Going into the living room where the donuts were, they had fun.Gilman had some stories to tell about Penrod, and he took it without getting mad.It was the most fun she’d ever had in a long time, and she was glad that the two of them had shown up.She might have been depressed about her job had it been just her and Gilman, but she was happy that he’d been able to bring Penrod, too.
At midnight, the two of them left.Penrod had ridden with Gilman, but he’d gone out to the car when Penrod left the house last.She didn’t know what was going on, but she was happy that he kissed her goodnight.It was a very good kiss, too, and she loved him all the more for it.Gilman and Penrod left the rest of the donuts.They’d gotten about two dozen of them, and she grabbed one more before going up to bed.
She was going to sleep in tomorrow and wasn’t going to be the least bit surprised if she slept until ten.Usually, she was up by four every morning, but she’d not gotten her nap today, and she was almost too tired to get a shower before going to bed.It was nights like this that made her happy that she’d won the lottery so that she could have more nights like this one.Still, she wouldn’t tell anyone, not for a year yet or even then, but she was happy to know that she had extra money for the rest of her life.
Getting her shower and into bed, Lori thought of what it would be like to live with Penrod.He was the best thing that had happened to her other than the lottery, and she was going to make sure he knew that every day of the rest of their lives.But she also worried that it might be moving too quickly; however, she didn’t care.Something was so right about this that she couldn’t find fault with it being so quick to fall in love.And she was in love with him.
~*~
Lorena wasn’t happy with her daughter.Lori should have invited her to stay with them and have somefun.She’d had a shitty day as well and knew that a couple of donuts would have gone a long way in making her feel better about life in general.
She’d been cut back to half of her hours.She knew she’d been lucky not to have lost her job, but it was the first time they’d caught her, and she was getting off easy for the number of times she’d actually been taking a nap on company time.She’d just get a little power nap in and be all right for the rest of the day.
As it stood right now, with her hours being cut, she’d be lucky if she was going to be able to make her rent and have food at the same time.However, what she’d not told her daughter was that it was only for a week and not for the rest of her employment with them.Again, she’d been lucky that they’d not caught her before this.
Going to her place, she wasn’t unhappy with her home.It was much nicer than Lori’s was, and it had a bit more room with the second bedroom.If anything, when she threatened to move in with Lori, she should have had her move in with her.The place was bigger and better anyway, even though the rent was about the same.She liked that she had a bigger place than Lori did and that she didn’t have as much in the way of extras that she did.
Like the pool that was there for her to use, not that she’d ever been down there to use it, but it was nice to say that she had one if she wanted to use it.There was also the laundry mat that was on her floor, too.She could even leave her things in the washer overnight, and someone would put them in the dryer for her.She didn’t always leave it in the washer, but when she was running short of change, that was the way she got out of having to do it on her own.
Her apartment was simply bigger, too.The living room alone was big enough for her to have guests over, and they’d not be crowded.Even with the second bedroom, she had plenty of room to have people stay over if she wanted.The second bedroom had a bath too, and she loved that she didn’t have to use other people’s bathroom habits.She’d cleaned enough messes up on her job to know that she didn’t like sharing with others around.
She kept it neat, too.She didn’t care for clutter and didn’t have any kind of things on the wall or shelves that would be considered fu-fu.There were no knick-knacks around where people could see them.There were no pictures on her walls.All of that was considered clutter by her, and she just didn’t want it hanging on her walls.She didn’t even have a television that hung on the wall, but just a small one in her bedroom that she rarely used anymore.She was just too busy with life to have something so distracting as a television that she rarely used.
Being pissed off at Lori was futile, she knew.Lori didn’t take her threats seriously enough for her well-being, and she didn’t care that her daughter treated her like she was nothing more than a pest.She wanted to be treated like her mom, and her daughter didn’t do anything like that.
“Bitch.”She realized that she’d been talking to herself more and more lately and blamed that on Lori, too.Since she’d been working her other job, she’d insisted that she have one too.It only took about four days of staying with her to realize that they didn’t get along all that well, not enough to cohabitate anyway.In order for her to have her things the way she wanted, she needed to have a job, or she’d have to live with Lori.There was no way that she was going to allow that to happen again, no matter how much she threatened her otherwise.
There were times when she hated her daughter.She’d never been one to show affection, and Lori had wanted that until one day she’d told her that she didn’t want her to touch her anymore.Lorena had hurt her feelings; she knew that, but all that touching was getting on her last nerve, and she didn’t like it.It was about then that Lori stopped telling her that she loved her, too.Both things she could live without, and she’d been just as happy not to have her mauling her to death when she needed something from her.She found that she didn’t even miss it as much as she probably should have either.
Lori had come along in the worst part of her life.She’d been out of work for a while and had no place to live.Staying with men who would put up with her was all right with her, and it’s what got her Lori in the first place.The welfare department made sure she had some place to live with her daughter, and they even provided her with a food card so she could eat.It was the only reason that she’d kept herwhen she could have easily given her away to someone who might love her like a daughter.
She’d been dating several men, so she had no idea who her father was.There was no name on her birth certificate either.She just didn’t care who it had been, but that had been all right with them, too.No one was going to be paying her child support if she didn’t name one of them as the father.Then the department of welfare had made her get a job after Lori left home, and she’d never had a nicer place to live since then.
It had been nice too.Three bedrooms and a lovely kitchen that she rarely used.There was a pool, too, that she could use—again, not that she did.But Lori got a lot of use out of it.She’d spend her summers at the pool instead of pestering her all the time.Which is what she loved.Having Lori opened a lot of doors for her and even shut quite a few of them when she turned sixteen and decided that she’d be better off on her own.Lorena liked it too until the welfare place realized that she was living alone without any idea where her daughter was living.It was another thing that she’d hated her daughter for.Taking away all her special perks for having a child.
She didn’t know that she actually hated her daughter.Lori was good for some things.Like money, mostly when she was running short.She’d never hit her daughter either, though it had been tempting at times.Lori wasn’t a good daughter either.Forever telling her no about things that she wanted.She just knew that she had more money than she’d been telling her about, but didn’t know how to get it.Whenever she was over at her house, she would search it for the stash that she had and would come up empty-handed every time.Wherever it was, it was in a better hiding place than she could find.And that pissed her off, too.
“Why does she have to be so selfish with her money?It’s not like she’s spending it on anything.”But she’d been dating, and that didn’t sit well with her either.She didn’t want Lori to find someone to love her.Then she’d not need her in her life.“Not that she does that now.I’d just be tossed away like I’ve never been in her life.”
Again, not that she had ever been anything but a pain in her ass since she’d left home.She’d told her that often enough.That she was a pain in her ass.But Lorena didn’t mind that so long as she came through with money when she needed it.And that was going to be more often when she got a better paying job, too.
It wasn’t as if she spent her money on much.She knew that she didn’t have any good clothing.She’d seen Lori in her best, and it wasn’t worth calling it much more than hand-me-downs.The only thing that she spent her money on was the lottery twice a week, and she’d never even won anything off of that as far as she knew.
“She’d tell me.Being all excited about winning fifty bucks.”But would she?She had to think about that for a bit to remember if she’d ever won anything.And she might well not tell her because she’d want a piece of it.“That would be really selfish of her to win and not tell her own mother that she’d won something.It would be just like her to have won something bigger, too, and not tell me about it either.Like winning the big lottery.”
She’d know if she won that.There would be changes in her life to tell on her.Like she’d be getting her a car and a better place to live.She knew Lori well enough that she’d not be able to keep a secret like that from her.No way would she win much more than fifty bucks without there being signs that she won.Lori didn’t even own a new pair of shoes, so she knew that she’d never win anything like the big lottery and not have signs telling her about it.She might be selfish, but she was stupid, too.
For the rest of the day, she made beds and cleaned up rooms.She didn’t take a nap today; there were people around forever to catch her doing that.Besides, she couldn’t afford another cut in her hours without the help of Lori.And since she’d quit her own job, it was up to her to make sure she had enough money in her accounts to pay her own bills.As best she could, anyway.
Finishing up for the day, Lorena was headed home when she decided to stop by Lori’s house to make sure that Lori was going to be looking for another job.She’d certainly harped on her enough about getting a job that she didn’t want her to slack off on her staying working.She had said something about starting on Monday, but that was still days away.She was going to have to work a bit harder ather job if she was ever going to be able to hit her up for cash again.
When she got there, she was happy to see that she appeared to be home.But when she rang the doorbell, no one came to let her in.She just knew that she was hiding from her, and that pissed her off more.Pounding on the door only brought out the neighbors to see what was going on.She told them to mind their own business.
“She’s not home.Some man came by to pick her up about two hours ago, and I’ve not seen them since.”She asked where they’d gone.“Why would I know that?They left together, and that’s all I know.Fucking Christ, woman, don’t you have better things to do than to annoy her neighbors?It’s supper time.You should be home, not out making noises like you own the place.”
When she went back inside, Lorena pounded on the door harder than before.She was still standing there when the police pulled up in front of the apartment.She was asked what she was doing, making all that noise.
“I’m looking for my daughter, if you must know.She’s in there hiding from me.”The neighbor stuck her head back out of her door and told the officer the same thing she’d told her.That she’d left some hours ago.“She’s lying.I know that she’s in there.Why would she need to be going out with some man when I’m all she has in the world?”
