"Mom, I have to go to work."
Tasha stood over her mom's bed, waiting for her to say something.
"What time is it?" her mom finally asked, squinting.
"It's almost five. I don't want to be late," Tasha said, even though she knew that Jackie would not be angry at her for arriving a few minutes late. She reached out to open the blinds, to let some light in, but her mom squinted again, because the light made her throbbing headache a hundred times worse. Tasha closed them.
"Well, dinner's in the microwave," she said. "You just have to take the tin foil off-"
"I know how to do it," her mom snapped.
Tasha found herself having to do everything for her mother. Cooking and cleaning, while keeping up with her own school work, and her job. Most people might have looked at her and wondered how she did it all, but to her it was second nature. It was what she had to do to survive. She wished her mother could be the same. She wished her mother could get on with her life too. Maybe they could be a real family again. She wanted to offer some words of encouragement, in hopes that it would convince her mother to get up.
"I know it can be hard sometimes... but if you get up you're going to feel better okay?" Tasha pleaded.
"I know you can do this."
Her mother shook her head.
"Not right now."
It was silent after that. Tasha stood there for a moment, waiting for something, but she wasn't sure what--I love you? See you soon? But her mother didn't say anything, as if she didn't even realize Tasha was still there.