Vanessa walked into the apartment, sighing with relief.
It was well into the morning and she had been working the long shift at the salon yet again. She didn't mind though. Working was one of the things that let her relieve stress ironically. She was able to sweep, cut hair, whatever, while knowing that every minute she was earning more money that got her a step closer to never having to touch someone else's messed up hair again.
Home however, was not a stress relief, quite the opposite in fact. Vanessa couldn't remember when she stopped being surprised by whatever had happened at home while she'd been gone and instead simply started to expect shit.
As soon as the door clicked shut the sigh of relief was quickly dismissed by sounds of retching from what she assumed to be the bathroom.
Once she arrived there, which took her less than a few seconds, she was greeted by a view of her mother, on the floor, leaning over the toilet. "Mom?" Vanessa grimaced, crouching down next to her mother and instinctively pulling the hair out of her face. No matter how many times she had seen her mom like this, the sight never made Vanessa feel any less sick. "How much did you have this time?" She added, softly, rubbing her moms back like she used to do for her when she got the flu as a kid, in the same position, roles reversed. Her mom's reply was a series of groans before throwing up again which pretty much told Vanessa; a lot.
They sat like that for an hour or so before her mom finally sat up straight and gave Vanessa a lopsided smile, "Ay, Mija, how long have you been home?" She slurred, pulling her daughter into a lazy hug.
"A while." Vanessa replied, shrugging her off quite quickly. She wasn't one for displaying affection and neither was her mother when she was sober but apparently alcohol brought out a loving side to her, one that Vanessa had craved through her childhood but now, knowing the consequences, dreaded. She held her mom's shoulder and arms length away, smiling weakly, "Mom, did you eat yet?" She asked, getting up and hardly waiting for her mom's reaction before continuing, "We got some soup in the cupboard, I'll heat it up." She muttered, leaving the older woman to clean herself which she protested to and simply followed Vanessa out.
"No, muñeca, that's for you." She stumbled, falling over her words which just made Vanessa cringe further into herself.
"S'okay. I ate already. Dani had some food at the salon." She lied, shrugging, as she got the can of soup out of the cupboard and lit the stove with a match. She electricity had been on and off for a month now so it surprised her to see the flame catch and the stove light.
She looked up to see her mother tense up significantly. Shit, she'd mentioned Daniela. For some stupid reason, of which Vanessa still didn't understand, the two hated each other. She hadn't seen them together in a number of months and there was probably some reason for that. A drunken fight was rumoured but for some reason she couldn't see Dani sinking that low, especially with Vanessa's own family.
"You know I don't like you being with that women any longer than you have to be." Her mom spoke, acting strangely sober which somehow intimidated Vanessa. She was pretty sure her mom was one of the only people she could be intimidated by and that bothered her.
"I know." She muttered in reply, not really in the mood for questioning a drunk woman, "But we aren't really in the position to be turning down free food."
Her mother just sighed, pushing Vanessa out of the way of the stove and resuming the soup herself.
Wow. If she'd known it only took mentioning Daniela to sober her mother up, she'd have used it more.
"I'm going away for a week." Her mom sighed, nonchalantly, looking away, "Got some job interviews, you'll be alright on your own, right mija?" She said, raising an eyebrow at Vanessa.
Yup, she was definitely more sober than before. Her drunk mother was way too clingy to casually suggest leaving her sixteen year old, penniless daughter on her own for a week. Still, Vanessa gave a slight nod at her before looking at her watch and sighing. She had to be up in three hours.
"Night, mom." Vanessa mumbled, hugging her for a couple seconds.
"Night Vanessa." She replied, kissing the top of her head before pushing her towards her bedroom, "Won't be long now, kid." She winked to which Vanessa gave a half smile and walked into her bed, not even bothering to change.
She slipped into her sheets and blankets which had now doubled since they had lost heating back in September.
Sleep was another escape and so she drifted off into it fairly quickly, whether it was dreamless or not.
