A Helping Hand

"Ok, it's up to you." I turned to my mother before leaving them "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

"Thanks, your very kind, but I have to figure this thing out on my own."

I slipped out of the living room to leave them to sort out their problems. I always felt bad for my mother when one of their parties came up. She would spend weeks planning everything and would stress out over every single detail. The parties were always a big success but I wondered if it was worth all the fighting. Up in my room I spent the rest of the night working on a school project while trying to drown out their arguing with my stereo. At eighteen years old I felt like I needed to get out of my parents house and experience the world on my own. After graduating high school my grades were terrible so I enrolled in a community college to get my grades up. My plan was to eventually transfer to a better school on east coast.

It was past midnight when I heard a soft knock on my door. My mother wanted to talk but didn't want to wake me up. I figured that she just wanted to vent about the party but it turned out that she had another idea.

"Sorry to bother you so late Danny"

"It's ok mom. I was just working on a school project. What's up?"

"Well, you know we have this party coming up right?"

"Yeah, I heard." I immediately felt bad for sounding so sarcastic.

"Well, Martine usually helps us out serving food and doing some light cleaning during the party. She's leaving the country for a few months and I can't find anyone else to fill in for her."

She seemed a little nervous as she continued.

"So I know you're looking to make some money. I was wondering if you wanted to help your mother out this one time."

"I'd be happy to, but you heard dad. No son of mine... blah blah blah."

"Yeah, I heard. He said no son of his will be seen serving food at my party, but what if you're not seen?"