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‘Listen, you two,’ Mary said. ‘This is starting—’
‘There is nothing you can say,’ Sally said. ‘You’re making stuff up to prove your point.’ She laughed. ‘You are such a loser. All my friends talk about it. That’s why you don’t have a girlfriend. I’m younger than you, and I have a boyfriend.’
‘Yeah, because you give him what he wants. Quite a reputation you’re getting.’
‘Otis!’ Mary said. ‘That’s enough!’
But is it true? she thought. Is that what’s going on?
‘You suck, Otis. All my friends think it.’
‘Like I give a shit—’
‘Otis! Language!’
He ignored her. ‘About what your pathetic little friends think. You’re a joke. All of you.’
‘No girlfriend,’ Sally said. ‘Loser.’
‘I have got a girlfriend,’ he said.
‘No you don’t.’
‘I do.’
‘Who is it then?’
‘I’m not telling you.’
‘That’s because she doesn’t exist.’ Sally laughed. ‘What’s worse than a loser? A loser with an imaginary girlfriend.’
He darted forward, grabbing at the toast, although from the look on his face he would probably have been happy to twist his sister’s arm off at the shoulder. Sally jumped away from him, yanking her hands back to keep the disputed breakfast safe. Her elbow hit the bread which spun into a glass, making it topple into the sink and, with a loud crack, shatter into pieces.
‘ENOUGH!’ Mary’s shout filled the silence after the breaking of the glass. ‘Both of you should be ASHAMED!’
She tried, for a second and with no success whatsoever, to bite back the rage, but the dam had been breached and the waters swept over it unencumbered.
‘It’s toast, for God’s sake! TOAST! But you two are acting like it’s the fucking Mona Lisa’ – she was vaguely aware that her plans to make this a teachable moment had started to fall apart when she raised her voice and had dissolved entirely the moment she dropped the F-bomb, but she was too far gone to really care – ‘and I’ve had enough! Stop it! It’s a DISGRACE! Do you hear what I’m saying? It’s a disgrace.’
Otis and Sally stared at her in silence.
‘Sorry, Mom,’ Otis said. He swallowed. ‘Sorry.’
Mary heard footsteps behind her. Ryan put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Hey,’ he said. ‘What’s going on in here?’
Sally raised her eyebrows. ‘Mom’s mad because of some toast,’ she said.
‘That’s not quite—’ Mary rubbed her eyes. ‘They can explain,’ she said. ‘I’m going to lie down.’
Taking a Photo
‘I cannot believe they were arguing about that,’ Mary said. Ryan had come into their bedroom and was sitting next to her on the bed. ‘I just snapped. I shouldn’t have sworn but they were driving me mad.’
‘It’s fine,’ Ryan said. ‘You’re stressed. I explained to them that you had a sleepless night and not to worry about you.’
‘I’ll apologize.’
He nodded. ‘Good idea. Anyway, do you want to hear who Otis’s girlfriend is?’
