Not Perfect(16)

“You’ll feel better soon, I promise,” she said. “I did.”

“Oh my gosh you guys, what happened?” Tabitha asked, trying not to sound panicked and hoping nobody ever found out about this. Talk about the worst mother in the world award! Talk about Whac-A-Mole.

“Well, we were each sitting where you left us—I was watching Hannah Montana, which is my favorite show, so I really didn’t want to miss it, and Levi was reading in his room. I don’t know what book he was reading. I think it was something about flies. Then Levi started to moan, so I went to see what was wrong,” Fern explained like she was giving a police report or something where every detail was important. Tabitha eased to the floor and sat back on her heels. “When I went to his room, he was lying on the floor rolling around. He said his stomach hurt. I told him to come to the bathroom with me, because I know how that goes. I picked this bathroom so my bathroom wouldn’t get dirty.” She smiled for a second, forgetting what brought them to this point, then quickly adjusted back to a serious expression and returned to rubbing Levi’s back. He was so quiet, Tabitha wondered if he’d fallen asleep, and just as she moved closer to him to check, he threw up, a big, violent push of vomit that mostly made it into the toilet bowl but also splattered a little onto her.

“Oh, Levi,” she said gently, adding her hand to his back. “I’m so sorry you feel so bad.”

“What is that smell?” he groaned.

She realized she’d placed her bag full of food, along with the plate, just outside the bathroom. She jumped up and rushed it to the kitchen, where she quickly washed her hands with hot water.

“Fern,” she called.

Fern appeared eagerly at her side.

“I picked up some dinner,” she said, keeping her voice down. “Do you want anything? How’s your appetite?”

Fern chose just a roll, which Tabitha put on a plate, next to a big glass of ice water. She carefully wrapped and froze everything else, even the things that she didn’t think would freeze well. She kept one slider out for herself, which she planned to eat later, and she spent the next two hours on the bathroom floor soothing Levi.





CHAPTER FIVE

It took two days to get back to normal. Or at least, it took two days to not be a sick house anymore—normal was a whole other story. Tabitha was so glad that the first day back at school for both kids coincided with another job interview. Fern could have gone back the day before, but it just seemed like too much work, so Tabitha let her stay home and watch television. As everyone felt better and hungrier, Tabitha defrosted portions of the food from the sports bar. Overall, it was pretty relaxing.

Tabitha took her time getting dressed. She settled on a suit that cost hundreds of dollars, shoes that cost almost that, and a designer silk blouse and scarf, which reminded her to check the website of the consignment store on Chestnut Street later. She had taken in a bunch of clothes to sell about a month ago, but so far nobody seemed to want any of her things. Maybe she should consign more.

She chose a necklace studded with colorful semiprecious stones and put on a full mouth of lipstick. It was a different kind of interview today. Instead of going to an office, she was meeting her interviewer for breakfast at the fancy restaurant on the second floor of the Rittenhouse Hotel, since that was where he was staying. She was trying for a management position at a pest control company that was branching out into new cities, so she was meeting with the son of the company’s founder. It must be a lucrative business for him to stay at such a nice hotel, one of the nicest in the city. Or maybe he has family money. She shook her head. It really didn’t matter either way. Despite the elegance of the setting for the meeting, she knew she was being considered for a job that would basically be answering phones and coordinating appointments, but she didn’t mind. It was a manager position, and they were offering a whopping eighteen dollars per hour, which seemed like quite a bit to her now. The office, which was still being built, would be on the fifteen-hundred block of South Street. She had walked by it last week. It wasn’t impossible that someone she knew would come in there, but she was relying on the likelihood that most people she knew already had their pest control people. This company—unfortunately named “Ratface”—hopefully would appeal to the younger crowd of first-time homeowners.

“Ready?” Fern called into her room. Tabitha glanced at her watch. There was no way she was going to get them to school and be back in time for the meeting. What was she thinking?

“Coming,” she called, taking one last look at herself. Nobody, in a million years, would ever think she was broke. She walked toward the door, then came back, pulled off the necklace and scarf. She realized she was dressing more for the restaurant and less for the interview. She didn’t want to appear like she didn’t need a job, or worse, that she was above it. She quickly pulled off her shoes and chose much less expensive ones. She wished she could start over, but there was no time for that.

Out in the living room she found Levi slumped over on the couch.

“You okay, Monkey man?” she asked gently. He jumped.

“Yeah, fine,” he said, sitting up, then standing quickly.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay, good, because I need you to do something for me,” she said. Levi turned to her and raised his eyebrows. He probably thought she was going to ask him to run something down to the garbage chute. “Can you walk Fern to school today? Just the two of you? I have an interview this morning, and I’m afraid I won’t make it in time if I walk you guys all the way to school.”