Highly Addictive || Benny Rodriguez

✧eight.༄

Hamilton scoffed, "I don't." Scarlett harshly jabbed her elbow into the side of his stomach, directly on his ribs causing him to let out a whine.

"I'm sorry, I really am. You're my kids and I'm supposed to take care of you. I'm trying my best to raise you three without your father," Tears began to stream down her face and the kids around her watched sadly, Tyler scooted closer to her, comfortingly pulling her into him as she began to sob hysterically.

Ham and Scarlett shared an awkward glance, not really knowing what to do until their big brother grabbed their shoulders and squished them into their mother, making them hug her. Scarlett wrapped her arms around the crying woman, not remembering the last time she saw her mother cry this hard.

It was rare for the woman to show such vulnerability, she said that she didn't like other people seeing her in a bad state because to everyone she was always kept together, even when her late husband died. The woman didn't seem to shed a tear at the funeral but the kids all heard her wailing at night when they were trying to go to sleep.

The small family pulled away from each other, Tyler placing a warm hand on his mothers arm, "Why don't you go rest and we'll clean up breakfast?"

"Are you sure?" Helen questioned, looking between her children with watery eyes.

Scarlett nodded, "Don't worry about it momma, we got it." She guided her mother from her chair and towards the stairs, gesturing for her to go up the stairs.

Helen sadly smiled, placing a soft kiss on her daughters head before going to her room, skimming through the old photos she kept over the years, reminiscing how good it was before.

Scarlett started collecting the plates around the table, scraping the leftover food into the garbage and placing the dishes into sink. Tyler was putting the extra food leftover on the stover into containers and storing them in the fridge.

"Why do I have to wash the dishes?" Ham complained, trying to scrub away at the food coating the plate he was holding.

Scarlett rolled her eyes, "You have to contribute to something."

"You're not doing anything!" Ham pointed out, looking at his sister who stood beside him watching.

The girl rolled her eyes again, "Fine, then I'll help you." She slipped the rubbed glove over her brace.

"Now that's a surprise," Ham laughed, Scarlett huffed and splashed water towards him making the boy groan about his shirt getting wet.

It grew quiet as the two continued scrubbing the dishes in the sink in front of them, not really knowing what to talk about until Ham surprisingly broke the silence, "So, are you still hanging out with Phillips?"

Hearing the sound of his name sent a whole shock wave through the girl, causing her to drop the cup she had in her hands, the ceramic shattered when it landed in the sink.

"Scarlett, what the hell man?!" Ham stopped what he was doing and moved to grab a bag to put the broken glass into. Tyler rushed into the kitchen, wondering what the noise was but his little brother waved him off telling him that it wasn't a big deal.

"I-I'm sorry." The girl let out a shaky breath, feeling her heart pounding against her chest and she couldn't get herself to calm down. Memories from her nightmare appeared in her mind, clutching her injured wrist close to her body as tears ran down her face.