Happy Family #2

The Lennox Vase sits on the peeling linoleum counter.
A family heirloom passed down to all the women on her mothers side.

An Original
From great grandma's Hope chest
An Inheritance
She wanted to save for her Daughter

The man with the greasy hair stares at her treasure.
A shark of a man who's primary trade is trading other peoples misery.

The Lost
Looking for Love on the Streets
The Weak
Looking for an Escape from the Night

She watches his face.
She waits patiently.
She studies his eyes.
She waits nervously.
She starts to shake.

He smiles.

She knows the look.
She has seen it before.

His eyes are full of false pity.

She bites a scream
She tries to be still

He lies.

She must have been mistaken.
or
Great grandma was full of shit.
but
The forgery is a skilled one.

He pauses.

She waits quietly
She shakes silently

He produces a crumpled twenty.
He's sorry it's all he can spare.

She doesn't say a word.
She has too much pride to cause a scene.
She plucks the money out of his dirty hand.
She knows what he is thinking.
She doesn't care.

She daydreams as she walks away.
She see's things that aren't there anymore.

Her childhood home
Now a Methadone Clinic
Her old grammar school
The Gangs claimed it long ago
Her parish church
They lock the doors after dark
Her family's cemetery
She will have to visit her only child tomorrow

Because the Pharmacy closes at 6:30 sharp
and she needs her heart pills tonight.

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