In the end her daughters used to think, but would never say out loud ( of course ) that they thought their other was a witch.

They didn’t think she was a witch because she had warts on her nose, or wore black clothing or listened to heavy metal music.  They thought she was a witch because she was constantly cursing them out.

When Toby and Bette asked to go to the dentist because  their teeth hurt or they needed new shoes or lunch money for school- she would say ” You kids treat me like  doormat. All  you good for nothing kids ever do is take and take and take and you never give anything good to anyone in return. I hope you rotten kids know what it  feels like to be treated like this one day.”

Because Toby and Bette believed that they walked all over their Mother and had treated her like a doormat  they thought it was reasonable to believe that their Mother had cast a curse upon them.

And she cursed them at least once a day and at least three times a day on Mother’s day and twice a day at Christmas.

The girls were convinced their Mother curse would take hold and they were destined to be good for nothing and never gave anthing to anyone- they still tried to love her- or maybe we were scared what would happen if we didn’t love her. The world is a terrifying place when you’re not even 10 years old.

So burned into their memories was the vision of her mother weaving her cure upon them.

She would be waveing  her hand- not the one with the cigarette but her free hand while she  chanted ” You kids treat me like a doormat -all you ever do is take and take and take and they give nothing  good to anyone in return. I hope you rotten kids know what that feels like one day.”

They would watch ger cigarette smoke would curl around her head like a snake and then twist and twist in the air until it was gone.

After years of having their Mother’s curse cast upon their heads- they  became convinced that all they did was take and take and they  gave nothing in return and what they did give in return was worthless.

Ask anyone who knows Bette and Toby- their ex-husbands- their friends who threw their confidences around like confetti and streamers at midnight on New Years Eve- and they  would gladly tell you that their Mother was absolutely right  about them.

Gertrude Abercrombie

Outside of the front doors of Bette and Toby’s homes are doormats- Bette’s is woven with  flowers and Toby’s mat has been faded by the Sun and when they return home at night from their jobs where none of their co-workers couldn’t tell you  single detail about them, they carefully step over their doormats and close the doors to their empty homes  quietly behind them.