Truly Bradford sat in a large, somewhat uncomfortable chair in the airport terminal. Her father was due to come home that day, and he expected her to meet him there, like usual. She hummed to herself and rocked back and forth in her seat.
"I hate this, I hate this, I wanna go home, I hate this," she whispered to herself. A sudden pain in her stomach made her cringe.
"Aah! Geez! I guess I need to eat something." she thought. It was rainy and miserable outside. Her present uncomfortable state had not been helped when her father had called at 4:30 that morning, waking her out of a deep sleep. She grabbed the phone and groggily said, "Hello?"
"True, I'm coming home for a few days. Drive to the airport, be there at 7. I'm bringing a guest. Be ready to cook something." her father said in his cold blunt way. He hardly waited for her acknowledgement before hanging up the phone. True had sat up too quickly and gotten nauseous, so the day had began with a frantic rush to the bathroom.
"Gee thanks, Dad, I'm SO glad you're coming home." she sighed. Hearing the toilet flush was beginning to be a way too familiar sound.
True padded downstairs and into the kitchen, made herself some Lucky Charms, and sat down at the table. Two bowls and three glasses of O. J. later, True got up and put the dishes in the sink. Checking the clock, she hurried to her bedroom to dress. She thought her jeans were a little loose, but the thought was quickly replaced with all the things she had to do before seven.
Her father was a very picky man, and had to have everything just so. That meant everything newly cleaned when he came home. Since he didn't employ a housekeeper, True was stuck with the job.
First, she tackled her dad's room. She dragged the sheets and blankets off the bed and put them in the wash. She washed and oiled the cherry wood furniture with the lemon scented oil that her father liked, and dusted everything. She checked his sock drawer, aligning the socks according to color, and refolding a renegade pair which had excaped her notice.
While the bedding was drying, True headed for the bathrooms, mopping the floors and cleaning the sinks, tubs, and toilets. She set out fresh blue towels and lined them up on the rack. New toilet paper and a new toothpaste tube had to be set out. She checked the medicine cabinet, making sure that the medicines were arranged according to size, labels facing out. Satisfied, she went downstairs to the living room.
The furniture had to be polished with lemon scent Pledge and the leather couch wiped down. True squirreled the quilt that she usually kept on the couch up to her room. She lined up the movies, dusted the Tv and VCR, and dusted the soldier figurines on the top of the entertainment center. Dust was grounds for a pretty substantial scream-a-thon on the part of her father. She located the remotes and set them on the glass coffee table on top of the TV GUIDE. After a quick glance at the fireplace, she decided it was clean enough.
The exercise room, which she never used (and as far as she could tell, neither did her father) was next on the list. Dusting and setting out white towels took care of it. True breezed through the rooms of the house she barely went into (the library, the den, the rec room, and her father's office), then turned her attention to the kitchen. A quick glance at the clock told her it was 5:45.
True ran the dishwasher, lined up the food in the cupboards and refridgerator, and wiped down every surface. The floor had to be waxed and mopped with half Pine-sol, half bleach, hand-dried. She dried the dishes and put them up, cups facing the same way. She grabbed herself a can of Dr. Pepper and continued on through the house. The sheets were dry, and she made her father's bed. She set a new cigarette carton on the bedside table.
All that was left to be done was to sweep up the patio, which she did quickly before it started to rain. She vacuumed all three floors, then glanced again at the clock.
"Oh, crap!!" True hurried to the kitchen and assessed the options.
"I think we'll have...steak. Mashed potatoes. Hmm...do we have any of that stuffing left?" She set out supper and ran upstairs to grab her bag and her keys, and beat it out of the house. She made it to the airport at exactly 7:02, and hurried to find her fathers terminal. She chose a chair, and sat down to wait.
