Sorry it took awhile for this chapter! I will try to get the next one up soon.
*Lucy's POV*
A week later I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing next to my bed. I squinted at the clock and saw that it was only 6:00 am. Who could be calling now? I wondered, annoyed. Sighing, I climbed out of bed and brought the receiver to my ear. "Hello?"
"Hey Lucy!" I heard Matt's cheerful voice say. It was strange to hear someone besides myself sounding happy.
"Hi. Why are you calling so early?"
"I'm glad to talk to you too. Sorry, I forgot about the time difference. It's 9:00 here. How's everyone doing?"
"Ok." I hadn't seen Matt since the funeral. He didn't know what had been going on.
"How are you doing?" He sounded concerned.
"Ok. It's hard, but I'm doing ok. What about you?" I was eager to have a conversation with someone who actually wanted to talk back to me.
"Well, I was thinking I might come out for a visit next week."
"You were just here." I answered, wondering what was going on.
"I know, but I thought since you guys were going through such a hard time that I could help."
"You have a life of your own. You don't need to drop it to come help us. We're fine." I was starting to get angry. Did he think he was some kind of superman who could come to visit and suddenly everything would be ok again?
"I just thought…" He began, sounding hurt.
"Never mind. We're fine. Goodbye." I hung up the phone. I glanced over at Ruthie, who was awake, but still lying on her bed. I remembered before Dad's death, how she would do anything to hear an interesting phone conversation. Now she couldn't care less.
*Simon's POV*
I was in my room sitting on my bed and staring into space (that had become my favorite activity) when I heard mom calling my name. Since it was so rare to hear her speak lately, I decided that I better pay attention.
She walked into my doorway and announced, "I quit my job."
"What?" I asked, surprised. How did she expect to get money?
"I quit my job." She repeated her voice emotionless. "We might have to go without some things, because we won't be able to afford them. I just thought you should know."
I couldn't bring myself to act upset, and it didn't matter because Mom was already on her way out. How were we going to afford anything? Lucy, Kevin, and Robbie were the only ones with jobs. Robbie's money went to pay fro school and Kevin only paid us $100 a month to rent the garage apartment. I guess I'm going to have to get a job I thought But there is no way I'll make as much money as Mom was. As I walked back to my bed, Lucy ran in.
"Did mom tell you?" She demanded.
"Yeah"
"And you don't care? What are we going to do? How could she do this?"
"What am I gonna do about it?"
"Someone needs to talk some sense into her."
"How about you?' I suggested, turning away from her.
"I tried, she won't listen." Lucy sounded like she was about to cry. Normally I would try to comfort her, but now I just felt annoyed. She glanced at me one more time before turning and running out of the room.
Ruthie's POV
I dumped the contents of my book bag on the bed and stared at the worksheet I had for homework. It was easy stuff, I could probably finish in 10 minutes, but I just didn't feel like it. I was angry. Ever since Dad had died, I had been angry at God for taking him. Angry at Dad for leaving. Angry at Mom for always going into her room when I needed her. The only way I knew to get rid of the anger was to fight. I needed my mom and I figured that the only way to get her to notice me was fighting and getting bad grades. But she didn't care.
"Ruthie!" Lucy cried, running into the room.
I rolled my eyes and turned to look at her.
"Mom quit her job" She announced
"Oh." I replied, turning back to my book bag. Well, maybe mom will have more time for me now.
"You don't care?" She asked. When I didn't answer, she sighed and left the room. Finally. I thought.
Lucy's POV
Nobody cared! No one cared that the family was falling apart except for me. Ruthie and Simon basically told me to get lost. I had also talked to Robbie. He was convinced that if he got another job, everything would be fine. I sat at the kitchen table trying to figure out what to do when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Lucy? This is Lou. From the church."
I sighed. What did he want? "Hi, Lou."
"I uh, heard that your mother uh, quit her job."
I was surprise he knew already, but then again, everyone in town, especially Lou, always knew our personal business. "Yeah, she did"
"Well, I know we decided you could keep the house for another year, but that was only so that you could get back on your feet. Your mother is obviously not trying to do that since she quit the job and is making no money and since none of you…"
"Lou, is there a point to this?" I asked, getting impatient.
"Yes. We can't allow you to keep the house unless you are making an effort to move on. And you're not."
"Wait, you're taking the house back?" I asked, panicked.
"I'm afraid we have to. We need it for the new minister."
"Do you know what this means?" I was beginning to yell. "We are homeless! We have almost no source of income! We're going to die!"
"I realize that…"
"Shut up!" I snapped, slamming the phone down. Great, this is just perfect. I have to talk to Mom. Maybe she'll take the job back if I tell her what's going on. "Mom" I yelled, running up the steps. I opened the door to her room and found her crying on the bed. "Mom, the church is taking our house because you don't have a job! and found her crying on the bed. "Mom, the church is taking our house because you don't have a job! You have to take it back."
She looked at me with teary eyes and whispered, "I can't Luce. It's too hard. I can't go on without him. I'm sorry. So sorry…" Then she broke down sobbing.
Hope you liked this chapter! Please review! Next chapter: the family moves