The living room, which I had left spotless, was covered in cigarette butts.
The flowers on the coffee table were gone. All that remained were shredded petals ground into the surface.
Worse was the couch beside it. Three thousand dollars of genuine leather.
Sunflower seed shells, peanut skins, beer cans, takeout containers piled on top of each other, their juices pooling and mixing together. The stench was unbearable.
For a split second, I thought I'd walked into a landfill.
But what sent the real fury roaring through me were the collectible figurines beside the TV.
All of them had been tossed on the floor.
The kids had snapped them apart, every last piece.
I couldn't hold back any longer. My voice came out sharp enough to cut.
"Stop it! Who said you could touch those?!"
Nobody paid me any attention.
The kids stuck their tongues out at me and scattered.
Their parents shot me a dirty look and went straight to Georgette to complain.
"Auntie, this daughter-in-law of yours has no manners at all. She didn't even greet her elders when she walked in."
"Exactly. Disrespecting her elders is one thing, but picking fights with little kids? You can tell she's from a small town. No class whatsoever."