Page 1 of Falkner
Prologue
Sitting in the most uncomfortable chairs that she’d ever sat in, Doone kept an eye on her mom.She would lash out at the woman with the kids if she didn’t keep reminding her that they had nothing to do with how she was raising them.The kids were the worst ones that she’d ever seen, in that they were sitting in the toy area, tearing pages out of books that had been there for the last few months they’d been coming to the Welfare office.Putting her hand on her mom’s leg again, she huffed at her but kept her mouth closed.It would be all they needed right now to get into trouble over some snotty-nosed kids that should have been in cages rather than let to roam free all over everyone that was in the waiting room.
“The least that someone could do is to make it so that she has to pay for all the damage.”It wasn’t loud, her mother’s voice, but she knew that the other women in the room had heard her.“There is no point in having them disciplined when we all know that this is the way they are at home.”
“Lady, are you talking about my kids?They ain’t doing nothing wrong.If they wanted to keep the books nice, they shouldn’t put them out where kids can get to them.If I want to keep my shit in good condition, I put it up where they can’t find it.”She snickered a little before continuing.“’Course they manage to find that shit too and tear it up, but it’s only a few pages.The story will be better for it if they don’t want to tape them back together.”
“Books are expensive.”Another woman chimed in that the books in question had been there for months, and nobody had done anything to them but for her children.“If they were my kids, I’d be putting them in a corner with a good bust to their asses.Ain’t no reason for them to be acting like they were savages.”
Doone rolled her eyes and looked at her mother.She could tell that she wanted to engage with her word or two, but she only shook her head and said no.They had this appointment and didn’t want to be kicked out because she’d said something.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut, honey.I know how important this appointment is for us.”Her mom was right.This appointment was for her to be able to get the food card for herself and be able to take some of the burden off her for a bit.“You were good at coming with me.But I know how important this is for the two of us.”
Doone didn’t live with her mom, but she was there often enough to be a part of her apartment.The government subsidies for housing had saved her a bundle when her mom was able to qualify for it.They just needed a bit more help with food, and then her mom would be set up for the rest of her life.No matter how short it was.
Meggie McFarlen had been diagnosed with cancer in her lungs three years ago.She’d been doing all the right things since they told her that she only had about a year left and had shocked the doctors into believing that she was some kind of medical phenomenon.It had helped that Doone had a friend who had helped her along with a little vampire blood, just enough to make sure that the cancer didn’t return, but what really helped too was her ability to walk three miles a day and to keep eating well.That was what was costing her so much, the eating well thing.
Not that she’d deny her mother anything, but fresh over canned vegetables were expensive.But she’d work her two jobs just to be able to see the look on her face when she went to the doctor’s office and they told her that the cancer was gone.Neither one of them ever said why it was gone, but with Mom having a second chance, she was doing everything in her power to make sure that it never came back on her again.
“Meggie McFarlen?”Mom stood up and was nearly knocked down again when the mother of the kids said she’d been there before she was.“Yes, you were, Donna, but I told you the last time you werehere and showed up several hours before your appointment, that it didn’t mean that we could see you then.Your appointment is for three-thirty.You’ve been here since eleven o’clock.I told you then that I had other clients before you.Come on, Meggie.Let’s see what we can do for you.”
Mom asked if she could go back, and when permission was given, Donna said they’d better not be making one appointment into two and getting ahead of her.Doone said nothing but picked up her mom’s purse and went into the lobby with her mom.Christ, some people were too entitled to be around normal people.
Sitting next to her mom in the tiny office, Doone felt the closeness of the room squeezing her.Taking a deep breath, she told herself this was for her mom, and she could bear it when the woman who was in charge sat in her overflowing desk with barely room for the large water bottle that was on her desk, with the oversized fan too.
Since Doone was there only as her mom’s ride and to carry things around that she might need, she tuned the two women out with their talking.She didn’t completely ignore them, but zoned out enough to wonder where she was going to end up on her shift tonight at the hospital.She’d been a multitask person for years now and knew her job better than most of the staff who seemed to change nightly.
She had a good job that paid well if it were just herself, but she’d been caring for her mom for the last five years.And while she didn’t mind helping her mom out, she was exhausted all the time from working so much and not getting the rest that she needed.Today would help a great deal in that she could perhaps quit one of her jobs and just work like a normal person for a change.
“Ms.McFarlan, do you have your mother’s paperwork?”Pulling it out of her oversized backpack, she handed it over to the other women.“Oh, you’ve filled it out.Thank you for that.That’ll save us a lot of time today.”
As she went over the paperwork that explained why her mom wasn’t working, and how much she made on social security.Which wasn’t all that much because her dad had been the breadwinner until he up and left Mom when she’d gotten sick five years ago.She’d not spoken to him or seen him since.
“Honey?”She looked at her mom with a smile.“We’re finished.Are you all right?You seemed to have taken a sleeping pill there for a bit.”She asked her what she’d missed.“Nothing much.Only I qualify for the food card for six hundred dollars a month.That’s all.”
They were both so excited, but they held onto their excitement until they could get to her car, and no one could hear them.That was a great deal more than she had been providing her mom monthly for food, and she couldn’t believe it.Six hundred dollars a month would see her mom through the entire month, too.
After getting everything in the car situated and put back in the envelopes that they’d been in, Doone took her mom home so that she could rest.The card would come to her by registered mail tomorrow, and she needed to make sure she was at home to get it.The fact that it was starting so soon had her giddy.
“I’m going to get myself some of those fruits that I like so much first thing.”She asked her why she wasn’t getting them already.“They’re expensive and I can’t eat but a little bit of them on account of them being so rich.”Mom looked at her from the couch that she’d been lying on since they’d gotten her home and asked her if she’d mind taking her to the store tomorrow.
“It just so happens that I’m off both jobs tomorrow.I don’t know how it happened, but I’m going to think of it as a gift.We’ll go to the store and get you all that you want.”She said that she still had to be on a budget.“Yes, but I think you’ve been doing without for a while now, and you can get some of the things that you’ve missed out on because of the price.I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more, but this is wonderful.”
“You’ve helped me out more than I can ever repay you for.”She told her that she was her mom.“I am, but I’m also smart enough to know that you’ve been working a great deal of overtime and that second job so that I could eat what I needed to eat.”
Because of the little bit of blood that she’d been given when they’d only given her a year to live,Mom had been saying that she didn’t want to be that sick again.Instead of listening to her or Mae about the blood and what it did for her, Mom took it to mean that at any time she could be ill again and would die.Neither of them wanted that.So in order for her mom to feel good about what a great thing she’d had done for her, she let her go on thinking whatever she wanted.It was good that she was eating healthy and exercising.It was also good that her mom had a better outlook on life than she did.But with this nice boom, she was going to be able to spend quality time with her mom rather than rushing around getting her appointments met or set up so that she could live a good life.
While her mom napped, she made sure that there were things on her list that she was going to need to get tomorrow, other than groceries.Then she read over the paperwork that came with her home to make sure that they were getting the right kind of groceries instead of getting to the line and paying only to find out that they’d gotten the wrong kind of things that didn’t qualify for.It did seem relatively easy to get sidetracked with the card, but the instructions were easy enough for her mom to use.
Since she had worked the overnight shift, Doone wasn’t supposed to be in until midnight tonight.Lying in the recliner that had been in their home when her mom had had one, she closed her eyes.She only worked the third shift because it gave her an extra buck fifty an hour more than working days.Doone was going to try her best to get on days so that she could be at home in the evenings more with her mom.She was all she had in the world and wanted to spend as much time with her as she could.
“Doone, honey, your phone is going off again.”She looked at it and saw that it was from the hospital, and they more than likely wanted her to come in early again.“Let me get to bed to rest, and you can have the couch.I don’t suppose it occurred to you to go into my bedroom and have a nice nap, did it?”
“That’s your bed.”Picking up her cell phone, she answered it before it went to voicemail and said her name.When they asked her if she could come in three hours early, she told them she would.That would be perfect for her to butter someone up about her getting on days.Plus, this check came in on the same week that she had to pay her own rent, and it would go a long way in giving her just a little extra to have lunch with her mom, she thought.
She had about six hours before she had to be at work, so she decided to lie down on the couch to get in a nice nap.Getting comfy on the thing was nearly impossible because she thought the sucker was older than she was.Maybe she’d be able to afford something newer for her mom now that she wasn’t buying her groceries anymore, and that would be good for her.Mom hadn’t had anything new since she’d moved into the housing three years ago.Mom deserved it more than anyone she knew.
Chapter 1
