Another day another dollar. Nothing was appealing. All looked the same each time, each day. We woke up and had breakfast. I went to work and back home. We had dinner and slept to meet the next day.
This routine wouldn't change, including for Uncle Steven. He still went to bar and got drunk every night. Also, he was often missing there in the evening. He stressed us all the time. Amanda's words to him last time were only in vain. In the end, we decided to surrender.
Two weeks had passed. Today was Tuesday. As usual, Amanda prepared breakfast. The other youngers and I tidied up. We all gathered in the dining room and stared at three layers of pancakes that occupied each plate on the table.
I was surprised. It wasn't because of these pancakes but the sudden attendance of Uncle Steven in this room. Furthermore, he was well dressed this time. That was more than shocking everyone in here. We all froze for a moment.
"Morning!" he greeted.
No one replied. All just stared at him.
"Are you all okay?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah. We're just surprised," I answered.
"I see."
Uncle Steven approached us. He looked at the food on the table.
"Did you make this, Dear?" he commended. "It looked very nice."
Amanda felt awkward. She even needed a lot of seconds to speak up.
"Thanks, Dad," she said. "Would you like to join us?"
"Of course."
He took a seat beside me. Amanda prepared a plate of pancakes for him. We all had a seat. Everyone folded hands and closed eyes, except Uncle Steven. He'd sliced the pancakes and put those in his mouth.
"Dad?" Amanda called. She showed him her hands posture.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Dear," Uncle Steven gushed.
He folded his hands and joined us to recite the prayer together with a mouth full of food. Some spurted to his plate. It was so nasty. He continued eating after praying.
We enjoyed the breakfast and finished in around fifteen minutes.
"Okay. School!" Amanda exclaimed.
Ryu, Lucy, and Will stood. They walked away and left this house.
Amanda took all plates from the table. She put those in the sink and started washing them. I helped clean the table and tidied the chairs. Uncle Steven took an old newspaper placed on the top of the fridge and read it.
Today was very weird. It began with Uncle Steven who turned into a different person we used to know. He wore pleasant clothes and joined us for breakfast. It made me nosey and suspicious.
"What happened to you, Uncle Steven?" I asked.
"Nothing," he answered.
"You look unusual today."
"What do you mean?"
"You woke up early, well-dressed. It's unusual."
Uncle Steven chuckled, "Do you mean I've changed?"
"Yeah. You could say that. But, why... h-how... today, uh—"
"Okay, I got it," he interrupted. "Well. A man needs time to change. It's a natural thing."
He accurately answered my unspoken question. His statement struck every point. It made me speechless.
Amanda finished. She arranged the cutlery beside the sink. She came near and sat next to me. Her face looked gloomy.
"What happened?" I asked her.
"Our finance, also the food stock," she said. "It's running low. It's not enough for the next month."
"I don't have money anymore."
"I knew it."
"What?"
"Like you said 'I don't have any more'," Amanda sneered. "Even if you have, you won't give it to us."
Her words heated me up, but I just took easy on that. It wasn't good to create a conflict in the early morning.
"I'm not lying," I reassured. "I really don't have much money now. Also, my payday is still long."
She kept mocking me, "But, I haven't seen you spend your money lately."
"How do you know? I never show my finance to anyone even."
"Okay. I trust you."
Even though Amanda said that, it didn't mean she really trusted me. Her face and voice tones were very encouraging of it.
Uncle Steven stopped reading. He removed the newspaper from his view.
"Look at you both," he comforted. "Why are you arguing such a small problem?"
"You don't understand, Dad," said Amanda. "It's a big problem. We often face it."
"Well. I can't say anything else then."
Uncle Steven continued reading the newspaper. He seemed to enjoy it.
Nothing more to discuss now. We needed time to find a way out.
Amanda stood up. She went to the washing machine. She opened it and loaded dirty laundry into its drum. She closed back after adding detergent to the dispenser drawer. She pressed the biggest button.
The machine started washing the clothes. Amanda kept watching it. I noticed her. The expression on her face transformed again.
"Any problem again?" I enquired.
"It's odd," she answered. "Something is wrong with this."
"I thought Jimmy has repaired it."
"Yeah, he has."
"Then, it's not broken. It'll be okay. It's just old. Maybe, it just needs a moment since you've used it for a long time."
"But, I don't think so. Don't you realize it sounds different?"
"How should I know? I never use that."
"Check this out," she demanded.
I got up from the chair and walked to Amanda. I stared at the washing machine.
Amanda was right. Its speed was dramatically lower than usual. The laundry wasn't spinning at all inside this machine. The vibration also felt dissimilar. Those were not what an old machine did in common.
"You should call Jimmy," I suggested.
"Wait! Did you hear that?" Amanda asked with panic.
"Yeah," I said while looking at the light bulb. "Something like... shock."
This situation distracted Uncle Steven. He stopped reading and stared at the bulb.
"It's like shorted," he said.
Amanda raised her eyebrows. "Oh, no! Don't tell me it's..."
The light went out all of a sudden. The washing machine stopped working straight away. It also happened to the fridge.
"Power outage," I opined.
"No. It's not," Amanda disagreed.
She left this room. She walked to the front door and went out.
"Where's she going?" Uncle Steven asked.
"I don't know," I said. "Let's follow her."
I walked away. Uncle Steven got up and followed me. We left this room and went out of this house.
The weather was nice. It was warm outside here.
Amanda stood at the east. She was talking with a short guy who wore a blue uniform and a hat looked like a bowl. More precisely, she was sparing him.
I knew that person. He's Kevin, an employee of the state electricity company. He often visited us every month. Today, he came here with two other employees. They were cutting some wires connected to our home.
Uncle Steven and I approached them. Amanda looked so mad.
"You can't be serious!" she yelled. "We need it!"
"I'm sorry, Amanda," said Kevin. "It's the policy. We've sent a warning letter last month. But, you still disobey."
"Oh, crap!"
"I'm sorry."
That was the personality of Kevin. He was a very stiff person, like a pet of the company.
The new problem we faced now was the electricity. It was totally our mistake. We'd skipped the payment of electricity bills for three months. Last February, we received the warning letter from Kevin, yet we still avoided paying the bills. One of the reasons was related to our finance.
Kevin walked away. He came to other workers. He helped them do their tasks.
"Take it easy," I placated Amanda. "We can get through this, okay? We'll find a way."
Amanda didn't say anything. She just took a deep breath.
We watched Kevin and the others did their duty. They pulled out several big cables and pressed some buttons in the power supply box. In the end, they closed the box and locked it.
Kevin came back to Amanda. He took out a paper from his bag and gave it to her.
"What is this?" Amanda asked.
"A submission form," Kevin replied. "You can go to the office to renew."
Kevin left us. He got in the company van with the others. They went away after they sounded its horn once.
"It's not really complicated," I said.
"Yeah," Amanda agreed. "It just requires the finance. I don't have any idea how to recover these all supplies. First, it's food. Now, the power. Nothing I can think about the way out, except being a robber."
"Oh, oh, oh! Hold on! You're overthinking. We're not criminals, remember?"
"You're right. I'm overthinking."
"How about asking for help from Caroline?"
"You must be joking. She's helped us a lot. We can't always do it, though she just looks fine with that. Besides, this's about finance."
It was emphasizing. We both couldn't think of any way out.
"I can help with the food stock," Uncle Steven spoke with poise. "I'll find something to do."
"But, you're a retiree, Dad," Amanda sounded forbidding him.
"Yes, I'm. But, it never prevents me from doing any side job."
"Yeah. But—"
"You deal with that power," he interrupted.
Amanda paused. She was lost for words."
"See you then!" said Uncle Steven.
"See you... Dad."
Uncle Steven left us. He ambled north with high confidence. Step by step, he disappeared from our sight.
Amanda and I were stunned. We never expected he would do that. He really changed into someone we never met before. It was either satisfying or ridiculous.
"Do you think he will really do that?" I questioned Amanda.
"I have no idea," she answered.
"Maybe we should start to trust him."
"Don't be in a hurry. He's my dad. I know him better than you."
"Okay, then," I relented.
I looked at my watch. It showed 7.20 am.
"Time to work!" I said. "Bye! Good luck with that!"
"Bye!"
I left Amanda. I walked to Pearson's Mart slowly to feel this warm atmosphere every second. Each step of my feet quietened my mind. It gently ruled out the problem before.
I arrived at the mart at 7.45 am. It looked a little bit different. Easiness ran into me this time. I didn't face any affliction in the shop. Pearson talked less this morning and afternoon. It referred to a good definition, which meant I didn't have to listen to his chatter every hour. Not many customers needed my assist. My tasks were enjoyable today.
It was time to close now. I left Pearson's Mart and rushed to the bar.
The weather was still warm, though the sun was setting soon. The sky turned dark slowly. Street lights lit up one by one. Some parts of the lane looked strange illuminated by lights and the sun at the same time.
Time kept running. I moved faster and arrived in front of Pack-In Bar at 5.05pm. I entered the bar. The scenery was always the same. Several men placed their heads on the table, some were holding cards, and the others did silly things with laughter.
I sauntered to the backside. I didn't see Uncle Steven, even Tony wasn't here. I moved deeper and looked around. I couldn't find him.
"Can I help you?" someone spoke behind me.
I turned back. An old lady stood in front of me. She was the one who spoke before.
"Did you see Steven?" I asked.
"I saw him," the lady said. "He looked so different. He dressed like a true gentleman."
"Yeah, he did. Do you know where he's now?"
"He left ten minutes ago. But, I don't know he went. Sorry."
"It's okay. Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it."
The old lady left me. I walked away from this bar and went home. I ran on the dusty street while my mind was telling me that Uncle Steven was under arrest, again.
The sky was completely dark. The sun went down earlier today. The coldness began materializing.
I arrived home at 5.40 pm. It was ten minutes later than common. I strode to the living room.
Something shocked me for a while. It wasn't because of Amanda and Jimmy's voice in the dining room behind. But, the figure of Uncle Steven who was sleeping on the sofa. He was heavily drunk. Furthermore, the lights of this room were on.
I moved to the dining room. Jimmy had a talk with Amanda while he was repairing our washing machine. They looked so happy in their conversation, till my presence disrupted it.
"Hi, Richard!" Amanda greeted.
"Hi, you two!" I greeted them.
Jimmy greeted me and continued his work. He didn't find any complexity in repairing the machine, whereas Amanda and I panicked this morning.
"You're late. What happened?" Amanda asked me.
"Nothing," I said. "I just felt tired looking for Steven earlier."
"He's on the sofa."
"Yeah. I know that."
A lot of tools scattered on the floor. Those all belonged to Jimmy.
I turned my head to the ceiling. "Anyway, how can these lights be turned on?"
"I asked Jim to help me out with those," Amanda answered.
"Did you go to the office?"
"I didn't."
"What?"
"Actually, uh, I haven't."
"So, how did you turn these on?"
"I've said before. I asked Jim for help."
It was confusing. Amanda hadn't submitted the form that Kevin gave him this morning to the utility office. Somehow, the light bulbs could brighten this house.
"I conducted the electricity from Caroline's house," Jimmy said.
"Do you mean you stole her electricity?" I asked.
"No. She knows about this. Amanda and I have asked for her agreement before."
My sight turned to Amanda. "But, I thought you wouldn't ask her help."
"I won't if it's about finance," Amanda stated.
"It's the same."
"No, it's not."
I relented, "Okay, you win again."
There's no point in arguing with that. It enhanced my hunger after my eyes caught a plastic bag filled with some food packages on the table. Those didn't create any smell, but they're telling me about good taste.
I approached the table and opened one of the packages. It was couscous with spinach. It smelled good and looked fresh.
"Where did you buy these?" I asked Amanda.
"I didn't buy those," she said. "Steven did. And, I don't know where he bought it."
"Seriously?"
"You can't believe it, right? Me too."
"But, how could he do that? He's drunk."
"Tony brought him here with the plastic bag. Tony said my dad helped a bartender and gained free beer, also some money. Then, he asked Tony to go to buy those foods using that money. After he returned, Steven had been drunk. The bartender told Tony to bring my dad home."
I was gobsmacked. It didn't sound like the real Uncle Steven I used to know. Excluding the drunk, his behavior had absolutely changed. He started to care about us.
I closed back the food package. I watched Jimmy fix the machine. Time by time, he finished it. We helped him tidy up his tools.
The clock showed 6.05 pm. Ryu, Lucy, and Will arrived home. They stopped moving. They were surprised after looking at Uncle Steven who was sleeping on the sofa.
"Dinner time! C'mon!" Amanda commanded them.
Lucy continued walking to the dining room. Ryu and Will followed her. They took a seat and stared at the food packages prepared on the table.
"Why does Steven sleep on the sofa at this time?" Ryu asked Amanda.
"We'll talk about it after dinner," said Amanda. "These're getting cold now."
We prayed and ate the food together. It tasted wonderful. We all really enjoyed our dinner. Uncle Steven did a great job today. We were glad to him, also Tony who had bought the food.
Everyone finished in fifteen minutes. Ryu, Lucy, and Will left this room. Jimmy and I helped Amanda clean the table. Ryu came back to us.
"He's so heavy," said Ryu. "I can't move him."
Ryu described Uncle Steven. His body on the sofa certainly bothered Ryu and the others from doing their activities. It caused them to be unable to watch TV.
"Let's do it together," I said.
Ryu and I left Amanda and Jimmy. We walked to the living room and came near to Uncle Steven. He snored loudly. I held his hands while Ryu held his legs. We lifted his body and went upstairs together. Slowly, we reached his bedroom. We put him on his bed and went back downstairs. It made my hands numb for a while.
Ryu and I took a seat on the sofa. Will sat next to Lucy. He enjoyed watching TV, but Lucy didn't. Will was the only one who loved cartoon shows in this family.
Lucy asked me about Uncle Steven. Her question wasn't much different from what I asked Amanda earlier. Ryu also wanted to listen. They're so curious.
I gave them the same answer that Amanda told me before. Their reactions were predictable. They were shocked. They couldn't believe what I said. Despite this, they had to accept the truth.
I took a cigarette and lit it up. I started smoking to relax my mind for a moment.
"He really changes, huh?" Ryu inquired.
"As you can see," I said.
"It didn't sound like Steven we used to know," Lucy opinionated.
"You're right," I agreed.
"But, how can he do that?" Ryu asked me. "I mean, uh, why... what made him do that?"
"I don't have any idea."
Actually, it was some part of a lie. One strong reason that pushed Uncle Steven was our financial problem. As he said this morning, he wanted to help recover our food stock. And, he made it though I doubted it before. However, I needed to keep that a secret.
Amanda and Jimmy finished cleaning everything. They came to this room and joined us. Amanda looked tired. She leaned on Jimmy's left shoulder.
"I guess everyone has known about my dad for today," Amanda spoke in an exhausted tone.
"Yeah," I said. "I've told them."
Ryu and Lucy just nodded. Will didn't care, even if he didn't listen to us. The TV shows had amazed him until now.
"Do you think he'll stay like this for the next... days?" Amanda asked me.
"No comment," I replied. "I'd wait for it. I still wonder if he'll be a nice person for so on."
"What if we just accept the fact?" Lucy questioned.
"The fact he's changed?" Amanda confirmed the question.
"Yeah. Some kind like that."
"Well, I have the same thought as Richard. I can't decide it yet."
Ryu was the most silent. He was a little bit surprised after we all stared at him.
"What?" he wondered.
"I wanna know your opinion," Amanda said.
Ryu shook his head. "I have no idea."
He wasn't interested in this conversation. He took out an old magazine from under the table. It was his favorite hot magazine. He enjoyed reading it.
"If it's been undecidable yet, waiting will be the best way," I said.
"Okay then," Amanda agreed. "Let's wait for a few more days."
Everyone concurred. We couldn't conclude this in hurry, since we all knew what kind of person Uncle Steven was. Then again, we hoped that he'd be like this in perpetuity.
We'd spent an hour doing our own stuff in this room. It was nine o'clock now. The TV show was over. Jimmy left this house and went home. Will yawned with a sleepy face. Ryu put back his magazine. Lucy got up from the sofa. They went upstairs leaving Amanda and me.
"About the food stock," I talked to Amanda in low volume, "for how long is it enough currently?"
"Tony gave me Steven's money this evening. It was twenty-two bucks. In total, we can still have meals for another week."
"I thought he's covered it."
"He hasn't. And, we shouldn't expect more from him. At least, we don't face any new trouble today."
"You're right."
"Anyway, how much money do you have right now?"
"Didn't I told I don't have money anymore? Remember?"
Amanda smiled. "Sorry. I thought you've got paid from Pearson."
"It's still the middle of April."
"Sorry then," she chuckled.
Amanda turned off the TV. She and I tidied up the sofa. We cleaned the table and went upstairs together. Each of us entered our own bedroom.
The speed of time felt faster today. It shivered my mind to fight for the next day. The source could be the problem correlated to our food and electricity problems. Really hoped those could be solved sooner.