4 days of freewrites: Plans -5minutefreewrite

I use cuss words in this.

For https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-787-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-only-what-we-could-carry
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-788-5-minute-freewrite-tuesday-prompt-fern
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-789-5-minute-freewrite-wednesday-prompt-vegetables
https://steemit.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-790-5-minute-freewrite-thursday-prompt-disposable-diaper

What we could carry. An armload of ferns. An armload of vegetables. An armload of UNUSED disposable diapers.

Kendra was glad the mission’s food bank carried diapers. She was surprised they also had ferns, but apparently they’d started a partnership with a local garden, and had said yes when the gardeners had asked them if they wanted houseplants.

And why not? She couldn’t keep a job, but she’d be damned if she could keep a houseplant alive.

It sucked for Kendra most days. She felt physically ill at the guilt of not supporting herself. But she also wanted to survive so badly that she wouldn’t give up. Her folks couldn’t give her grief because they were both dead. Her baby’s father couldn’t give her grief because he was dead. Everyone she’d counted on to help her keep her head above water was dead.

Fuck capitalism. Daddy had died just a few days before he was set to retire. People joked that he didn’t know what he was going to do with himself, so that’s why he decided to die. Fuck them. He died because he’d been working for 50 years without enough pay to feel like he could afford to take breaks and time off. Because he couldn’t guarantee that his job would still be there for him if he took a vacation. Because working while sick was the only way he could afford to pay the mortgage.

Momma had died because they had worried that an ambulance bill was going to send them into a spiral of debt. It was very expensive to take an ambulance, and it was probably just indigestion, they decided when she felt a little pain before bed. She didn’t wake up.

Jason had died because he’d been driving while poor, and the cops thought, when he reached for his wallet, even though he’d said he was reaching for his wallet, that he’d been reaching for a gun. So they shot him. And they hadn’t even been indicted. Because that’s what someone reaching for a gun would have said, the judge ruled. The body camera didn’t matter. He was a dirty man with a “fuck the police” bumper sticker.

So she brought the ferns home. She had a plan. Every morning, she’d get up when JJ got up. She’d make him breakfast that included at least two different colors of vegetables. If she couldn’t get him to school on time, she wouldn’t sweat it. That was too much to ask someone who had had everyone taken away from them by the social forces of the ruling class… what was he going to learn there, anyways? The stories told by the people who advocate for the ruling class? Who want to sell textbooks? So he’d miss class. But she’d read to him. And she’d show him how to care for the ferns. Then they’d walk together to school. He’d be late, but they’d have time together. And that was more important. And he’d have a healthy lunch there. And he’d be able to tell his classmates about taking care of ferns.

And at night, she’d tape two diapers together so they’d fit his big boy body, and if he wet the bed, it wouldn’t be any trouble. He’d still sleep through the night. And daytime was no trouble.

JJ would be alright, she decided. And so would the ferns.

Photo credit me