. It took her longer than an hour. By the time dinner was about ready, she finally finished the last problem. Kayla was also home by then and checked over her homework like Ben had said she would.