Domestic Duties

"Rosie, Rosie can you come here?" "I'll be up there in just a few, Mrs. Wright!." Rosie set aside the mop near the pantry door of the kitchen. Making her way up the stairs, Rosie glanced at herself in the mirror hung on the wall connected to the staircase. Rosie slightly panicked at her reflection, the concealer she used to cover her black eye must have come off during the day as she sweated through her cleaning duties. "Yes, Mrs. Wright?" "I wanted to speak with you for a little while. It's about Lucia." Rosie stiffened, what could Mrs. Wright possibly want to discuss about my daughter? Rosie thought. "She'll be heading off to college next year, won't she?" Rosie nodded her head. "Well, since she'll be applying to schools, I'd thought I'd type up a recommendation letter. I know she will work hard and make you proud." Mrs. Wright held out the letter to Rosie who excitedly took it, placing it in the pocket of her uniform. "Thank you, Mrs. Wright. I really appreciate it. Lucia will too. Are you ready for your afternoon tea?" "Not quite. There is something I wanted to ask you about." "Yes?" "I've noticed you haven't been yourself lately. You've been bumping into walls and quite frankly have been a klutz when you are at home. It's funny, you didn't run into any walls before Luis was in his...predicament." Luis' predicament had been a five year prison sentence for forged checks. "Mrs. Wright, I..." "You can only use so much makeup to cover the bruises, Rosie. You are not fooling me. Why do you allow him to treat you that way?" "Respectfully, I don't want to talk about it, Mrs. Wright. I really don't." Mrs. Wright exhaled and joined her hands across her lap, "Well, if you ever need help, let me know." "Thank you, but, I'm okay. Really, I'm fine."

Rosie stepped into the apartment. She could tell from the absence of beer cans in the trash that Luis hadn't made it home yet. Rosie heard Lucia flipping through the pages of a book in her room. "How was school?" "It was good, how was work?" "It was as good as it could be, I guess. I have something for you." Rosie entered the room and sat down on Lucia's bed. Pulling the letter from her pocket, "Mrs. Wright wrote you a recommendation letter, isn't that kind?" "That is very thoughtful of her. I wonder why she did it?" "She knows you do well in school and she needed something to do. It's not like she cleans her own house." Rosie chuckled at herself. "I'll make sure to put it some place safe."

After slipping out of her uniform into a blue pair of sweatpants and a white camisole, Rosie walked into the kitchen. The pork belly lay in the sink where she placed it before work. Rosie stood still for a while. Running it over and over in her mind, she decided to hell with cooking and grabbed one of Luis' beers from the refrigerator. Making her way to the living room, she plopped down on the couch. Rosie was watching The Price is Right when Luis came through the front door. "How was your day?" "Fine." Luis replied. "You didn't cook yet?" "I'm not up to it tonight, Luis. We can order a pizza ." "I don't want any damn pizza, Rosie" Rosie turned towards the television and increased the volume. "There's always Chinese." "I spend too much money on groceries for you to just waste them." "I'm not wasting, Luis. I will cook tomorrow." "But, I'm hungry tonight." "Luis, if you're hungry, you can always fix it yourself. That's what adults do." Just then, Rosie felt the grip of Luis' hand around the back of her neck, "You're going to speak to me like that in my own house?" Rosie pressed her lips together, wincing in discomfort. She shifted forward trying to loosen Luis' grip. "I'm tired, Luis. Can you please just order something for tonight?" Luis took his hand from Rosie's neck, "Sure, I'll just keep wasting money like we have so much of it."

The next day at work, Rosie was polishing the china cabinets in the dining room when her foot struck something stuck beneath one of the cabinets. Reaching down, she pulled a small, black book from underneath. The book appeared to be weathered but still fully intact. Rosie placed it in her pocket and headed to the library where Mrs. Wright was. "Excuse me, Mrs. Wright, I found this book by the china cabinets and thought you might have dropped it there." "I don't recall missing a book. It could be one of my journals." Rosie placed the book in Mrs. Wright's hand. After flipping through it, Mrs. Wright handed it back, "It's one of my journals I never used. You take it. I don't need any more as it is." "Are you sure? I don't think I'll use it." "You will. Just take it." Mrs. Wright winked and returned to her reading.

Rosie sat in her car after coming home from Mrs. Wright's house. She could see the flicker of the television in her apartment and knew Luis was home. He was probably already through half a case of beer and would finish it by the end of the night. I hope he's never hit Luisa when I'm not around, Rosie thought. Rosie longed for the old Luis; the person he had been before prison who wasn't mean or abusive. I just need to escape. I need to find an affordable place Luisa and I can live in peace. Luis is going to kill me one day if I don't. Breaking from her internal dialogue, Rosie ruffled through her purse looking for her cellphone. In her search, she came across the little black book Mrs. Wright had given her. Out of curiosity, Rosie began to flip through it. A piece of paper slipped from inside the book. Examining the paper, Rosie saw it was a check written for twenty thousand dollars. She couldn't believe it! How did Mrs. Wright miss a check for $20,000? Rosie was about to call Mrs. Wright when she a got a text, "Have you deposited it yet?" Rosie turned the engine on and headed towards the bank. "4:45, I hope I make it before they close!"