Bumgarner/The Intersection/61
“What makes you think we would be approved for a foster child?” he yelled at her. “Look at us, a couple of drunks who don’t even like each other much.” Still, Brenda wouldn’t give up, and out of nothing more than the pure inertia of the years of pleading, fighting, drinking and arguing about it, Roger finally gave in. Brenda was working on her second bottle of chardonnay the day the call came in from the foster services announcing that they had been approved. By the time Roger got home, she was sound asleep in her recliner; the television droning to an otherwise empty room. Prior to Billy’s arrival, Roger and Brenda spent the morning hours cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, arranging, and hiding bottles; Brenda made a quick run to Wal-Mart to buy some cheap plastic toys. When she got home, she and Roger put on their best clothes, opened a fresh bottle of chardonnay and sat quietly drinking and waiting. Half an hour later they saw the welfare services car pull up out front; Brenda grabbed the bottle and their glasses and quickly hid them in the kitchen. The doorbell rang and she opened the door with a broad, warm smile while Roger stood in the background.