Lilly Tao

EGL 102

July 5, 1999

Susan went into the kitchen and started washing the dinner dishes. Her mother followed her in and started putting the leftovers away.

"Funny, when you were living at home you never did the dishes without me having to tell you a million times first."

"Well, I figured you wouldn’t ask me anymore."

"I might’ve asked. But I wouldn’t have nagged. You don’t have any obligations here anymore, you know."

"I don’t mind doing the dishes, Mom. Really."

They worked in silence for a few minutes. Susan spoke again.

"I’m leaving in the morning. I’ve gotta get back."

"So soon? You’ve hardly had any time to do anything. Visit any friends. Take a look at the town. Mr. Lister, at the drugstore, he wants to see you. Every time I go in there he asks about you. Says you’re the best student worker he ever had."

"That’s nice of him."

"He’s had a difficult time, you know. Ever since the Super Stop & Shop opened down the street a lot of folks just get all the stuff they used to buy at his place there. They’ve even got a pharmacy. Imagine. A pharmacy next to the fish counter. It’s sad. I wonder if he’ll just retire soon. Sell the building and get out. You know the town supermarket closed last year."

"Yeah, Mom, I know. I was home for Christmas, remember?"

"Oh right." Her mother opened the refrigerator and placed two Tupperware canisters inside. She started preparing the chicken carcass for making stock. "Mr. Lister cut out that graduation announcement they ran on you in paper. He put it on his bulletin board. He asked if I wanted it for an extra copy, but I told him he could keep it."

"So anyway, like I said, Mom, I’m gonna leave in the morning."

"I heard you."

"Do you think Dad will be OK?"

"I don’t know, Susan. I think he’ll be OK. He just needs some time to get used to the idea. You just need to give him some time."

"I didn’t expect him to go storming out of here like that. I mean, I expected him to get upset and yell, but I’ve never seen him just walk away like that."

"He’s trying to learn to control his temper. With just the two of us in the house, now that your sister’s in college, I’m the only one he has to yell at when he gets upset. And I told him that he needed to change. So he’s been taking some anger management classes."

"Anger management? Dad’s taking a class on anger management?"

"The company offers it through their health insurance program. It’s supposed to help your heart. One of the first things they tell you to do when you’re angry is to get out and take a walk instead of screaming at someone."

"I never would’ve thought he would actually go to a class like that."

"Well, he is. Of course now sometimes it’s hard to get him to actually discuss something when I do want to have a nice calm little argument. I hope he doesn’t learn to just avoid things instead."

"They’ll probably cover that in the class, Mom."

"I suppose so. There’ve only been two sessions so far."

They worked again in silence for a short while.

"Where’s he from?" Her mother asked finally.

"Where’s he from? Oh, uh, Evanston. Near Chicago."

"Oh."

The front door slammed and they heard her father stomp into the den and turn on the television. A baseball game was on. Her mother started cutting up vegetables for the stock.

"Greenberg is a Jewish name, isn’t it?"

"I guess so."

"Well, do you know if he’s from a Jewish family?"

"Yeah, he is. He’s not very religious though."

"I see."

Susan had finished washing all the dishes, placing each one on the rack, and she now picked up a towel to dry them with. Her mother put the chicken bones in a large pot and filled it with water.

Her mother spoke again. "I don’t know what I’m going to tell my friends."

"What do you mean? Why do you even have to tell them?"

"Well, they always ask how you’re doing and what you’ve been doing. I can’t tell them about -- about this."

"Well then don’t."

"I can’t just hide it from them either."

"Well then tell them. I don’t care what they think."

"Well, maybe I care what they think!"

"Why, Mom? Why should you care what your friends think about me and how I choose to live my life?"

"Because you’re my daughter. Because I raised you! And I didn’t raise you to do something like this!"

"Mom, I know for a fact that at least three of your friends have daughters that are doing, no, have been doing, exactly the same thing for a few years now. And I bet there are even more that I don’t know about. So I don’t think anyone is going to be shocked. And if they are and if they think any less of you, they’re just being hypocritical."

Her mother appeared a little shocked, but mostly she looked like she didn’t believe what she’d heard. "Humph," was all she said.

"Mom. You know you’re the one that always told me that there are too many divorces in the world today. And that too many people rush into marriage without getting to know each other first. So what’s so wrong about this?"

"It’s just not … ladylike, Susan. It’s just not done. I’m old fashioned, I know, but there are certain standards that I expect you to uphold in society."

"Well, Mom, society’s changing. And your standards and society’s standards aren’t always going to be the same."

The pot was on the stove and her mother placed a lid on top. She looked at her daughter. So young. So idealistic. So unscathed by the realities of life. "I’ll finish drying, dear. Why don’t you go talk to your father."

Susan wasn’t sure if she’d won. But she knew she hadn’t lost. But this time she hadn’t heard the magic words: "You know we just want you to be happy." She gave her mother the towel and headed out of the kitchen towards the den.

"Susan?"

"What, Mom?"

"There’s an extra queen-sized blanket in the hall closet. You can take that back with you to replace the twin one you’ve got. It’s a nice one. Real wool. I replaced the binding last week. You can have it. OK?"

"Sure. Thanks, Mom."