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“Necessities come first.” Karen cackled.
“Well, I can’t live like this.” She puttered around in the kitchen and found some coffee. Thank God Karen still had a coffee maker. Amber started a pot, grabbed a rag, and began to wipe down the counters. “You’ll make yourself sick if you don’t clean this place up.”
“No one asked you.”
“I’m staying here for a few days. I’ll sleep in my old room.”
“Sold your bed years ago.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the couch.” She remembered the cat and changed her mind. “Maybe I’ll find a cheap motel.”
“Suits me.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t afford to stay at a motel, even a cheap one, and she couldn’t ask Angie for more money. She had overstepped the bounds of friendship as it was. She had no idea when she’d be able to pay her friend back.
“I’ll sleep in your bed then. You can have the couch.”
“Just a minute—”
“I’ll earn my keep, don’t worry. I’m going to bleach this place from top to bottom. I can’t stand the thought of you living in this filth.”
“Ain’t you sweet.”
“Sweet? Hell no. I can’t stand the sight of you, but you’re still my mama. And I have some questions only you can answer.”
The coffee finished brewing, and Amber poured two cups. “Here, sober up.”
She took a sip of her own cup and then went to the bedroom and stripped the bed. God only knew when her mother had last changed the sheets. She started the sheets in the rickety washing machine and went back to the kitchen. Under the sink she found some cleanser and dishwashing liquid. She washed the dishes in the sink, put them away, and then started on the hard part.
“What you doin’ here anyway?” Karen asked.
“Like I said, I have some questions for you. And I have some other business in town.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Not your concern.”
“Then what are the questions you have for me?”
“You sobered up yet?”
“Hell, no.”
“Have some more coffee. And no more vodka. I just washed ten glasses. Tell me something. If you’re laid off, why the heck do you let the house get like this?”
“Just don’t care, I guess.”
Amber shook her head. Her mother was a mess she’d have to deal wi
th at some point, but she had to fix her own life first.
Amber kept one eye on Karen as she cleaned the kitchen until it shone. She went on to the living room and cleaned and vacuumed. Cleaned the cat’s litter box and disinfected all the bathrooms.
After she put the sheets in the dryer, she started another load of Karen’s dirty clothes.
By that time, Karen had passed out, her head plunked on the kitchen table.
Good. She’d be sober when she woke.
