Chapter V

Chapter V
When they reached Gertrude’s house, the woman herself was standing by the door. She had an uncharacteristically large smile on her face, which immediately roused Maria’s suspicions. Gertrude never smiled. No reason was given to her to be cheerful about anything, least of all Maria. Maria, admittedly, never really gave Gertrude a reason to like her, giving as good as she got for every verbal slap and kick, sometimes doling out of her own verbal abuse. Not without warrant, she told herself. Gertrude needed to be taken down a notch or ten sometimes, and though Maria was usually quiet and demure, something about Gertrude incensed her.
Gertrude’s smile seemed to get wider as they approached. And, somehow, expectant and malicious at the same time. Maria felt even more wary and felt like hiding behind her mother, as little Elaine was. Elaine didn’t like Gertrude much, either.
“Come on in, everyone!” Gertrude’s unnaturally sweet and welcoming voice brayed. The family filed through the door, with Maria last. The house that Gertrude lived in was very…Gertrude, was the only word Maria could think of. It was covered in distractions to take the viewer’s mind off of the obvious dirtiness and poverty of the house and surrounding area. Through the only window-half covered with a pink curtain to disguise the lack of glass-there was a cherry tree in full bloom. It was beautiful, Maria admitted to herself, but its beauty was tarnished by Gertrude. After a closer look at the tree, Maria realized that the tree was old and gnarled and obviously hadn’t been tended in years-the weeds around its base were threatening to choke it to death. Maria felt a stab of pity for the tree, but was jolted out of her thoughts by Gertrude, who was handing her a cup of tea.
The three women chatted comfortably at first, but when Maria’s mother excused herself to use the outhouse, the conversation was very forced-Linnea was the only person who really wanted to talk to Gertrude. Maria would never reply to Gertrude’s queries with more than one-word answers, if she could help it. After three cups of Gertrude’s cheap, but very strong tea, Maria was also feeling the need to relieve herself, but her mother had not come back from the outhouse!