Declan Hankinston is on a mission to find a new prom date amidst the pain of his first heartbreak. Encouraged by his cousin Aubrey, he ventures into the world of gay online dating and signs up for Grindr to seek a companion. Little does he know, Aub...
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I can't believe I'm giving up my life to take care of my ungrateful mother who is so stubborn, she refuses to get out of her wheelchair. We've been standing in this parking lot for thirty minutes now and all she's doing is wailing about how her chest hurts. Every time we get close to getting her out of the wheelchair and into the car, she complains that her arms hurt and she can't do it.
"Go fucking ask someone for help!" Spit flies out of her mouth. Her face is red and filled with rage and disgust. "You no good for nothing daughter. Didn't I raise you to have common sense? Common decency?" she slams her walker against the ground. I love that her arms hurt so much so she can't get herself into the car but she has enough energy and strength to throw a temper tantrum. Your arms don't look like they hurt now, Mom. It's 8am, I can't fucking deal with this right now.
"O—" I brush my hair out of my eyes. "Okay, Mom. Wait here."
I wish she knew how much the way she treats me hurts. I let it slide because of her health and she's practically dying before my eyes, but it doesn't make it right. It's unbearable to deal with at times.
Everything I do is for her. My life revolves around her. I gave up my social life, my senior year, I'm probably going to be missing prom. The list goes on.
"Excuse me?" I lean over the front desk, trying to grab the attention of the staff hobnobbing a male nurse. I wave my arms and lean into my tippy toes as if it will make a difference. "Hello? Can one of you guys help me?" I scream. They turn around in sync and all race to help me.
At home, it's the same thing. She's putting up a fight in the driveway. She refuses to get out of the car and I'm at a loss for what to do. She doesn't even realise that she's breaking me down. Or how much her words cut. I'm wounded by her vilification and her assassination of my character. She doesn't know the things that I know.
I walk away, leaving Mom in the driveway with both rear doors open just in case she musters up some energy to move. Knowing her, she'd move to purposely fall to get more pain pills or 'free government money'.
Any time she had an 'oopsie', she looks at the situations like they were the best-damned things to happen to her. Any other person would fall apart at having to give up things like work, walking or real teeth.
Not mom. Nope. She is so fucked, she loves that she doesn't have to work. She loves that she doesn't have a place in society. She loves that she has 'perfect fake teeth'. Sometimes I even wonder if she loves having coronary artery disease.
"I get free money and I just fucking lose it all?" she screamed after a night at the casino. "This is what you're giving to me?" she flicked her cigarette on the carpet I just scrubbed four days prior and looked up to the ceiling. "God? Someone? Answer me!"
