By the third week Nana found me repainting a wall for the fourth time and demanded I take a break. “If you don’t take a break it’s going to take three times as long to get everything done. You’re no use to anyone like this. You’re doing work that’s already done over again because you can’t get it together.” She pushed me out the front door into the parking lot. “Go home. Go to sleep. Tomorrow take the day off. If I see you here tomorrow you’ll be grounded for even longer.” Part of me wanted to argue but I was too tired to even do that. Instead, I climbed into my car, somehow resisted the urge to fall asleep on the steering wheel, and made my way back to Nana’s house. I didn’t take time to shower or even undress. The best I could manage was to toe off my shoes and collapse into a whimpering lump on top of my comforter. When I managed to unpeel my eyes hours later the sun had set and the house was dark and quiet.
