The Strength of Us

Chapter Eighteen - You'll Have To Wait

Chapter Eighteen - "You'll Have To Wait"

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After the door slammed shut and my mother was gone, I felt my shoulders relax. The tension in the room left with her presence, and now it's just the three of us again.

My stomach was twisting and turning into knots ever since my mother walked into the room. I'm feeling nauseous and I keep reassuring myself that I shouldn't have come today. But the one thing I can't seem to shake is that my dad was right.

Nicolette took slow strides over to Alex and I, not saying a word. I closed my eyes painfully and rubbed my forehead with my one hand. I have a raging headache now and all I want to do is get drunk.

Is that bad?

"I-I'm sorry," Nicolette said just above a whisper.

I shook my head and gulped. "It's not your fault," I denied in a raspy, broken voice.

God damnit, Mom.

"I thought she'd be different when she saw you but... she'll never change," Nicolette's voice dipped at the end. My eyes snapped open to see her head hanging low, arms crossed over her chest and a pained expression on her face. So my first instinct is to step forward and wrap her in my arms.

And we didn't say anything for a little while. I'm not even sure how long we were hugging for. All I know is that she needs a hug right now.

Nicolette doesn't deserve to be treated like that. A billion things were running through my mind, and I kept wondering how the hell is she such a positive, happy person when her mother is straight from hell?

"This was a bad idea," I whispered into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized again.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," I told her. I pulled out of our hug and rested my hands on her shoulders, smiling sadly when she looked up at me. "We should go."

"You don't have to," she threw the idea away instantly with a vigorous head shake. "Please. She'll be gone for awhile. When she says she's going out to get cigarettes, that means she's really going out just to be away from home. Don't leave, guys."

I sighed deeply and looked back at Alex, who gave me a sympathetic smile and a shrug. I smiled too, then my eyes met with Nicolette's again. And what I saw made an idea pop into my mind.

Her cyan irises that hold so much life and love in them are crying out for help. They're longing for something, but I can't put my finger on it.

That's when I knew my sister needed to come home. To a real home. Not this shit hole with a mother who could care less about her.

"Come back with us," I murmured. And I wasn't sure if she heard me at first because it was a thought that crossed my mind, but then the words somehow came tumbling out in a low voice.

"I can't," she shook her head with a broken smile.

"You have to. Come on, Nic. You can't stay here with her. You can't live like this. Come home," I begged. Something new flashed in her eyes when I said "home" and I knew she was seriously thinking about it.

But she won't come back with us. She has a life here and she can't just leave it behind. I know that. But I figured it would be worth a shot.

"It's not that simple," she breathed. "I've been handling her on my own for almost fifteen years, I can handle it. I'm not happy here, of course, but I'll be eighteen soon – we'll both be eighteen. Then I can legally move out and be on my own, away from her. Maybe then I'll come and find you."