03 Apr 2010: Stay At Home Mom
Stay At Home Mom
Summary: While shelling peas, Tess attempts to guilt Abilene into staying home forever.
Date: 04.03.0
Related Logs: Visiting Hours
Players:
Abilene..Tess..

The radio in the kitchen is tuned to as local a country station as can be had in this back desert town. Tess is seated at the worn out kitchen table, several large bowls set out in front of her as she shells peas by hand. As always, the kitchen is brightly lit, scrubbed clean, and looks like it's been around forever. Very little has changed by the way of decor in this room.

From somewhere upstairs there's a rattling and a rustling and then perhaps even a stumbling. Finally, down the stairs comes Abilene, still in borrowed clothing and not happy about it. The shirt is much too big for her - and obviously Trey's - and the skirt is certainly not her style and obviously her mothers. Great, she looks like a train wreck. "Hey mom," she greets as she goes about rustling up some milk and possibly some food.

"Pull up a seat and help me shell out these peas," Tess says, and it's clearly not a request. If her daughter's hungry, she should have been up on time. "You're wearing my skirt backwards," she points out after a quick moment of scrutiny of Abby's attire. "Didja get those boxes moved from your room yet?"

Maybe she should have been, but Abilene's also been doing a lot of late night investigating. Which, it turns out, happens late at night. And so sleeping late can be a side affect of that. Pouring out a large glass of milk, the young woman manages to pull out a package of sliced cheese (not Kraft American, the good kind) and settles herself into a chair. She knows that nothing Tess 'asks' her is ever a request, but a command. Stuffing a piece of cheese into her mouth, she chews and swallows before glancing down at the backwards skirt. "It is? How can you tell? It's all…" she wants to say weird, but doesn't, "the same." As for the boxes out of her room, she shrugs. "Enough. I'm thinking of finding a place around here. So I'm not in your hair or anythin'."

"Nonesense, you're staying put. I brought your butt on home, and your room is still yours." Despite Tess using it as a storage once Abby took off to Vegas. "This house is your home, same as it is Trey's." She pushes a pair of bowls towards Abilene so that she can give a hand. "Somedays it feels like this place is too much for me to keep up with, and you're gonna ruin your lunch." The cheese and milk pilfering have been spotted, and it's like Abby was in high school all over again. "And that's my skirt, I done worn it for years, I know when you got it on backwards."

This is exactly why Abilene feels like she should move out. The last thing she wants is a repeat of high school and feeling like she's 17 again. "Yeah, I know, mama, but just 'cause I'm back in Blue Earth for now doesn't mean I'm gonna stay here forever." Maybe she won't go back to Vegas, but that also doesn't mean she's going to be in Blue Earth for the rest of her life. "And I'm an adult, I should have my own place. Doesn't mean I won't be back to help you out around here, just that I need to get my own feet under me." As for ruining her lunch, she sighs and shakes her head, shelling out another pod of peas. "I will not, it's just a bit of a snack."

"Bite your tongue, this place here's your home. You were born and raised here, of course you're staying put." It's like a curse on the town. "Lord above knows I tried to get away, but came back," Tess states as she efficiently shells the peas she's got in front of her. Worry starts to line her aged face as she looks across at her daughter, "Ain't no need for you to go and deal with the mess of your own place." Then in a more passive aggressive and guilt inducing tone, she says, "Especially since you ain't planning on staying here."

"Yeah, mama, I know this place is my home. I said that. But, sometimes you gotta leave home." Which is why she went to Vegas. 'Course, that didn't really work out the way she wanted it to, but that doesn't matter quite so much. The principle is still there. God, talking with her mother is like trying to talk to the two faced door that'll either plummet Abilene down into a bottomless pit or show her the way to treasure. Only, both doors lead to a bottomless pit. With a sigh, she just focuses on shelling her peas. She's not as efficient at it as Tess is, but that's not all that surprising. Steeling herself against that guilt-inducing tone she adds, "I dunno when I can, though. May be a bit. And it's not really a mess. I may go stay at Nora's a bit while she's in the hospital. Help look after her things."

Tess gives a heavy sniff that can only mean disdain, or she's about to turn on the waterworks. "That's nice of you to do that," she says a bit stiffly. "I'll be fine here on my own, have been since you and Trey took off, took care of myself while your daddy's on the road." As for the town goings on and things happening? She's done her best to ignore it all. Interfering is more her husband's thing, but damn if she hadn't been itching to poke her nose around. "It is a mess, locating a new place, getting a down payment, furnishing it. I bet you ain't got no pots n'pans neither… Well.. if you decide you don't wanna bother, you got a roof over your head here. Now, how long is that Nora gonna be in the hospital for?"

Oh Lord, the sniffing, the waterworks. "It's not like I won't come visit, Mama." Because she will. She took the time to call when she was in Vegas and to visit when she could. "And that I won't just be down the road a bit. Of course you'll be fine, you're one of the toughest women I know." Maybe flattery will derail the guilt train, who knows? "I dunno. Never been shot in the chest before, but it may be a bit. And then she may need some help around the house once she's out." And Abilene isn't about to let her friend not stumble about the house without help.

"Still.. it ain't right. A single woman living alone when she's got family that can take her in," Tess says, continuing to put up the argument, but is fine with dropping it for now. The conversation is NOT over, mainly because mama hasn't won yet. "Nasty business, getting shot." That's a fine line coming out of Tess, considering how she has no issues with picking up her gun and waving it around. Her lips purse as she finishes shelling out her bowl of peas. She pushes herself up from her seat and carries the peas to the sink, "Too much shit going on around here. Ain't never been properly quiet around here, still."

"'Course it's right, Mama." Abilene glances up from her peas to give a mischievous grin to her mother. "You don't want me bringin' back my gentleman callers here." It's a conversation that may never be over, since the red-head doesn't plan on letting her mother win the conversation. "Yeah. Some hooligans, I think. Need to look more into it." But, first, perhaps, she should buy herself some more clothes so that she doesn't go out looking like this all week. "Nah, but this is kinda beyond what's happened here before. At least while I was growing up. People getting shot in the street, Ghouls in the cemetery…"

"You best not be havin' any. You're too young," Tess says with a harrumph before settling herself back at the table. "Gimme those peas, you always were so slow, and on purpose I think," she states while reaching to take over the bowls. "Stop that right now Abilene, you weren't supposed to notice. I worked too hard to shield you from all that. Then of course your daddy had to go and tell you stories."

"Mama, I'm 26. I'm not too young, since I've already had quite a couple of them." Pulling the peas closer to herself, Abilene sticks out her lower lip at her mom. "Hey, you told me to shell peas, I'm shelling peas! I can do this, and it's not on purpose. I just having shelled peas in awhile. We don't have 'em unshelled in the demoncity of Vegas." That settled as far as she's concerned, she keeps shelling - not going any faster, but still working. "It wasn't just daddy. I did some research on my own. I'm not stupid, mama, I was only gonna fall for the 'we need to go play in the safe room for a little while, won't that be fun' once or twice, you know."

Tess stays put in her seat, and gives her daughter a half-smile of pleasure. "No, you ain't stupid, far from it." Which is at odds with the names she called Abby when fetching her from Vegas. "Yeah, well, it worked for a bit, helped we kept some toys down there. Then your brother had to go and touch that lock box of your father's. The one with the silver clasp and all the sigils carved into it." Good times. "Woulda been better if you had just kept your head down and ignored it all.. anyway.. finish them peas so we can go into town. Need to get you some clothes so I can have my damn skirt back."

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