REM

Chapter 20: Putting the foot down

The car traveled smoothly down the road, the wheels moving in perfect tandem, the windows cracked ever so slightly to balance out the air conditioning and the outside temperature. Mrs. Grant's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, tightly enough that her knuckles turned white, or whiter than they usually were, at least. She had a lot to think about. The health of her child, the health of herself, and how long they could live off of the bank accounts, as well as her job. Surprisingly, Mr. Grant had left his bank account open for her to withdraw from, but it made her sad and bitter inside every time she did, so she did her best not to. Logically speaking, they could be comfortable for a long time, but Mrs. Grant wanted to not have to rely on the money of someone she couldn't rely on.

Amaya sat in uncomfortably in the back seat, an annoyed look on her face that told people not to cross or mess with her. One long finger constantly thumping against the outside of her thigh, the only noise that was coming directly from either of the females in the car.

"Honey?" Mrs. Grant started, sick to death of the hostility. Though there was still a sharp edge to her voice, it wasn't intentional, neither was the purse in her lips, making them look thinner than usual.

"What?"

A sigh escaped from the enclosure of the older woman mouth, Mrs. Grant shook her head, "never mind. Carry on." She didn't expect another reply from her daughter, she usually didn't talk often. It was a good thing she wasn't expecting a response, because she didn't get one.

Both females had a lot going on, but neither of them could fully understand the other's grief, which is probably the root of most of their stupid arguments.

"Can I have my phone back?" Amaya asked, her tone flat and without much emotion. She figured at the moment she could guilt trip her mother into doing whatever she wanted. And sure enough, it was working, at least for the moment. A second or so later, without a word, Mrs. Grant reached back to the back seat, her daughter's phone in her hand. "Thanks."

With the electronic device now in Amaya's hand, she didn't really know what she wanted to do with it, but she had it, and that as comforting, in a sense.

Mrs. Grants foot slipped off of the gas, tapping the brake pedal and sending Amaya, who wasn't wearing seatbelt, nose diving into the seat in front of her. While Mrs. Grant recovered from the fumble quickly, she was tired, accidents happen, Amaya sat back up, grasping her nose tightly. A warm red liquid trickled out between the gaps of her fingers, dripping down onto her jeans.

She scoffed, talking through her hands, giving her voice a muffled effect. "Nice going, mom. Can't even drive correctly."

The car screeched to a halt at the nearest shoulder, both females jerking forward in their seats, Mrs. Grant turning around in her seat with a look in her eyes that Amaya had never seen before. "We are going to get some things clear and we will get them clear now. I am your mother, you do not get to disrespect me. You can't say whatever you want just because your life is shit right now. Guess what, Amaya, not everything is about you. Get over yourself."

"Well at le-"

"I would advise you not to finish that sentence, especially seeing as how I was talking and gave no implication that I was finished. Not even a breath. So what is going to happen is this. You can hate me all you want, hell, you have your stupid reason to, I guess. But you will not disrespect me because I only want the best for you. Do I make myself clear?" Mrs. Grant turned back towards the front, laying her head on the steering wheel. "I'm trying okay I really am. I didn't do anything! Okay?"

After a long sigh, followed by a brief moment of silence, Mrs. Grant continued once again. "You... You won't disrespect me. Are we on the same page now?"

"Well, ye-" Once again, Amaya was cut off by a tired, yet stern mother, taking her maternal role for the first time in a while. As much as the older woman hated to put her foot down and take an ugly tone, apparently it was sometimes necessary.

"There is no 'well'. I didn't give you the option of 'well'. I asked you a yes or no question, now do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Amaya's eyes were wide, the hand grasping her phone was trembling. That was... new. Her mother had never acted in that way towards her, she meant business, or she needed a hug. It was hard to tell which.  Thinking back, Amaya knew she had been more rude than what was necessary, but to apologize meant she would openly admit her mistake. Admitting mistakes meant weakness, and she was tired. Tired of being weak. So as the car pulled out of the shoulder, she remained silent, opting to look at pretty space pictures on Google rather than make conversation.

"We'll be there in a few minutes, Amaya, just hold tight." As anyone with half of a brain could have guessed, no reply. But, that was fine with Mrs. Grant, she believed she had gotten her point across, and nothing nothing similar would happen until those ugly late teenage years.

Going at a moderate speed, sometimes a little under the speed limit, within twenty minutes, they were at the hospital, seizing a parking space.  Amaya's stomach churned, she either had butterflies, or was going to hurl her lunch.

"Well, we're here," Mrs. Grant started.

"Yeah."

"You know, I love you. I really do hope that nothing bad comes out of this, and that you're fine and we just need to get you out more. Is it your friends? Do you need new ones? More? You know, I never did like those spoiled brats Sparrow and Robin-"

"It's fine, mom. They're fine. It's all fine. Let's just get this over with."

And with that, the two women walked purposefully into the stuffy hospital, both praying for entirely different reasons that Amaya was okay. Mrs. Grant couldn't lose the last of the family she created. Amaya couldn't lose herself.

Authors note! I'm so so so so so sorry that this is so late? But school and writers block have hit hard simultaneously, as well as me distancing myself from my wattpad addiction, but you have not seen the last of my writing!!

So, what do you think about this chapter?

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