Something Unexpected

ONE: Liquor Store Blues

December 15, 2015

I expected my mother to take my father's death badly, but I could never imagine it would be this bad.

I walk towards her limp strung out body and scrunched up my nose at the smell of vomit and alcohol. I should have been used to it, seeing as she's been like this for a just over eight months now.

But how do you get used to seeing your mother drunk and passed out in her own pool of vomit. I don't know what was worse either, the vomit or having to clean up urine from wherever she was laying.

"LaLa, I'm hungry." I didn't have to look over my shoulder to know who was standing behind me. Maya, my baby sister, was probably standing with her hand on her belly and sadness in her eyes. It was hard to look at, and it ate me up inside on the nights when I had nothing or extremely little to give.

"Okay, let me take care of mom first and then we'll go get some food." She sighs and walks towards the kitchen to sit at the table.

"Selena! Come here, I need you to help me with mom!"

I quickly look at the time and see that it's almost 3 pm, it was almost time for me to be at work.

Selena, my other little sister, walks out of our room still wearing pajamas. With her curly mop of brown hair covering half of her face, it was a miracle she could even see.

"Take her feet please," I ask.

She trudges over and scrunches up her little nose, she must have been hit by the smell. She pulls her shirt over her nose and grabs my mother's feet. "Okay, lift her on three. One. Two. Three."

My life now literally revolved around taking care of my sisters and my own mother. I cooked. I cleaned. I worked to pay the bills so that we weren't put out on the street or left without water.

It was hard considering that I was only 15, and I couldn't work anywhere legally without a permit, and that only allowed me to work part time. I had found a job at a book store in a small suburban neighborhood a few cities over. I was only hired because the owner couldn't afford full time help so she employed me to keep the place clean and organized.

It was enough to pay the bills, but hardly enough to pay for food and babysitting.

"Now you two be good okay. Mrs. Lincoln is being very nice to take you in while I'm working today." I kiss them both on the cheek before walking up the stone steps of Mrs. Lincoln's house. I was truly grateful for Mrs. Lincoln. I remember coming with my grandmother to visit her back when she was alive. They used to laugh, cook food, and have little parties with their other senior friends. Meanwhile, my sisters and I would play with their other grandchildren and occasionally help them bake and clean up around their house.

I ring the doorbell and wait for a good minute before she finally opens the door. "Hello girls!"

I smile at Mrs. Lincoln who beamed down at me and my sisters. I think we were the only company she really saw these days, since her kids only came by for the holidays. Her salt and pepper hair had been pulled into a tight bun allowing you to see every wrinkle on her dark face. Yes, she was old and sometimes forgetful, but she was also sweet and full of life. She was always looking to have fun.

"Hello Mrs. Lincoln," we all answer in unison.

"Come in, come in." She says, as she sidesteps to let us in.

"Thank you for agreeing to keep them Mrs. Lincoln."

"It's no problem my dear. I'm always glad to have the company." She smiles, and offers me a warm, freshly-baked biscuit, which I was too hungry to turn down.