it took someone as ungrateful as her to allow mother to see. mother was only doing what was specifically unwanted. vaguely irritating, but accepted nonetheless. for the path of least resistance was to work around mother's actions. it was more pleasant this way. this is what she allowed mother to see. only she could have opened up such a realisation. stubborn brutish. the immediate harsh punishment served upon her by mother did not compare to the slow and torturous disintegration of mother's ways. and the withdrawn demeanour toward the boys became colder.