• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login
Story Circle Network Logo

Story Circle

by, for, and about women

  • Home
  • Events
    • Spain Writing Trip
    • Members in the News
    • Opportunities
  • Classes
    • Online Classes
    • Webinars
    • Enroll
    • Propose a Class
    • Propose a Webinar
  • Book Reviews
    • Story Circle Book Reviews
    • For Authors & Publishers
    • Author Interviews
    • For Reviewers
    • Review Team
  • Publications
    • SCN Journal
    • Our Substack
      • True Words from Real Women
      • StoryCraft: Writers Write About Writing
      • Submit a post
    • Real Women Write anthology
      • 2024 Anthology
    • Member Library
    • Story Circle Books
    • Flash newsletter
  • Book Awards
    • Sarton & Gilda
    • Guidelines
    • Sarton Application
    • Gilda Application
    • Past SCN Book Award Winners
  • Contests
    • The Story Circle LifeWriting Competition
    • The Story CIrcle Poetry Competition
    • The Story Circle Online Writing Competition
  • Resources
    • Circles Program
    • Roundtables
    • Opportunities
    • Member Library
    • Media
  • About
    • About SCN
    • Member Benefits

May 24 – Dad’s Home Again

May 24, 2021 by Doris Clark

The kitchen with its drab walls and cracked linoleum floor was warmed by a wood-burning stove. The only place where the floor was heated was around the stove. I had a nice little spot behind it that was toasty warm. I sat back there and played with whatever was entertaining. Sometimes my sister and I would cut figures out of magazines and use them as paper dolls. I may have been doing that on that day.

It was quiet in the kitchen. The only one home was Mom, my older brothers and sisters were in school. Mom didn’t talk much in those years when I was home alone with her. I think she must have been relishing the silence. I didn’t know any different, I thought everyone lived that way.

It was a quiet day–and then–the sound of a car coming up the sandy driveway. The air in the kitchen became tense. Dad was home. I pulled myself up as tight as I could so I wouldn’t be seen. Mom tried to act like nothing was amiss.

The kitchen door opened with the screen door slamming shut behind it. Cold air burst into the kitchen along with my father. It was obvious he was inebriated. He wasn’t standing very well. The smell of alcohol and cigarettes filled the room.

As I peeked out from behind the stove, I could see my father go over to my mom and put his arm around her. When she rebuffed him, he became angry.

Dad started complaining. It didn’t matter what the complaint was about, as he would pick a fight with anyone over anything. He began moving around the kitchen with a bullish attitude. When the drunk in him lunged at my mom, she grabbed a broom that was leaning against the wall by the door and started swatting at him.

My dad became enraged. My mother kept thrusting the broom at him. He began backing off into the living room with my mother continuing to try to take control of the situation. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was trying to protect me from his wrath. It slowly became quieter while they were backing away. Soon I could only hear muffled sounds. I don’t know what happened in that other room.

I stayed behind the stove until my sisters and brothers came home. Mom walked back into the kitchen to greet them. I assumed that my father had either passed out or fallen asleep.

Mom hushed my siblings as they entered the kitchen, although there was no need to do so. They knew. They had seen the car parked near the house. As I slowly came out from behind the stove, I found it difficult to be happy to have everyone home. Mom acted like nothing had happened.

The incident was never mentioned, not even to me. I was left alone to deal with the fear and terror that I felt.

Doris Clark is an indie author living in the suburbs of Chicago. After spending many creative years with a paintbrush in hand, she has returned to her first love–writing–which enables her to paint pictures with words. Living with two cats that love to get tangled up in her knitting, Doris finds living where there are four seasons to be challenging at times, and yet, they give her endearing inspiration.

Filed Under: Doris Clark, True Words from Real Women

Primary Sidebar

hoye-orig

This blog is coordinated by author, photographer, and gardener Linda Hoye. Find her at A Slice of Life.

Subscribe

Get new posts in your inbox!
Loading

Archives

2009-2019 Archives

This blog is written by Story Circle members.


Not a member? Go here to join.

Contributors

  • Amber Lea Starfire
    • February 1 - What Happens When You Write 20 Minutes a Day?
  • Ariela Zucker - View Blog
    • To Walk With Stability
    • Not Doing is a Form of Doing
  • Carol Newman
    • June 26 - Cascade
    • June 5 - Trains, Planes, and Automobiles
  • blatter.carol
    • I Met Nurse Ratched
    • November 8 - My Mother
  • Barbara Scott - View Blog
    • February 12 - LOL Before Divorce
  • christinamwells - View Blog
    • May 31 - The Hairbrush
  • Christine Hassing - View Blog
    • December 20 - Opening
  • Carrie Steckl - View Blog
    • April 4 - Let’s Love the Good in Others
    • Five Minutes on Sundays
  • debradolan1958
    • Wedding Dress Whim
    • March 13 - Museum of Broken Relationships
  • Diane
    • Walking Through Fear
  • Doris Clark - View Blog
    • May 24 - Dad's Home Again
  • Dorothy Preston - View Blog
    • December 6 - The Rutted Path
    • August 23 - Ghosts of Rejection
  • Lisa Droz - View Blog
    • July 27 - The Seat Next to Me
    • June 29 - Pay Dirt
  • Girly
    • November 2 - A Morning
  • Heidi Schwab-Wilhelmi
    • November 22 - Piano Days
  • Judy - View Blog
    • December 12 - Numb and Puzzling Grief
  • Jeanne Guy - View Blog
    • July 20 - Under Water
  • Jeanette
    • A Clouded Mind
  • Janice Airhart - View Blog
    • October 19 - The Broadmoor
  • Joanne Martin
    • April 12 - The Last Time
    • November 2 - Helping Hands
  • JSchecterZeeb
    • D-Day June 6, 1944
  • Kali - View Blog
    • March 29 - When Life Hands You . . .
    • May 10 - A Newfound Friend
  • B. Lynn Goodwin - View Blog
    • August 3 - Notes From an Exceptional Terrier
  • Linda Hoye - View Blog
    • We've Moved
    • September 12 - Just Lily and Me
  • Len Leatherwood
    • July 6 - Love, Color, and a Bit of Surprise
  • LWatt - View Blog
    • October 18 - In-Between
    • January 31 - Hail Oh, Hail
  • Marian Beaman - View Blog
    • You Found Your Glasses Where?
    • June 14 - Right Thing Too Late
  • Marilea Rabasa - View Blog
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 13
    • Walking Through Cancer - Part 12
  • marthaslavin - View Blog
    • December 30 - Unfinished Year 2020
  • Michele Kwasniewski
    • November 29 - Hanging With The Big Dogs
    • May 6 - Happy Birthday, Mom
  • Melanie
    • May 18 - Infusing Hope
  • Monique - View Blog
    • February 7 - The Answer
  • Nancy Oelklaus - View Blog
    • September 6 - Life Goes On
  • Lisa Hacker
    • August 30 -The Great Book Purge
  • repak.t
    • Switching Creative Gears
  • Sara Etgen-Baker
    • Talking Aprons
    • You Had Me At Pumpkin Spice
  • simonandrea - View Blog
    • February 22 - Words Are My Life
  • srick18153 - View Blog
    • April 2 - Sarah and Wally Go to Space Camp
  • Story Circle Network - View Blog
    • April 19 - My Mother's Kitchen
  • Suzanne Adam - View Blog
    • July 13 - COVID Roller Coaster
  • suzy beal
    • April 26 - The Culling Year
    • January 18 - Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
  • Wentlin
    • August 24 - Uncommon
    • July 6 - An Exercise in Being Human

Footer

Footer Example
Story Circle Network Logo
  • Home
  • About
  • Classes
  • Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • Growing Together
  • Connect
  • Donate
  • Join
  • Login

Copyright 1997 - 2025  Story Circle Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy