"AMBER!"
"Coming, Mother," Amber von Tussle answered, fluffing her hair quickly before hurrying to her mother's bedroom.
"When I watched yesterday, you were dancing with Link. Who is this Brad?"
Amber gritted her teeth. She had been dancing with Brad for almost a month now, but her mother hadn't noticed, apparently. She had been so busy doing things with the show that she must not have. Now that she was fired, she stayed home, alone, watching the show each and every day, criticizing Amber, and only occasionally looking through the classifieds in the newspaper for a new job.
"He's my new partner," Amber said eventually.
"And Link is…"
"With that whale," Amber admitted disdainfully. Her attempt at sounding cheerful couldn't mask her feelings. She sniffed. "I… she's, just… ahhh!" Amber pursed her lips in frustration. "I HATE her, mother."
"I know you do, Amber," Velma replied, through clenched teeth, trying to be patient.
Amber continued her senseless rant, pacing around the room as she babbled.
"What are you going to do about it?" Velma finally snapped.
"Me?" Amber squeaked.
"If you haven't noticed, I don't exactly have any power on the show anymore," Velma said, rather bitterly. "Thanks to those…" She shook her head to indicate her feelings. With a sigh, she stood and brushed herself off. Casually, she looked down at a magazine she had been reading, made by a company that she was considering going to an interview for tomorrow. "You have to do something. Link CAN'T be happy with her…"
"Does he even remember who I am?"
A gleam came into her mother's eyes.
"He will after tomorrow," she said.
Penny sat on the couch, pretending to do her homework as she watched her mother pace around the house.
"What is it, mother?" she asked.
"Do your homework, Penny," Prudy snapped.
"Yes, mother."
Silent again, Penny wondered what her mom was thinking about. Many scraps of paper littered the counter, along with small, neat piles of money. She really wanted to ask what was going on, but knew better than to do so.
Nervously tapping her notebook, Penny finally annoyed Prudy.
"It's your father," Prudy burst out. "He's getting out of jail."
Penny's mind raced. She had never known much about her father – he had always been away on trips, spent more time in hotels than in his own house, and never went more than two years without a trip to jail.
"He's coming home?" she finally managed.
"Yes. Tomorrow. …Let's see for how long, this time," she replied, with a quiet, bitter laugh.
Penny saddened to see how her father's jaunts were affecting her mother. Prudy had always seemed so tough and independent, but she supposed that wasn't actually the case.
"I'm going to finish the rest of it upstairs," Penny decided, grabbing her homework.
"All right."
Penny paused at the foot of the stairs.
"Do you think he even remembers who I am?"
A gleam came into her mother's eyes.
"He will after tomorrow."