I emerged shakily from my room at the commotion. Ma and Big Hank were having another explosive argument.
"Quit your damn nagging woman!" Hank bellowed, cramming items roughly into a duffel bag.
"Well you better take that useless fat ass son of yours with you then!" Ma spat.
Hank scoffed. "No way, the kid'll just slow me down. I got all I need right here." He patted the bag bulging with powder.
Zipping it up, he turned to me with a sneer. "Make sure you don't hit the buffet on the way out, tubby."
And with that, he swung the bag over his shoulder and strode out the door without a backward glance.
The trailer fell silent. Then Ma spun on me, eyes blazing. "This is all your fault! If it wasn't for you, he never would've left me!"
She shoved me hard, sending me crashing to the floor. Kicking and screaming insults, she blamed me for everything.
Through it all, one thought echoed in my mind - Big Hank was really gone.
Ma took a long drag on her cigar, blowing smoke in my face.
"Useless is what you are, taking up space and eating us out of house and home," she sneered. "Hank the Lard Ass, that's all you'll ever be."
I coughed and wiped my streaming eyes, but didn't dare move from her kicks. Ma leaned closer.
"Mark my words, boy. Some dead-end job slinging burgers is the best you can hope for. The only line you'll ever be standing in is at an all-you-can-eat buffet."
She cackled cruelly at her own joke, grinding her heel into my side for good measure. I bit back a pained cry, refusing to give her the satisfaction.
Deep down, a fire was starting to burn - her nasty words only fueled my determination to prove her so very wrong. One day I would escape, and make something of myself to shove back in Ma's ugly face. But for now, I'd have to endure.