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An excerpt from Chapter One: Janey

The boys calm down a bit as they explode into the kitchen and Janey can hear bags rustling, their contents spilling to the floor as the boys tear through them in desperate competition to put everything away quickly, find the bulkie rolls and cold-cuts and make quick sandwiches before settling down in front of the t.v. to watch Ripley's Believe It Or Not.
Though he has four years on his little brother, Michael is neither significantly taller nor significantly more mature than Dennis. He is a sweet boy subject to more than his fair share of teasing. Born premature, Michael never seems to catch up. Dark hair, dark eyes, and an ability to withdraw into himself when the going gets tough allows him to pretty much disappear when he feels like it. This is a quality Janey envies at times.
Younger brother Dennis is the wise guy - only eight but ready to take on the world, particularly when the world involves Michael. Blue-green eyes, dirty blond hair and a rugged look that gives older boys pause, he is the spitting image of Janey, masculinized. Quick with his words as well as his fists, he is still a child most of the time, and a mini misguided adult during the rest.
“Grab a bag!” Audrey shouts at her granddaughter as she huffs passed her toward the kitchen carrying three bags herself. A plastic rain bonnet is tied neatly under her chin. Though the rain hasn't started there was wind to contend with. Audrey is solidly built with powerful arms and legs made more so from years of manual labor. Her skin is extremely tan, distressingly so to her doctor who is constantly warning her that the years of overexposure will catch up with her sooner or later. Audrey dismisses this every summer though as she sits out with the neighbors at the Bunker Hill pool, rubbing baby oil on her self-bronzed skin. “I’ll sit in the goddamned sun till they put me in a box, how’s that?” And she’s a smoker on top of it, her raspy voice making harsh words harsher.
“Jesus, Nana!” Janey says, blocking Audrey’s passage and attempting to take the bags from the sixty-eight year old woman. “Trying to give yourself a heart attack?”
Audrey stops for a second to yank the bags back, looking closely at Janey’s face. Does she know? Janey turns away, ashamed.
“Where you off to?” Audrey barks, eyes hard and penetrating.
“To see Dad.” Janey replies weakly. “It’s Father’s Day so I –“
“ – Right, better get going then, huh?” She snaps, finally taking her eyes off of her granddaughter and moving quickly down the hall without turning back.
“Hey, I wanna go see Dad too!” Dennis says excitedly, pleadingly to his grandmother.
“No.” Janey hears Audrey say with finality as she walks out the door. “A prison is no place for kids. You’ll see your father when he gets out next month.”

Mary wrote: "An excerpt from Chapter One: Janey

The boys calm down a bit as they explode into the kitchen and Janey can hear bags rustling, their contents spilling to the floor as the boys tear through them in..."

I already like Audrey :D Love the rain bonnet. My Grandma wears them to keep the rain off her perm!