Part 3

It's so hard to deal with that shit as a kid but it can get even worse when my stepdad who was a truckie was away 12 out of 14 days and mother who was on speed worked night shift ironically as an enrolled Nurse in aged care facilities. When that was going on I was in about Grade 1 so I had to learn to cook what food might be in the house & see if there was anything if I could take to school the next day for lunch. I always used to love it when my stepdad got home from his trucking runs as she always organised her roster at work so when he came back she had time off & was home. I really think that mother loves my stepdad even though she has and continues to make him compliciant in her lies & deceptions. He has 3 kids & an ex wife so back then most of the money he earnt went to supporting them. I loved my stepsisters, idolising them even if some of the time they resented me as I had their dad living with me & my mother even though I didn't want her, my stepbrother, well thats a whole other story.
Anyway when he came back from the roads she went all out cooking a really good meal & bec my stepdad I like to think loved me in his own way I always got to eat with them. I used to devour my food so quickly as I couldn't believe what I was given to eat. Steak, mashed potatoes, garlic mushrooms all the sorts of food I dreamed about eating. I used to count the days until he got back thinking of what she would cook for him & I got to eat it too. It was about the only time I had anything decent to eat in a fortnight bec. as a 7 y/o your cooking skills are rather limited if there was anything there at all. Sometimes when I was a bit older I would take a little bit of money from her purse when she was asleep & that night go down to the chip shop for dinner 50 cents worth of hot chips. Gosh I loved & still do the smell of freshly cooked french fries