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Foundations – Chapter 5
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She turned to the voice, and saw that Maury Povich was seated next to her, perched on a stool slightly more elevated than her chair, making her feel even smaller and more vulnerable.
“Tina, tell us what brought you to the show today?”
Tina opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. “Well, I-“
“Speak up,” Maury hissed. “We can barely hear you.”
Tina cleared her throat and started again. “Well, I uh… I have a secret.” A wave of murmurs rippled across the audience.
“A secret!” Maury echoed. “Tell us your secret, Tina!”
“I…” Her eyes scanned the audience once more, but this time the faces blended together. She looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap. “I’m kind of a horrible mother.”
Tina could see in her peripheral vision that it was the stage hands that led off a chorus of boos, shouts and jeers from the audience, jumping up from their crouched positions and waving their hands to whip the crowd into a responsive frenzy before making a “cut the noise” motion with their hands.
Maury held up his hand for silence. “Did you say that you’re a horrible mother?”
Tina nodded, miserable, without looking up.
“Why? Why do you think that?” Tina wasn’t fooled by his gentle tone. The host always sounded like that just before he twisted the knife in deeper.
“I’m pregnant and I’m about to go on maternity leave, and… part of me feels like I should quit permanently and stay home and devote myself to raising my son and my daughter, and the other part just loves my work so much I never want to give it up. And while I don’t love work more than my children… I think I love my job more than I’d ever love the job of raising them full-time.”
There were audible gasps in the audience and another chorus of boos, unbidden this time.
“You love your JOB more than your CHILDREN?!” Maury cried.
“I didn’t say that,” Tina protested, her voice drowned out by the audience’s disapproval.
“We have a surprise guest,” Maury bellowed over the din. “We’ve brought Tina’s partner, Bette, on to hear Tina’s devastating secret. She has no idea that Tina doesn’t want to raise their children. Bette, come on out!”
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well since you said “fast food” fish taco, i fear tina made the wrong choice in dining establishments, apparently she doesn’t know the deliciousness that is rubio’s!? mmm, i’m getting hungry just thinking about it….thx for this & pps
OMG….you had me LMAO…..”sugar,water and purple”?!! and the fish tacos…oh lord i was rollin!!!! poor Bette! PPS…PPS…PPS…PPS… ;-)
Tee hee!! That was really funny! I loved how Tina opened up to Bette and how Bette responded! PPS!
Great chapter, O’Malley! Vis-a-vis Maury, I must confess, I lost all respect for Connie Chung once I found out she was married to him. All their embarassing over-sharing about their attempts to get pregnant just turned me off!Did you know that Maury was once a respected serious journalist, the son of a very good sportswriter? And Jerry Springer was once the mayor of Cincinnatti? Well, sex sells, somewhere. Loved this chapter. The ambiguity that Tina feels and expresses is real. Thanks for showing that pregnancy is not all sunshine and roses. I want a burrito!
Oh – and you captured the Maury/Jerry ambiance perfectly! Your characters responded in character as well! Thanks!
ROFL at the maury nightmare, fish tacos and grape soda,lol… poor bette!!awesome update:)PPS
“The fish taco…” – See?, told ya those things were vile. ;-)
When Bette is feeling better I think Tina has some making up to do! Loved it:) PPS
I bet Tina will be more picky about where they eat after this I loved the sugar water and purple. thanks
This was great. Loved it! PPS.
Hahahaha…Great update O’malley. Poor Bette…she’s really suffering the Daddy blues of this pregnancy!
Way to go, Kennard! Loved the whole taco-purple-stomachache thing, it got me laughing hard. As for the pregnancy-job thing, well, life is not all about roses. Love your insight and the way you write :)
I just started reading this story and find it and your writing delightful. PPS.
Hilarious…I got hooked on Days of Our Lives, well, one actress actually…when I was pregnant many moons ago & like Tina I couldn’t wait to get back to work either even though I adored my baby. Great omalley. I needed a good laugh. PPS.
Maury Povich–love how you got down pat his alleged hug that is really a death grip to keep the guest from runing off stage. And–since YOU brought it up–have you ever wondered if the women with dozens of potential baby daddies just want multiple trips to NYC and are probably getting guys to pay her $50 to be named so they could get a trip to NY, too? OK, OK. No more tabloid TV talk. Loved the chapter. Thanks for giving us Tina’s spin on the work vs. home dilemma. Oh and uh–could you maybe, just maybe, only if you want to of course, but you might want to consider–Bette on Rachel Ray. Bette’s head spinning in circles as she tries to figure out what is going on as RR changes subjects with every sentnce, and Bette desperately trying to ge a word in. Good times.
What a great story and great interactions between B and T. This is so carefully written and cleverly crafted. The small dramas of everyday relationships writ large and meaningful. I’m really impressed AND best of all really AMUSED. Thank you.
I am so happy that Tina opened up to Bette and Bette’s response was so supportive and loving. I am looking forward to reading more.