There Is
Still Hope.

Kandilene knew Walter had come home without groceries before he opened the door. There was no rustle of a paper bag, only his footsteps on the porch and the scrape of his key against the lock.

Her younger siblings looked up from the kitchen table. Walter stepped inside with empty hands and began explaining how close he had come to winning at bingo. Kandilene had heard that story before. She watched her siblings’ faces change as they understood that supper would have to come from whatever was left in the cupboards. In the next room, her mother had been drinking. Kandilene did not expect her to settle the question of what they would eat.

At sixteen, Kandilene had learned to count what the family had before anyone asked her to. She counted money, food, and the days until another bill came due. Then she looked for something she could do. Tonight, with Walter still talking and her siblings waiting, she opened the cupboard.