Unfit to Practice Read Free Page B

easy.”
    “Isn't one of the big surprises about becoming a parent finding out how little we control the dynamic in the household and how quickly the most basic things can get out of control?”
    “I've adjusted,” Lisa answered dryly, understanding the direction Nina was taking. “Of course I do chores. Big ones, little ones. Petty ones. Many, many chores.”
    “You make sure your children have clean clothing?”
    “Yes.”
    “You have a regular laundry day?”
    “I do it when the basket is full.”
    “Whenever the basket is full?”
    Lisa had begun to fidget. The questions about her domestic routine bored her. “Yeah, whenever,” she said, looking at Riesner, who treated her to some serious eyebrow action. “Because what's the difference if I do it on Monday or Friday as long as it gets done eventually? You know, people don't realize how they try to re-create Victorian standards of living without the kind of help people had then. Yes, our standard of living is higher than ever, but just because you have a dishwasher, does every dish need to be done that minute? Just because you have a vacuum, should you be expected to vacuum every day?”
    “‘Eventually' you do the laundry?” Nina persisted. “Would that be once a week or twice a week?”
    Lisa rolled her eyes. “Probably once every two weeks, if you were to average it out.”
    “Do you feed your children regularly?”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Of course I feed them regularly.”
    “How would you define the term
regular
?”
    “Well, breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she said, lips curling with disdain at this truly degraded level of conversation. “Am I missing anything? Oh, yes. Snacks after school.”
    “What did you make them for breakfast this morning?”
    She shifted in her chair. “This morning I was in a rush. Look, Joey and Heather are seven and nine, plenty old enough to get themselves cereal. The days of a home-cooked breakfast are pretty much gone.”
    “Why is that, Mrs. Cruz?” Nina asked.
    “Who has time?”
    “Do you like to cook?”
    “I wouldn't say it's my favorite thing, but I know how to put together a healthy meal.”
    “Your petition says you are at home full time, except during fire emergencies, because your children are young and need you there.”
    “That's true.”
    “What did they eat for breakfast this morning, Mrs. Cruz?”
    Stony silence.
    “Do you know?”
    “No. Although they ate for sure. There were dirty dishes in the sink.”
    “Did they get up before you?”
    “No. I'm the first one up. I run in the mornings.”
    “You always run in the morning?”
    “Most days.”
    “You don't make them breakfast.”
    “Not when I run.” Again she adjusted herself in her chair, found a position, changed it, and frowned.
    Nina had never seen a witness so ill-suited to spending a long time idle, although her excessive energy might serve her well as a mother and in her work, Nina had to admit. “Did your husband make breakfast for the children when he was still living with you?”
    “Sometimes, I guess.”
    “Isn't it true he always made breakfast?”
    She sighed. “You know, I'm a mother, but I'm also a professional who needs to stay fit and strong for my work as a firefighter. I'm in the business of saving
lives.
” She glared at Nina. “I don't think it hurts my children to get a meal for themselves once in a while. And low-sugar cereal with milk is a fine, healthy breakfast for children, anyone can tell you that.
    “I only run five miles. Half the time they don't even know I'm gone. And my mom lives really close.”
    “And when you come back from the run, you take a shower?” Nina was reading from the deposition of Lisa Cruz taken some months before.
    “So what if I do?”
    “Who dressed the children for school? When you and Kevin were still together?”
    “Kevin basically got them off to school. Okay? I have to run.”
    “Who gets them off to school now? Now that Kevin isn't around?”
    “They're older