Chapter 3
Maggie Herbert grabbed her backpack as she quietly slipped out her bedroom door. The key was to leave the house before her father woke. She had the early shift at Starbucks, and the mornings were always crazy busy, which was good, because it helped to pass the time quickly before she headed to Seattle Central College for classes.
Leanne, who handled the cash register, was down with the flu, which just happened to coincide with a trip to the ocean with four friends. The manager had asked Maggie to fill in for her until Leanne was back. Maggie wasn’t any expert on the flu, but she suspected the illness would last three days. Maggie was willing to take on any task given to her, as long as it didn’t interfere with her afternoon nursing classes and her tutoring schedule at the elementary school. Finals were coming up soon, and she’d been awake studying until almost midnight and was operating on less than four hours’ sleep.
She needed to do well on these tests, as she’d applied for several scholarships. Once classes were dismissed for the semester, Maggie would be able to take on extra hours, and heaven knew she needed them if she was ever going to get out on her own.
On that front, she had real hope and recently interviewed with Mrs. Royce, a shop owner who’d advertised for a boarder. Mrs. Royce’s husband was working out of the country, and she was looking for company. The rent was fair, and Maggie had provided several letters of recommendation. The interview had been positive, and Mrs. Royce had promised to get back to her as soon as she checked out Maggie’s references. Once she heard back from Mrs. Royce, Maggie would be ready to move. That time couldn’t come fast enough.
“Maggie.” Her name came from the living room, which told Maggie her father was on another alcoholic binge. Likely he’d been up most of the night drinking, which had become the norm these days.
Although it was four in the morning, Roy Herbert sat slouched in his dilapidated recliner, his head twisted to one side, as he stared at Maggie. Guess she wasn’t going to escape unnoticed after all, despite tiptoeing down the hallway leading from her bedroom. It didn’t take a soothsayer to realize her father was drunk.
Maggie’s heart sank. She’d hoped to be long gone before her father discovered she’d left for the day. As much as she was able, she avoided interaction with him. With her mother out of the picture, along with the increased alcohol, his moods were often dark.
“Did you see the electric bill? It says we’re behind. The notice from the city claims they’re going to turn off the lights.” He cast her a pleading glance. “Can you cover it for me?”
Maggie wanted to groan. Her father spent his disability checks on alcohol and then expected her to cover all the housing expenses. While working part-time and attending school, she couldn’t afford to pay more than she already was.
Her father didn’t seem to understand or appreciate how hard she worked to set aside funds for school expenses. She’d already given him money to cover the electric bill earlier. It seemed he’d used it to buy alcohol instead. She should have known that was what he’d do. More than ever, Maggie realized she needed to find somewhere else to live. Maybe, with her gone, her dad would stop using her as a crutch.
“What happened to the money I gave you earlier?” she asked, doing her best to hide her discouragement.
Her father shrugged. “Al and me…”
“You spent it at the Half Pint, didn’t you?” She did her best to keep the accusation out of her voice. Her father’s lack of responsibility had become a constant frustration. He relied on her for everything. It was too much when, as best she could tell, he made no effort to change.
“Don’t start on me,” Roy muttered. “I’m doing the best I can. You have no idea of the pain I’m in.”
After suffering a back injury from a construction accident that prevented him from ever working again, Roy had collected government disability checks for years, even before her mother died. Her mother’s death was all he needed as an excuse to drink. Beer helped him get through the day, he claimed, not seeming to realize his dependence had made him an alcoholic. Several times Maggie had tried to suggest he join Alcoholics Anonymous. She might as well have been talking to the wind. Roy insisted his drinking was under control; he could stop anytime he wanted.
“I need you to pay that bill, Mags, or the city will do what they say.”
“I already gave you what I had.” She noticed an empty six-pack of Bud Light rested next to his recliner along with a couple empty whiskey bottles.
“Dad, how could you be so irresponsible? If we lose power, it’ll be your fault.”
Even with limited income, they shouldn’t have these money problems. The house was an inheritance from his mother and came without a mortgage. Roy, Maggie, and her mother had moved into it following her grandmother’s death. Maggie had been ten, and this was the first real home she’d ever had. Until then, the family had lived in small apartments. Since inheriting the house, Roy had done little toward upkeep and care. The roof had started to leak, and several areas of the house were showing signs of water damage.
“Dad,” Maggie tried one more time, “you can’t go on drinking like this. It’s killing you. I can’t live here and watch you drink your life away. I want to move out, and you should know I’m looking for a place.”
That got her father’s notice. He sat up and glared at her. “You’d leave me?”
“Yes. I can’t bear to see what you’re doing to yourself, drinking day in and day out. You keep saying you can quit at any time, but you don’t, and I can’t keep picking up after you. You have a problem.” Although she didn’t say it, Maggie felt like her living at home was aiding and abetting him. He relied heavily on her, and the burden had become more than she could bear.
“You won’t do it,” he said, sounding confident. “We both know you could never afford to move into an apartment, with all those pricey classes. You’ll just have to stick around if you’re so hell-bent on wasting your money on schooling that you don’t even need.”
“I’m going to be a nurse,” Maggie insisted. “It’s what Mom would have wanted for me and I don’t care how much it will cost.”
He simply shook his head, silently scoffing at her.
Maggie did her best to ignore him. The minute she got word from Mrs. Royce, Maggie was moving. Her father was right about the cost of renting an apartment. As a financially struggling college student, she couldn’t afford the rent, even if she shared the space with three others. Rent in the Seattle area was outrageous.
“You’ll never leave me,” Roy insisted. “I’m all you’ve got.”
“You’re wrong, Dad. I plan on moving out as soon as I find somewhere affordable to live.”
He snickered as though he didn’t believe her. “No, you won’t. You need me just as much as I need you.”
Maggie had heard it all before and did her best to block him out. “I need to get to work.”
Maggie headed toward the front door, refusing to allow his words to taint her day. She let his negative attitude flow away from her like water off a duck’s back, because it wasn’t her father speaking, it was the alcohol.