Sally Jackson lets out an exhausted sigh when she finally arrives at her apartment. She has had the most tiring day at work today. It's days like the Fourth of July that she wishes she didn't work at Sweet on America.
All her coworkers had gotten the day off and that meant she had to take over all their jobs. It's also days like these that she truly appreciates having coworkers. Handling customers, dealing with phone calls and orders, cleaning up the messes the kids did, making sure nobody stole any candy-it's all far too much for one person to handle. She could've taken the day off, but she really needs the extra money for Percy's school this fall.
She had thought that the worst part of her day would have been work, but alas, no. When you're Sally Jackson and don't have a car, you have to depend on public transportation. And when you're her, you have rotten luck.
When she'd descended into the cool subterranean station, she was quickly informed that the subways weren't working and that it would probably take about an hour to fix the problem. This left her with the option of taking a taxi cab that she couldn't afford or walking home. Obviously, she chose the latter. She had to walk all the way hone under the scorching sun.
Sally loses all her remaining free will and obeys the couch calling out to her. She lies down and before she can do anything about it, she falls asleep.
The sound of glass breaking against linoleum wakes her up.
Fear instills itself into her heart when she realizes it's six o'clock, which means that she's been asleep for a two hours and that she hasn't cooked anything. This also means that Gabe is home from his game and that he is the source of the ruckus. The time also additionally means that Percy's going to be arriving at any given moment from his summer school's field trip.
Oh gods no.
All fatigue evaporates from her and she sprints into the kitchen. She stands agape when she discovers Gabe slamming dish after dish against the floor.
"What the hell are you doing, Gabe?!" She shouts, taking in the fact that he's also broken some of the tea cups that had once belonged to her mother.
He stops mid-throw and turns towards her, his face a deep burgundy. "Sally, what time is it?"
She knows better than to answer that question. With careful but swift steps, she maneuvers her way through the broken china and towards the refrigerator. To her fortune, there are enough ingredients inside there to make a decent last minute dinner.
Just as Sally begins to pull out some of the vegetables, Gabe sends a mug to crash against the wall, a foot away from her head. This causes her to spill the vegetables in her arms into the floor.
Gabe responds to this by grabbing her shoulders firmly and pushing her down onto the floor.
Sally bites down on her lips, trying to ignore the piercing pain spreading from her left shoulder. But she's grateful she doesn't feel pain anywhere else. Thank the gods he's thrown her into the only spot in the kitchen's floor that isn't littered with glass.
"Don't you try and fix you mistakes now. you were supposed to have cooked something before I got home. That's your only job, Sally. Cooking. And you can't even do that? How useless are you? No wonder that kid's dad ran out on you."
He yanks her up by the shirt collar, momentarily choking. her.
"I just came home from a hard and exhausting game of poker, and this is what I come home to? Really, Sally? You're so inconsiderate."
Sally's hand is over her throat, ready to fend off anything that comes near it again. She croaks out, "I'm sorry, Gabe. I just had a hard day at work and-"
He silences her with a stinging slap across her face. "Does it look like I care? Tell me Sally, does it look like I care?"
She shakes her head furtively. "I'm sorry Gabe, won't happen again."
Gabe takes a strand of her hair and uses it to pull her down to his eye level. Very quietly, he threatens her, "You better hope not."
Sally bites down on her lip as the alcoholic stench from his mouth washes over her face. Before she can protest, he slams his pudgy face against hers, planting a kiss on her firmly closed lips.
He pulls away from her with a satisfied smile. "I love you, Sally. You just make it so hard sometimes." Gabe makes his way for the kitchen door that will lead him outside. Then with obvious amusement, he taunts, "You better clean up this mess you've made before your bastard son shows up and starts asking questions. Actually...I think I can hear him coming up right now."
He chuckles to himself as he walks out.
Sally grabs for the broom and sweeps as many glass shards as she possibly can into a garbage bag. She's about halfway finished when she hears her nine year old open the front door.
"The field trip was so much fun! And I didn't blow anything up, which I think is a great accomplishment because there were so many explosives around. I only fell asleep once throughout the documentary we watched on the American Revolution. I mean, yeah it was like a fifteen minute nap, but still."
She manages to pick up the last of the shards and toss them into the trash can. She heaves the garbage bag and pushes it outside the backdoor right before Percy walks into the kitchen.
"And then we go to eat ice cream! And because it's the Fourth of July, we didn't have to pay for them. The guy said it's great that we gave up our holiday for education. And then me and Arty got some cool souvenirs from the gift shop. I actually bought you one."
From his pocket, Percy produces a small notebook with an American flag cover and hands it to her. "Since you love writing and stuff, and the colors also match your uniform, so it looks cool."
Sally shakes her head in astonishment, "Thank you so much Percy, you shouldn't have."
He shrugs, but his smile reveals that he's pleased that his mother likes his gift.
Percy climbs up the high stool by the counter and plops into it. He focuses his full attention on her. "How was your day, mom?"
She manages a small smile, "I had a good day too, Percy."