Safe at The Farm (28/73)

After a few minutes of silence, my Mother said I could go. Jack immediately spoke up and said…. You are going to let her go after that little outburst. She did just talk back to both of us. My mother told him he was over reacting and that they could use some alone time to talk. Jack did not like being told what to do. You could tell by the way he was glaring at the both of us from across the kitchen that he was angry about the situation.

I was glowing with happiness as my mother told me to go pack my overnight bag. I did my best to hide my smile as I walked past Jack in order to get to my bedroom. Once I was out of his direct sight I was smiling from ear to ear. I was so pleased to be leaving the house for a few days. Things were tense in the house and I didn’t want to be around while they were. Jack always seemed to bother me more at night when him and my Mother were not getting along. Some nights I would barely get to sleep at all when they were fighting. I knew it would take at least a few days for them to start getting along again. But at least I would not have to be in the house with them as they did. I would not have to endure another angry violent round of abuse. I was going to be safe at the farm with Grandma Lois.

Being with Grandma was always so much fun. We would do so many things together. I loved being the farm without my Mother and Jack. There were so many animals there. Cats, dogs, cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits, peacocks and even goats. You had to be very careful bending down in front of the goats because if they say you there was a pretty good chance they were going to send you flying through the air on the end of their horns. When Grandma arrived at the house I was eager to leave as soon as we could but Grandma wanted to come in and visit with my mother for a bit.

I impatiently waited for them to have coffee and conversation until it was finally time to leave. As we got up to go I saw my Grandmother hand my Mother an envelope. There was money inside. After seeing this I figured out why things were so tense in the house. My Mother and Jack were having money troubles again. They were always arguing about money. My Mother had not worked for years. She was receiving assistance from the government to survive. Jack hardly ever worked. He seemed content to live off of my Mother’s tiny income.

My Grandmother was always helping them out by giving them money. My Mother tried to hind the envelope from my site when she noticed I was watching. But she was too late I had already seen. As we walked out the main door of the apartment I felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off of my shoulders. I always felt more at ease when I was not around Jack. Now I was going to have 3 whole days away. As Grandma made her way through town out to Thorsby I peacefully drifted off to sleep in the cab of her truck.