The Opposite Of Tidy by Carrie Mac

Author:Carrie Mac
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780143184027
Publisher: Penguin Canada
Published: 2012-10-12T14:53:43.348000+00:00

Back home, they wrestled their way into the coveralls and found gumboots amidst the mess in the garage. Junie’s mother found a pair with the tags still on and steel toes that made the boots extra heavy, and Junie found a red boot one size too small and a black one that was one size too big, but they’d do.

Junie and her mother stood at the top of the basement stairs and pulled on the masks. It was like wearing some space alien mask, with each breath clicking through the vents. Junie was pretty sure that if they ever had to endure nuclear fallout, these masks would keep them safe.

They each grabbed two handfuls of cleaning supplies and went down the stairs. Junie went first, and when she stepped off the bottom step, she knew at once that it was far worse than she’d first imagined. Her feet were stuck in shitty muck, all the way over by the stairs, which was a good long way from the bathroom. She turned to her mom, who was still halfway down the stairs.

“This is impossible, Mom. Look!” Junie sloshed her boot through the wet slime.

“It’s okay.” Her mother pushed past her. “Let’s start in the bathroom.”

Her mom went ahead and turned on the light, illuminating the mess all the better. They hadn’t used this bathroom as a bathroom for over a decade, so her mother had stacked boxes of stuff in the bathtub, which was now brimming with raw sewage, dark brown soup with bits of toilet paper and food floating in it. Junie had to turn away as she retched behind her mask.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Mom.”

Her mother stood in the doorway, staring. The sink was also brimming with shit soup, as was the toilet. Flies were everywhere.

Junie set her supplies on a stack of boxes by the door and pulled up the hood on her coveralls, cinching it tight under her chin. Her mother did the same.

“I’m glad he suggested the safety goggles,” her mother said as she waded into the bathroom, plunger in hand.

Five minutes later, using the plunger hadn’t accomplished anything except sending more shit soup spilling over the edge of the toilet bowl.

“I’m telling you, Mom, we need a plumber,” Junie wheezed from behind her mask. “With one of those snake things.”

“I think there’s one in the garage. I’ll go look.” Her mom left.

Junie stood there, having absolutely no idea where to start. She was still standing there when her mother came back ten minutes later.

“Found it!” Her mother sounded almost cheerful.

Junie had hoped that she wouldn’t be able to find it, but she hadn’t hoped too hard. She was always astounded at how easily her mother could find exactly what she was looking for, despite the chaotic mess.

Junie stood back while her mother stabbed the metal coil down the toilet. She jabbed it in hand over hand until she hit a block.

“That’d be it,” she said as if she had a clue about what she was doing.

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