She nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the back door open, and someone come inside. She was looking for something to use for a weapon when her mom peered into the living room. “Oh, hey,” she said, vaguely waving in Staci’s direction. “I guess you’re settling in all right.” Staci bit back a million angry things that surged into her mind, and just said, “I guess. You’re home early.” “Bar’s pretty much empty so the boss sent me home,” her mom replied, and made a face. “Big baseball game, so the usual crowd all went out to a sports bar to watch it. Then they’ll come back tomorrow night and bitch all night about having to pay six bucks for a beer so they could watch the game. I’ll let you interweb in peace. Night, honey.” Meaning, “I’m going to my room to drink myself to sleep,” Staci thought, acidly. What the hell is wrong with this town? She could kind of see the kids giving up on trying to get anything to come here, but the adults, who should have been able to change things, seemed stuck in a case of permanent apathy.
