So her mother whom is very strict and mean to Charlene, her daugther, her past is revealed by Mrs. Maude, who is the lead supervisor at the convalescent hospital in which Charlene is now volunteering. Mrs. Maude details about her mothers past which Charlene finds particularly interesting considering her mother’s distaste for her and her extreme views about her dropping out of school. IN a nutshell thats what this has led up to.

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I brushed the bangs from my eyes and set the box down at the table, “What is all of this stuff for Mrs. Maude?” I waited patiently for Mrs. Maude to respond.

She was unfolding chairs that were laid against the walls perfectly on top of each other. I watched as she struggled with one particular chair, then marveled as she slid the chair underneath one of the long tables. As much as I disliked Mrs. Maude I had to admit I was impressed. For a fragile old lady who was more than likely in her eighties or nineties she sure got around really well.

“Help me unfold these chairs,” snorted Mrs. Maude. “I expect that even someone in your position would be able to do that, then again I am not going to make any assumptions. God only knows what happened when your mother was working here as a care-giver, more like hell-giver.” She grunted with unfold a chair.

She continued, “She didn’t take to directions and had one of the worst attitudes and in all my many days, I had never seen such tantrums.”

Mrs. Maude began to mutter indecipherable words under her breathe.

She pushed another chair underneath a table then glared up at me when I had ceased from folding chairs,” I never said stop now did I, young missy?”

“Sorry, “I said and began to unfold chairs again. “My mother used to work here?”

I struggled with one particular chair with Mrs. Maude looking on and she smirked with amusement. She let out a heavy sigh then replied, “Unfortunately she did, she did not have any where else to turn to look for money.”

When all of the chairs were finished Mrs. Maude sat down, panting with exhaustion.” My, my age is catching up with me; I’m getting too old for this.”

Her face sourly grimaced and I contemplated whether she was about to faint or not. She was so small and frail that it seemed as if any gust of wind could break her in two. My resentment towards her lessened a bit as I watched as she regained her breath, hand upon her chest, heaving with exhaustion.

I pushed a chair out from underneath the table and sat down across from Mrs. Maude, patiently waiting for her to continue. I brushed the bangs out of my eyes, biting my nails, knee shaking with heightened anticipation.

“She grew up very poor and times were hard back then,” continued Mrs. Maude “Her mother did everything she possibly could to make sure her children were well taken care of, she had two boys and the oldest was her daughter, which was your mother.” She peered at me through her rimmed glasses like a hawk.

I remembered back to the argument my mother and I had. She had said, “Everything possible to make sure that you have the life I never had, I never got to go to college because my mother was too poor and we couldn’t afford it. I never got to—to live in a nice beach house.” I averted my gaze down towards my knees while a fresh wave of guilt tightened as a knot in the middle of my throat.

“And after your grandfather left your grandmother their primary source of income dropped significantly and they weren’t left with much but what little food and clothes they had at their disposal.” She walked over to the box extracting tissue.

Mrs. Maude blew her nose then continued, “Of course this did not break your grandmother’s spirit, she was proud, very proud and loved her children like none other.” Mrs. Maude smiled gazing up at the emptied white ceiling, eyes misting.

I edged closer in my seat, very much curious now and asked, “What happened to her mother, Mrs. Maude (I gulped having already guessed the answer)…?

Mrs. Maude wiped a tear from her eye, then with some reluctance spoke,

“Well, with your grandfather leaving, although your mother was very proud and raised her children the best she could all of this took a great toll on her health. As the years flew by and she saw your mother and her two boys crying for food and clothes she began to crumble under the pressure.” Mrs. Maude rubbed her eyes.

I shifted in my seat then asked, “So, then what happened?”

“Well,” sighed Mrs. Maude. “Your grandmother thought of leaving your mother and her brothers alone with enough money to last them a month or two,” she grunted then continued, “But decided against it and did whatever she could to make sure that her children were well fed and had plenty of clothing for the coming seasons. When they were old enough she had them attend school.”
I sat with either legs splayed around the chair, leaning against

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