Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 20

"Mom," I waited until she deigned to look over at me, the faucet still running over a dirty plate, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

It wasn't really a question. I was going to talk whether or not she wanted to hear it, and proved myself by standing right next to her, arms crossed as she looked purposefully down into the depths of the sink.

And I didn't wait for a response.

"What are you doing?"

She smiled a little, and I knew that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"The dishes, Madelyn." She held up her soapy hands for emphasis, then reached for her sponge, scrubbing away at a plate, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

I scoffed, "You know what I mean," I glanced over in the direction of the hallway to see if he'd returned. He hadn't. "Lay off him, alright?"

"What?" She asked, as if she were totally innocent, and handed me a clean, but dripping dish. I begrudgingly took a towel from the rack to dry it.

"It's enough, Mom. He gets it. You don't like him." I set down the now-dry plate, and held out my hand for another one.

"What makes you think I don't like him?" She asked, handing me another wet plate.

The question was so frustrating, and she was so damn infuriating, that I couldn't help but raise my voice when I said, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was the way you barely said hello? Or the fact that you asked him to go out and turn on the sprinklers -"

"That was hardly -"

"... in the middle of dinner?!" I interrupted, glaring right at her.

She was still scrubbing at a pot, but her circles had slowed, "That had nothing to do -"

"You just sent him out to take out the garbage, Mom."

"Don't be ridiculous, Madelyn. None of that means I don't like him."

"It doesn't mean you do like him. Why not have Will or Mark do it? They're your sons!"

My mother scoffed, "Will is busy with Lilly, and you know Mark's just broken up with his girlfriend-"

"Mark has always just broken up with his girlfriend!"

She sighed, seeming exasperated. Because she had so much to be exasperated about in this situation.

"Madelyn, I don't see what the big deal is. I had Bryan do all those things for me for years."

I stared at her, and she finally met my eye, "My point exactly."

"Michelle?" Harry's voice asked, and we both whipped around to stare at him. He met my eye for an uncertain moment before glancing at my mother again, "You said the tall, dark garbage bin, right? Not the gray one?"

My mother had the decency to at least smile a little, "The dark one, yes. Thank you, Harry."

"No problem," he said, smiling and stepping further into the room, eyeing me as he said, "Anything else I can do?"

"Mmm," Mom was drying her hands, taking too long to contemplate his question, "not at the moment. You can go watch the game with the boys if you'd like. They're just in the den through the living room."

Harry looked at me again, seeming unsure of what to do, so I nodded, hoping that I'd be able to join them in a minute. Harry smiled at both of us before turning on his heel, and heading back down the hallway.

"Please, Mom," I was pleading now as I turned toward her, "Don't make him do any more tonight. He's suffered enough."

"Oh, hush," she continued her scrubbing, "A little house work will keep him humble."