Free Broke by Mandasue Heller Page A

else he might be, Mark Taylor was no fool.
    Amy woke up with a start and stared in dismay at the clock on the bedside table. It had been gone five a.m. before she’d finally fallen asleep, and it was almost noon now. Dreading the tongue-lashing she was bound to get off her mum, she jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to ring her.
    ‘I’m so sorry,’ she blurted out. ‘I know I promised to pick the kids up early, but I didn’t—’
    ‘No use saying sorry to me,’ Sonia cut her off. ‘ I ’m not the one who sat here all morning in tears waiting for you.’
    ‘Oh, God,’ Amy moaned guiltily. ‘Tell them I’m coming now. I just need to get dressed.’
    ‘Too late,’ said Sonia. ‘Poor little buggers deserved a treat, so your dad and Uncle Ricky took them to Chester Zoo for the day. I’ll ring you when they get back, but I’ll warn you now, your dad’s fuming. Cassie’s told us all about you and that waste of space arguing in front of them.’
    ‘That’s not true,’ Amy protested. ‘We never argue in front of the kids, we always wait till they’ve gone to bed.’
    ‘It doesn’t matter if they’re in the same room or up the bloody stairs, they can still hear you, and they’re frightened to flaming death.’
    ‘It’s not that bad.’
    ‘So you’re calling Cassie a liar?’
    ‘No, but . . .’
    ‘Oh, shut up!’ snapped Sonia. ‘You’re pissing me off now, Amy, you really are. I told you from the start you were too young to get wed and have kids, but you always knew better than everyone else, didn’t you? I’ll be fine , you said. I’ll be a great mum . Well, I haven’t seen any evidence of it so far. Your house is a pigsty, and those kids look like they haven’t had a bath in weeks, never mind a decent meal. But all you ’re bothered about is that pillock who can’t even keep a job for more than two minutes!’
    Amy’s chin was wobbling, but she blinked back the stinging tears. ‘It’s not Mark’s fault.’
    ‘Well, whose is it, then?’ Sonia demanded. ‘It sure as hell isn’t mine or your dad’s, but we’re the ones who have to keep picking up the pieces whenever he screws up. It’s a good job the kids have got us to watch out for them, ’cos you obviously don’t give a toss. You should be ashamed of yourself!’
    When her mum slammed the phone down, Amy sank down onto the couch and sobbed. But with the tears came anger. How dare her mum accuse her of not caring about her kids! They were her life, and she was doing her best to bring them up decently. It wasn’t easy, carrying on as normal when her world was falling apart and no one was lifting a finger to help, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t trying .
    When the tears finally stopped, Amy looked around the room. Her mum was right about one thing – she had let it get into a state. A thick roll of dust lay along the join between the laminate flooring and the skirting board, and there were overflowing ashtrays on the coffee table and window ledge. The kids’ breakfast bowls were still on the couch from yesterday morning, along with a pile of old sweet wrappers and comics. And her own stuff was also contributing to the mess, from the hairbrush on the mantelpiece to the magazines stuffed down the side of her chair. And there were cups everywhere she looked, some empty, the rest half full of filmy wasted tea.
    Disgusted with herself for letting it get so bad, and determined to prove her mother wrong, Amy shoved up her sleeves and set to work, moving from room to room, clearing, polishing and vacuuming until the house was spotless from top to bottom.
    She was just putting the vacuum cleaner back into the cupboard under the stairs when Marnie knocked on the back door.
    ‘Don’t shoot, I come in peace!’ Marnie teased, holding up her hands when she saw the thunderous look on Amy’s face.
    ‘I’m having a bad day.’ Amy snatched the kettle off its base and carried it to the sink.
    ‘Mark pissed you off?’ Marnie