Bittersweet Revenge

Chapter Four

I watched as Emma escorted our rowdy children out the door and sighed. I may have a long list of chores to do but at least the house will be nice and quiet. I picked up the sheet of paper Emma handed me before she left and read the long list of chores. I couldn't help but wonder if I accomplished these duties everyday than how the hell did this house end up like this?

Emma and the children must really rely on me to take care of the house. They must have been ballistic without me while I was in the hospital. That thought sent a bust of heat to spread through my chest, they need me.

I placed the list back down on the counter and glanced around the kitchen. I better start with this area because the dishes that are piled up in the sink are beginning to create a fowl stench and I'm uncertain how much longer I can take the smell of rotting corpses.

I step in front of the sink and automatically frown from this sight. There are plates stained orange with caked on macaroni and cheese, bowls with milk that's beginning to curdle and pot and pans that still have some type of left over food inside. I cringe at the thought of laying one hand on any of this stuff.

I bend down and open the cabinet just below the sink. I find a box of garbage bags and decide this will be my safest route. I begin tossing every disgusting item into the garbage bag, while dry heaving and begging myself not to throw up, until the sink is clear. I remember seeing garbage cans just outside the back door for garbage day, so I make my way to the backyard and toss away those germ infested dishes. I shudder when I release the bag, feeling as those a thousand tiny ants are crawling up my spine.

"Ewwww," I groan to myself before stepping back inside.

I stomp my way back to the cabinet under the sink pulling out rubber gloves and any cleaning supplies I may need for this task. I spray the sink with some can that's so over powering with lemon scent I actually gag. I turn my head and close my eyes as I begin scrubbing away all the nasty grime that's been building up since I've been away.

When the sink is finally clean, I grab another garbage bag and use the sponge to wipe all the crumbs and left over food that's been discarded onto the countertops, into the garbage bags. I make my way to the kitchen table and groan when I see more dirty dishes and food.

"Screw it!" I yell at nobody but myself, freeing my pent up frustrations on my pathetic life. I pause for a moment and wonder if the constant screaming is something my children inherited from me.

I start folding the table cloth toward the center, pushing everything that remains on this table to the center. I lift the heavy table cloth with every item inside and carry it out to the back. I throw its entirety into the garbage and feel another deep shudder run through my body.

"I need to teach my children to pick up after themselves!"

I stomp my way back inside and wipe down the old, beat up, kitchen table that's finally free from unwanted garbage. I finished scrubbing all the surfaces in the kitchen and decide to start on the children's bedrooms.

I start with the boy's room because I figured theirs would be the hardest to tackle. Especially with little Maximus, he's a little rambunctious to say the very least. The moment I step inside their room the over powering scent of feet invades my nostrils. I cough out the unwanted smell and cringe as I make my way into their room.

There's dirty clothes piled in every corner, with legos...some many legos all around the floor. Just then I spot something moving out of the corner of my eye. I scream the loudest I have ever screamed...the loudest I think I've ever screamed before and jump onto one of the boy's beds. My head whips around the room for the thing that's moving. I suddenly spot a t-shirt creeping slowly across the floor. I spot a baseball bat in the corner of the room and grab it before I check out what's beneath the magical shirt.