Screaming Matches

Vivian and Maya had epic shouting matches almost daily about the state of her room and their shared apartment. They would always end with Vivian in tears and Maya storming into her room, slamming the door and blasting loud music. It was exhausting.

They always made up afterward, but Vivian always knew it was only a matter of time until the next battle. Little did she know that something was about to drive her to take action.

Vivian’s Day Off

One day, Vivian had an unexpected day off work and she was excited to spend some time relaxing, kicking back on the sofa with a new book and drinking coffee. It had been ages since she’d had some me-time.

However, when she got home from dropping Maya off at school in the morning, she realized there was no way she was going to be able to have the relaxing day she had envisioned. Maya had made sure of that.

She Couldn’t Relax

Everywhere Vivian looked, she could see the mess. The sink was full of dirty dishes, laundry was strewn on the floor, and Maya’s things were all over the place. She felt stressed just looking at the state of her home. It made her even more anxious and stressed.

Instead of putting her feet up, she would need to spend the day tidying and cleaning. This was not the kind of day off she thought she wanted but this is what she got without a choice. She was not happy about it. Why was it just her job to make sure they didn’t live in squalor?

Maya’s Room

While Vivian was on her cleaning mission, she popped into Maya’s room to see if she had any laundry for the wash. The sight that met her eyes was horrifying. Her daughter’s room was in chaos. You could barely see the floor through the piles of clothes, and under her bed, Vivian noticed a pile of dirty dishes that were emitting a horrible rotting smell.

How could her daughter live like this? She headed towards the bed, unable to just leave the dishes there. Then she noticed something that made her blood run cold. She shrieked in surprise. And she felt that she could no longer be quiet or patient about this situation in front of her.

The Last Straw

On top of a plate of spaghetti bolognese—pasta they’d eaten for dinner at least a week ago—Vivian spotted something moving. As she got closer, she saw the pasta was covered with green mold. And that was it. The sight of it was enough for her to lose her calm.

But that wasn’t the worst part—on the spaghetti, writhing around and nibbling the old food, were two huge cockroaches. Vivian hated cockroaches and she ran out of the room in horror. She couldn’t believe the mess Maya had made.

An Infestation

Vivian was devastated. She was shocked that things had gotten so bad. Before she had wanted Maya to take care of her room for her own sake, but now her bad habits were threatening their home with an infestation. Up until now she thought Maya was like this because of her age.

If the cockroaches started breeding, the apartment could be overrun. She shuddered thinking about it. She needed to do something drastic, something that would shock Maya into getting her act together. And that would bring some sense of responsibility in her.