Sweep Me Off My Feet

Chapter 5

There was nothing Angie wouldn’t have done to have a day where everything happened exactly how it was supposed to. As far as she was concerned, she would have given a vital organ if it meant having smoother days for the rest of her life. Days where her son was not fussy in the morning. Days where drop off at the daycare was as easy as just a kiss on his cheek and that was it. Days when everyone at work did exactly what they were supposed to do, but for some reason, it was like everything in the universe was pitted against her. For instance, on Friday morning, she’d had to wake Brandon up not one, not twice, but four times. He had refused to eat anything except for some weird sugar-rich cereal he had somehow managed to sneak into the grocery bag when Candy helped her out with the grocery run earlier that week. As if that was not enough, she had not had a chance to do her laundry, so after spilling coffee on her last clean shirt, she’d had to make do with a t-shirt hoping that the fact that she was in charge was going to let her get away with not being in proper work attire. When she got to work, people were still sluggish as they had been for the better part of the week since the racism allegations against the store’s owner came up. By the end of the day, she felt like she had pulled three shifts back to back without any sleep. The only thing that made her eager to get through the day was just going home at the end of the day and having some time with her son.

When she clocked off, she passed by the grocery store and picked up a few things she needed for dinner before she dropped by the daycare facility. She smiled at the middle aged woman who went in to pick up Brandon before she reached into her purse and got her wallet.

“Fu*k,” she thought as she looked through her wallet.

After the groceries she bought, she barely had enough to cover Brandon’s daycare. She had a guilty look by the time the woman came back holding Brandon in one hand and his backpack in the other.

“Hi, sweetie, how was your day?” she said as she looked at an excited Brandon. She kissed her son’s cheek and hugged him briefly before she got up.

“As usual, this little guy was one of my favorite people in here,” the woman said as Angela got up to look at her.

“That’s great, but… I’m going to have to sort you out later. Maybe the weekend?” she said guiltily. “Things are a little thick right now.”

“I remember you had to take Brandon to the doctor a couple of weeks ago,” the woman said in a heavy Spanish accent.

Angela forced a smile and nodded. She’d had to pay a lot out of pocket because her insurance package only covered about ten percent of total costs. She had always known that she had a sh*tty policy, but it was not until that period that she realized just how bad her policy really was.

“You know what, you can give me the balance when you are ready, Angelita. I started this place to help people like you, mothers who are struggling, but that does not mean that I can let you off just like that.”

Angela nodded.

“I know. I will make a plan.”

“I’ll give you a few days to sort everything out because you are one of the good ones. No drugs, no gambling…but I can only wait so long, Angie. Other people need my help too, you know.”

Angela nodded.

“I will get you the money,” she assured her before she led Brandon to the car.

She was silent on the drive home and even though Brandon was telling her of his day, she was not really listening. All she could think of was what she could do to make herself more money. She could have picked up a few extra shifts at a local diner. It was not much and she was probably going to get to spend less time with her son, but wasn’t that better than having to watch her son go to bed on an empty stomach?

She was still lost in thought when she got to her apartment. Brandon went straight to his toys and she got started on what she had in mind for dinner – sloppy Joes. They were easy, fast and definitely cost a whole lot less than the Olive Garden chicken she was in the mood for. As she stood over the simmering pot, she could not help but wonder what she was supposed to do about her backed up bills. Growing up, her devout grandmother used to always say that God would never give you more than you could handle, but she felt like she was cracking under the pressure. Working so hard for so little…it would have worked if it was just her but it wasn’t just her she had to think about. She had additional medical bills and other bills that seemed to pop up almost every other day. She was drowning and she hated it. She choked back a tear and reduced the heat on the pot before she rushed off to the bedroom. She hated breaking down in front of her son and whenever she felt the urge to release her frustration, she would hide and let loose. She sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed a pillow, and sobbed into it. She did not know what she was supposed to do. She was not sure if the few days the daycare facility had given her were enough to get the money she needed to offset her bills. It had been a few minutes before she took a long, deep breath and opened the top drawer of her nightstand to get a tissue, and that was when she saw it, the stack of bills Candy had given her. She had not taken anything from the money and she did not even know why.

“Maybe Candy was right,” she thought as she looked at the money. “Dancing had its rewards. Making such money and maybe even more… I could even move to a better apartment. A place that has a super who actually cares when the water goes off.”

She was still thinking of what she was supposed to do when she heard Candy’s voice in the next room.

“I should have never given her a key to this place,” she thought to herself as she put the money back in the drawer and dried her eyes. She plastered on a fake smile and walked out of her room hoping that the smile was convincing enough.

“There is Mama,” Candy said when she saw Angela.

“Candy, you are just in time for dinner.” Angela walked over to the stove and uncovered the simmering pot. “We are having sloppy Joes.”

Candy slowly made her way to where Angela was and shook her head.

“You know, I had a different plan for tonight.”