2. Single Parent Saturday

Single Parent Saturday


“Mum!” Joel shouted.

“Oh right, don’t fight for yourself, call Mummy to fight for you,” his sister Sam said, turning away in disgust.

“Mum! Sam’s got my mp3 and she won’t give it back!”

Melanie Hutchings came into the room and put the newspaper down on the table. The front page was dominated by the huge, black headline SUSPICIOUS SIGHTINGS INCREASE: WHO WILL BE NEXT? Melanie looked at her children and put her hands on her hips.

“Mu-um, make her give it back,” Joel said as soon as Melanie was in the room.

“I don’t have your stupid mp3,” Sam snapped at him.

“Then where is it?”

“Do you have your brother’s mp3?” Melanie asked Sam.

“No! I just said I didn’t! Don’t you listen?”

Melanie ignored her daughters tone and turned to her son. Joel was giving his sister a look that Melanie assumed he meant to be evil but to her he just looked adorable. Sam stormed out of the room.

“Where did you last have it?” she asked him.

“I put it down on the table when I got back last night.” He pointed to a spot on the dining table, “Right here.”

“Was it mixed in with all the stuff you borrowed from Scott?”

“I put all that stuff there too.”

Melanie rolled her eyes at her son, “It’s in the box at the end of your bed. You know better than to leave your stuff lying around. Make sure you apologise to your sister. But it might be a good idea to wait until she’s calmed down a bit.”

“Fine,” Joel looked a little disappointed that his sister hadn’t gotten in trouble as he left the room.

Melanie shook her head and put the kettle on. She wished Craig was home but he was over in the UK for his sister’s wedding. Melanie and the children had all wanted to go to the wedding but they just hadn’t been able to afford it.

Being a single parent was harder than Melanie had expected. Craig had been gone a week and she was finding it a bit hard to cope without him there. Usually she’d get some time to herself on a Saturday morning when Craig took the kids to their soccer games, but today she was going to have to do the driving. Thankfully Sam was getting a lift with a friend and Joel had a home game so she didn’t have to drive far.

Sam came into the kitchen as Melanie was pouring herself a cup of tea. Sam was fourteen and Melanie and Craig had given her a mobile phone for her birthday. Now she was just saying goodbye to someone.

“Mum, that was Jess,” Sam said as she hung up. “She invited me to her house after the game. Amanda’s going too.”

“Did she really?” Melanie asked, pretending she didn’t know what Sam was hinting at.

“So?” Sam asked.

Melanie bit her lip to stop herself from smiling, “So what?”

“Mu-um!”

“As long as Amanda’s going you can go.” Sam was getting a lift to the soccer game with Amanda and her father.

“Cool! Thanks Mum.”

Sam bounded out of the room already calling Jess back.

“You’d better get ready, Sam,” Melanie called after her.

Melanie took a sip of her tea and sat down to read the paper. That was what she normally did on Saturday morning. She was just straightening it out when Joel came in; half dressed in his soccer gear.

“I can’t find my other sock or my shin pads,” he said.

“Right,” Melanie said and stood up.

Melanie knew she was lucky to still be married after fifteen years and to have two healthy children but sometimes she needed a break. She helped Joel search through his room to find his missing things. After about ten minutes Sam popped her head in a pointed out that the missing sock and shin pads were sitting on the bed. The three of them sat there laughing for five minutes before Melanie looked at her watch.

“We’d better get moving. Are you ready, Sam? Tom and Amanda’ll be here at any moment.”

“Yeah, of course I am, Mum,” Sam rolled her eyes at her mother.

Just then a horn sounded from the driveway.

“That’s them,” Sam cried and ran out the front door, picking up her bag as she went. “Bye, Mum!”

“Good luck, sweety!” Melanie called after her, waving to Tom and Amanda who were waiting in the car.

Melanie went back inside to make sure Joel was ready. She’d never realised how hectic Saturday mornings were. Normally Craig handled everything.

“We’re leaving in fifteen minutes, Joel,” she said.

“Okay,” Joel was filling up a water bottle in the kitchen.

He was quite responsible for a nine-year-old boy, Melanie thought. She supposed she had something to do with that but she thought a lot of it came from his father. She couldn’t believe how much she missed Craig. Until now they’d hadn’t been apart for more than four or five days since they were married.

“How would you like to go and spend the afternoon with Callie,” Melanie asked her son.

“Yeah!” Joel loved his aunty Callie.

“How about I call her and ask if we can go over after the game?”

“Yeah!”

Melanie picked up the phone and dialled her sister’s number. She was hoping that Callie could look after Joel for the afternoon so she could have some time to herself.

The phone rang and rang. After about fifteen rings Melanie hung up and tried again. The same thing happened. Maybe Callie wasn’t home. Melanie tried her sister’s mobile.

“The person you are calling–”

Melanie hung up. She guessed Callie had spent the night with some guy.

“Sorry, Joel, looks like Callie isn’t home.”

“Oh, maybe we can go and see her tomorrow.”

“Yeah. Are you ready?”

Melanie and her son left for the game.