Where the ***** was she? The kid was driving me crazy. She hadnt shut up since I picked her up from school. A non-stop chatterbox is what she was.

“Kenny knocked over the grape juice on Max, making a big stain on his shirt. And Max was such a big baby… he cried to Ms. Jenkins about it. Like she could do anything about the stain.”

Who the ***** was Max? But I didnt say anything… I let her continue telling me about her day. Yeah her day… it was all about her. Never mind the fact that I had spent the entire morning and afternoon looking for a job. Job in which it seemed I was never going to get. I needed a job. I couldnt go on living off of Bette. Even though she loved being the provider for the family (definitely a machismo thing), I wanted to pull my weight. I wanted to be able to contribute to the bills. But every publishing house I went to said the same thing… you need more experience. Problem was how was I suppose to get said experience if they wouldnt hire me!

After the last walk in… I slammed the drivers seat door and sat in the quietness of my car. My beat up 1964 VW bug. I loved that car. I had been with me through it all. My first kiss, my first dry hump, my first fake *****. That car had seen it all. I looked at the time and knew I had to fly down the freeway in order to pick up Evan on time. I had volunteered to pick her up weeks ago… after we returned from our honeymoon.

“You sure, Tee? I can still have Sonya pick her up after school.”

Sonya Vargas… one of Bettes exs. I didnt like her right off. She was too into Bettes business. I had to tear into any fantasy she had of getting back together with Bette.

“We dont need Sonya anymore… Ill pick up our daughter,” I smiled.

“Our daughter would love that.”

So began retrieving the kid everyday from school. Dont get me wrong… I love the kid. But lately she was beginning to be a major pain. It seemed like she was on a never ending sugar rush. She was always hyper.

I had left her sitting on the couch with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich watching cartoons while I ran to the bedroom. My head was pounding… a migraine was slowly forming behind my eyes. I laid down for a few minutes hoping that it would pass. And of course it didnt. I balled up when the nausea hit me. Gripping my stomach. I stayed that way for the longest until I heard Bettes voice calling my name.

“Tee, Tina.”

I didnt have the energy to answer her.

The door opened.

“Baby? Why is it so dark in here?”

I had closed the blinds and turned off any and all lights.

“Tee?” she asked turning on the light on the night stand.

“Turn it off, turn it off,” I moaned.

She quickly pulled the latch.

“Baby?” she questioned rubbing my head.

I lifted my head a little, leaning into her palm.

“Baby, I come home to find Evan sitting in front of the television stuffing her face with cookies. Cookies in which I dont know where she got them. She knows she isnt suppose to get junk food before dinner.”

She was bitching about the kid while I was suffering.

“Tina?”

No explanation from me.

“Tina?”

Nothing.

“Tee, I dont understand what is going on.”

“Bette, please not now… my head is killing me.”

She stopped all questioning when she finally saw what kind of pain I was in.

“Baby… its really that bad?”

When I didnt answer, she laid down with me. She held me in her arms stroking my hair as I tucked my head under her chin.

*****