Broken Tears 17

Broken Tears 17

Schuller walked up the sidewalk and to the doorway of his house. He couldn’t help remembering the fact that Lester’s mother worked with his mother in the same hospital. The women looked so much alike that they could have been sisters. Each woman was not too tall but very slender. They both had lovely chocolate brown hair with nice waves and gorgeous green eyes. The only difference was that Trudy, Schuller’s mother was more athletic than Ginger, Lester’s mother. Ginger was about 10 pounds lighter and had a small limp from a problem that she had as a child. They often laughed when they had their masks on and the doctors could not tell the difference between the two.

Schuller walked into the living room and put his books down on the area reserved for his work. The parents insisted that he have a nice area to work in. The computer and printer set up was on a nice desk. Beside this spot was a small bookcase that has all the essentials that a student could hope for in the line of reference books. Schuller smiled with the thought that his younger sister, Rebecca would have to lose some of her much desired privacy and use this place when he left for college. Rebecca could not stand for her family to know about her thoughts or friends. She usually had most of her homework done before she got home from school but her fifth grade work wasn’t too hard for her.

Schuller smelled a hamburger dish that that his mother was making. His mother loved to cook and enjoyed the time to make special dishes when she had a couple of days off. She often joked that if she had not become a nurse, that she would have loved to have owned a restaurant. Schuller’s father who also had a nice flare for culinary arts, joked that if she had opened a restaurant, that he would probably eat much of the food and there would be no profits.

“Hey, mom, I’m home.” He walked over to the stove and looked at the mushrooms and soup mix that she had seen on TV. The smell was good that he felt that he could start eating right out of the pan. “Just look at that. I am sure that you have got another winner her.” he said as he went to the counter to get the silverware out to put on the table.

“Well I thought that you might have had a hard day and meat is protein. Brain food you know.” she replied with a smile.

They both turned to see Schuller’s father coming in from the garage area. “Hey, Trudy, did you call…? Well looks like we can eat early if Rebecca can come home from her dancing lessons soon.” Harold Armstrong was wiping the dirt and grease from his hands. He thought that he had heard a bad ping in his car as he drove home. He had an ear for unwanted noises in his car and usually had the problem diagnosed within fifteen minutes when he was home. He tossed the paper towel into the trash and went to the stove to get a closer sniff of the dinner for the night.

“That smells great. Did you start the onion soup mix?” he said as he went to the refrigerator to get cold water to drink. He was a health enthusiast who drank at least 6 glasses of water everyday.

“Yes, it’s already to put into the dish I’m making.” she answered as she checked her watch with the clock on the wall. “Maybe someone can go pick up Rebecca in a few minutes so she won’t have to walk from her class.”

“I think I remember that the Wangs will bring her to the house. Rebecca and Zi are in lead parts for the finale. They needed a few more minutes to work things out.” Harold said as he finished his water.

Schuller walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He knew that the mail had been brought in and wanted to see if he had received any letters regarding his query about scholarships from schools that had baseball teams. He knew that he still had to take entrance tests but he wanted to see what was offered and what requirements for the schools were. The mail consisted of three bills, one charitable collection, 3 pieces of junk and a sports magazine. The subscription was one of the gifts that his parents gave him for his birthday. As he looked at the cover, he could imagine that he would be playing for one of the teams for a World Series game. He silently named the players who were on the cover of that issue. Some of the players were pros who were in the sport for many years but every now and then, there was a rookie who grabbed the attention of the baseball world.

As Schuller went into his room to lay down and just glance through the magazine, he heard a car pull up to the front of the house and a car door open and close. “Rebecca is home. Now we can eat.” he reflected. The front door slammed and he thought that he heard a few angry words.

“I quit. I quit. I quit!” ranted Rebecca as she stormed into her room and shut the door. He jumped off his bed and ran into the living room where his mother and father were both standing with wide eyes and open mouths.

“What is going on?” asked his mother.

“I have never seen Rebecca so upset like that before.” added her father. He started walking to his daughter’s room when Trudy put her hand on his arm to stop him.

“I’ll go dear. I think that maybe I can get some answers and calm this little storm better than you right now.” she said calmly as she gave him the eyes of a knowing mother could.

“Yea. I think I get your point. I’m better at foods anyway.” he responded. “Schuller, help me in the kitchen please.” He motioned with his head for Schuller to follow him.

“Oh. Ah. Yes dad. Right behind you.” said Schuller as he put the magazine on the small table. He glanced quickly at Rebecca’s room and then went into the kitchen. He knew that his sister had a small temper, but today’s outburst could only mean that his sister had inherited a disposition from his father’s side that one must stay far away from.