All Good Women by Valerie Miner Page A

wouldn’t complain. But she saw the anxiety in those competent hands, in the scratching of her middle nail on her thumb. Teddy watched her suck in her bottom lip. She held her back so tight she thought it might vibrate.
    â€˜So he’s been at it since morning?’ Teddy asked.
    â€˜Yes, you know he was planning some repairs today. He went down to the hardware store and they turned him down for credit.’
    Teddy shook her head. ‘I thought he wasn’t going to buy any more till he had money.’
    She turned back towards her husband. ‘It’s hard for him to sit still.’
    Teddy shoved the bag of sugar and flour to the back of the counter, hoping Mom wouldn’t notice it until she left tonight. ‘Why couldn’t he have fixed the drain pipe? That wouldn’t have cost a nickel. Why couldn’t he have used his head?’
    â€˜Teddy, what’s got into you, judging your father?’ Mom started cleaning the kitchen sink.
    â€˜Sorry, Mom, but it’s so hard on you, all his drinking.’
    â€˜It’s not like he can’t stop when he wants to.’ She scrubbed the white caulking between the blue tiles. ‘Your father stays dry for weeks, sometimes months, at a time. Lots of men drink themselves to death. Look at your Uncle Leo.’
    Teddy wanted to say, ‘and he’s just going to drink you to death.’ Instead, she considered her mother’s tired eyes. Mom wouldn’t cry. When she felt helpless, she simply grew quieter. ‘How’re you doing?’
    â€˜A little weary, I guess. Amanda and Patsy have been helping out. But Jolene’s sick.’
    â€˜So I heard.’ Teddy nodded. She walked to the breadbox and cut a slice for herself.
    â€˜There’s lard.’
    â€˜No thanks.’ Teddy knew they had been running low on lard and with Pop off work they wouldn’t be buying more for a while.
    â€˜Well, tell me about the store, the house, the other girls.’ Mom leaned against the sink.
    â€˜Not much to tell.’ Teddy sighed, unsatisfied with the bread, but unable to cut herself another slice. She looked out the window and, seeing Pop on the log, she looked back at the spotless sink. ‘Mr Whitney praised my work twice this week.’
    â€˜You’re not exactly bursting with joy.’ Mom shook her head and held out her hand.
    Teddy squeezed the hand and laughed. ‘No, not yet, I guess I’m kind of nervous about having another boss.’ How could she explain the new, unfounded fears to her mother who had always wanted to go to business college, who was contending with a drunken husband, an empty purse, ten children and a run on lard. ‘Say, you need any help with supper?’
    â€˜No.’ Her mother frowned at Teddy’s abruptness.
    â€˜Then I may just say hi to Jolene.’
    â€˜That makes sense, hon.’
    Sense, thought Teddy, how many times a day did her mother resort to the one unshakeable standard: common sense? It was sensible for Teddy to go to Tracey for it would pay off later. It wasn’t sensible to worry about Pop, because what could you do?
    Jolene was propped against two pillows reading True Confessions .She waved to Teddy.
    â€˜Hear you’ve been featherbedding.’ Teddy grinned at her younger sister. How like Mom she was with her dark features.” And like Pop in her flashing temper and quick wit. Teddy, in contrast, had inherited Pop’s pale English blondness and Mom’s even, laconic personality. Jolene was her favorite sister, although she was jealous of her inheritance.
    â€˜Not likely around here. Trying to nap in this house is like trying to sleep in the middle of Powell Street. Listen, if I was really featherbedding, I’d go to a park. Cheers.’ She lifted a glass of water. ‘What’s the big news in the world of fashion?’
    â€˜You know, I haven’t looked at the clothes for weeks. I just go straight on to