Tina

Tina sat huddled up in the corner of the Redbox machine, wrapped up in her green checkered blanket. Her back was bent and hunched over, hair disheveled, bags under her eyes, and her skin itchy, pale, and clammy. Her legs shook as she looked down the street walking her way. Her eyes lit up with hope. "maybe he could spare some cash and help me get home." She watched his feet and examined him and saw that he looked well taken care of. Standing on her shaky legs was almost impossible but she had to if she ever wanted to feel complete and normal again. She stuck her hand out to get his attention.

"excuse me, but could you spare some money so I could get home"

The man took in her appearance and the horrible stench that came from her. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his leather brown wallet, opened it and saw the wad of cash that he has had sitting there for quite some time. He had been saving it for a specific moment, but seeing her look so desperate and sad pulled on the strings of his heart. He handed her all of the cash and thought to himself that it is almost the same. Tina's eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open.

 "sir I don't need that much. Just enough to get home to my kids."

She knew what she was doing by throwing the word kids in mix. Of course she did not have any but, she knew that she would surely get that money if she said it. She was fishing and she caught the fish. The man closed her hand over the money in her palm.

 "ma'am, please keep it and here..." he pulled out a receipt and a pen and wrote his name on it and a number. "I know I do not know you but, I feel connected to you and if there is ever anything you need. Money, clothes, food give me a call and if I do not answer, do not hesitate to leave me a message."

 He stuck his hand out and She gladly accepted it. He stared at her and really took her in, then put his hands in his pockets and walked away without looking back knowing he would never hear from her. Tina stood there, still mind blown, and quickly put the money in her pocket not letting any of the bums around her see it. She sat back down, but not as deep in the corner. She needed to be able to see when he was gone and out of sight. When she was certain that he was out of sight, she pulled her phone out and let the woman on the other line know that she would be on her way. With everything packed away into her backpack, she threw the straps over her frail shoulders and made her way to the house. With her headphones in and her fast walking she was there in no time. Of course with the money she had now, she had to stop at the corner store and get a beer. She popped the top off and threw it in the trash. When she reached into her pocket to get rid of other trash she saw the phone number and his name, kyler. She knew the name from somewhere, but her fried mind just could not place it. She stuck it back in her pocket, not ready to throw it away and be stone cold. When she walked through the front door of the old house, she went straight to the dirty kitchen, making her way through the trash on the floor. She went to the very back of the house where there was smoke and a horrible smell coming from under the door. When the door was opened the smoke and stench poured out, but to Tina it was home. She was home. She walked into the familiar room and took her rightful seat on the couch. As everyone asked how she was doing, she just could not keep her mind off of that kyler guy. She stuck the needle in her arm and shot the fluids in the syringe up her arm. The third time around she felt the high taking over her mind. The little that was left of her mind drifted away with thoughts of the man who was at least six feet tall, brown hair, emerald eyes, and olive skin. She has heard of him and the deeper her mind went the more it all started to make sense. The hair, the eyes; She met another man who looked just like that, years ago when she was healthy and living life to its fullest. His name was Damon, He took her heart years ago and she was certain that she had his. She had him, his child, and took very good care of him. Even though he had her heart, she did not have his. Every time Damon said he had a late night, went out with the boys, or just did not come home at all he was with a different woman for the night. He came home every night, even when he knew that she was aware of the situation. Night after night she cried herself to sleep. She slowly started to believe that she had to be the problem, the reason he was cheating, because he was a good guy and would never do it just to hurt her. Then one day when it was his day off she went to her friends house. When she got there, there were a lot of people, it was a party. A huge one, drugs and alcohol everywhere. One friend offered her a drink and she drank not even questioning what the beverage was. Sooner than later she was just drinking, drinking, and drinking. She became so intoxicated that when she was offered a pipe she just took a hit. She had smoked pot before but never did anything else. That night is where she really went wrong. She was not the reason her husband was cheating, she was not the reason for any of it. She was high out of her mind....... on crack. After that night she slowly started going out more and always drinking and getting high. She just loved the feeling it gave her, it made her see things the way they really were. One night she came home around four in the morning. She was high, drunk, and could barely stand. She reeked of alcohol, her was falling out of her ponytail, and her make-up was barely even there. That was when Damon had decided he had had enough. He was angry, only because he could not go see his mistress. He was so fed up that when she got home that morning he was yelling, cussing, and pushing her into the wall. He had never ever came close to hitting her before, and this was the first time. Tina instantly sobered up and realized that she would not take it anymore. Damon raised his hand and struck her. She turned her head with the smack to her face. She thought she was strong enough to hit him back, so when she went to smack him back he pushed her head into the wall and backhanded her. All she could do was hold the side of her face and cry. As she fell down the wall crying, he hovered over her and he started to kick her. She curled herself into a ball and yelled for help, but no one came. She heard her baby in the background crying and all she wanted was to get him and leave. When he was done with her he hugged her and told her it was her fault and next time do not try to hit him. She hugged him back and nodded. When Tina knew that Damon was sleep, she quietly packed a bag for her and her son. When she went to pick up her son, Damon whispered and told her to leave the kid and if she wanted to go, then she could leave but not with her kid. Even though it was heart breaking, she knew it would be for the best. Damon was a great father just not a great or even decent husband. She took the bag that had the money and went to her friends house where her dug addiction started. Tina talked about what happened with her friends and they told her to go to the police, but she could not. Why would the police give her custody of her child when she is on drugs and cannot even pass a drug test. When they decided there was nothing anyone could do about it, her friends helped clean her up and ice her face and check and make sure nothing was broken. They sat on the couch talking about everything and anything, then someone came out of the room and showed her a needle. They told her that it was heroin and that she should try it. In her mind she was depressed and it seemed like the best idea they have ever had. Everyone else in the room showed her how to do it, they tied the rubber band around her arm and helped her find the vein and shoot it up. Tina was higher than she had ever been and she loved it. From that moment on she knew she had to have that drug. It helped her escape from her world and how horrible it was, it made her feel invincible. In a matter of months her life went down hill. She no longer had a car, she had no money, barely had a place to live, and she was slowly fading. The bright beautiful girl that once believed that there was a reason for everything and that everyone was good was gone. She now did not believe that there was a reason for everything and she knew for a fact that not everyone was good. Her world had been turned upside down and shaken up. When she ran out of money to support her habit, she sold her car, and at one point she had started to sell herself. Her mother, father, brother, her whole family tried to help but they just did not know what to do and they failed at bring her home and helping her. They soon got over it and believed that it was her fault, not seeing what had drove her here. They stopped trying to help and shunned her. Tina had literally lost everything she had.