The Heck house was eerily silent as the four of them stared at the door. Brick, Axl and Sue turned to each other and then glanced at their dad in horror. Their mom had just stormed out of the house after what could only be called a nervous breakdown, leaving them alone and their family broken.

Brick was the first to speak. "Dad, can she do that? She can't just leave like that, can she? What happened?"

"I don't know, Brick!" Sue answered in a trembling voice. "I don't know what happened! All I know is that Mom is gone! She's really gone!"

"She's not gone!" Mike said. "She's just… not here!"

"That's the same thing!" Sue shrieked.

"Stop!" Her dad held up his hand the way he always did when he was trying to make a point. "Look, your mom's been through… something and so she left so that she can… you know, have some time to sort things out."

Sue couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Sort things out? Like what? What about us, Dad? What about us?"

"Just, everybody calm down, okay? She couldn't have gone far. She barley has twenty dollars in her purse and there's not enough gas in the car to get past the state line."

"Dad!"

"Actually it's ten." Brick said. "I took ten dollars from her purse yesterday."

Sue looked at her brother in horror. "You stole from Mom?"

"It wasn't stealing! I was going to put it back, eventually."

"Oh God!"

Axl's outburst made everyone turn and look at him. He was wearing an expression that Sue hadn't seen before and it sacred her. Sue turned to her father. "See Dad, even Axl's worried about Mom!"

"Of course I'm worried! She's got my hat!"

"What?"

"My hat! I think she took it with her when she started stuffing stuff into that stupid bag!"

"Oh my God, don't you understand what's happening here? Mom is GONE!" Sue yelled.

"Look, that hat is legendary, okay? And when I get it back; if I ever get it back, it's going to be all stretched out and-."

"Would you stop thinking about that stupid hat and start thinking about Mom? I don't want to live in a broken home! This is your fault, Axl! This is all your fault! And you!"

She turned to Brick who shrugged. "What did I do?" He asked.

"You drove Mom away, with your whispering and whooping! She just couldn't take it anymore and now she's GONE!"

Brick began to argue and then Axl joined in until the three of them were talking over one another, their voices getting louder and louder.

"ALL RIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Their father's booming voice startled them to silence and Sue bit her lip to keep from crying.

"Dad-."

"No, I've had it with the three of you, all right? Now I want you all to go to your room! I don't care whose room it is! Just go there and think about what we did as a family to cause this! I'm going to sit and think about it in here. Go on!" He urged, shooing them away when they stood frozen in place.

In Sue's room, the argument over who really drove their mom away resumed and as usual Sue was stuck in the middle. But after a while she couldn't bear it any longer. Obviously having grown bored of her many explanations about why their mother left and what they could do to bring her back, her brothers walked out of the room, Brick mumbling something about a library book and Axl complaining about his stupid hat.

What was wrong with them? Didn't they know how lucky they were to have Frankie Heck for a mother? Sue certainly did and she'd never take her mom for granted again. She had to do something. She couldn't just sit in her room in silence. There must be someone….

And then she smiled. Of course! Her dad…

She decided that she'd go and sit with her dad and together they could figure out where her mom went and why she left in the first place. They'd have a heart to heart father and daughter talk. But when she reached the living room, she froze at the sight. Her mouth fell open in complete horror. He was sitting on the couch drinking a beer, watching the highlights of the Colts game on ESPN!

"Oh my God, you don't even care about where Mom is, do you Dad?"

He looked up, surprised to see her and scowled. "I thought I told you to go to your room!"

"I did! And now I'm here and you're just sitting there, not caring about Mom at all! Well, I care!"

"Go care in your room, all right? I'm trying to watch this!"

But Sue deliberately disobeyed him, knowing full well what the consequences would be. And in her very un-Sue Sue Heck like rebellious mood, she didn't even care.

She stormed out of the house, ignoring the blast of cold air that hit her squarely in the face as she slammed the door behind her.