Sapphire
Life was always chaotic.
My sisters and I were raised in an unstable home and I was the youngest. Mom was mentally incompetent most of the time. Her inner demons tormented her on a daily basis. She was forced into rehab by the courts multiple times due to her addictions. It only took one psych evaluation for her to be placed in the institution because she said everyone was out to get her, but really my father was an abusive twat.
I loved my Mother, Linda, but she abandoned us to get away from him. Period. Half the time, she didn't allow us to see her and she barely called or wrote.
She and my dad, Harry, had been high school sweethearts and both had actually owned the bowling alley in our neighborhood for some time until they sold it to pay for their addictions and debts to the local gang bangers. My dad still worked there, but it was part time. He got disability for a fall from a ladder years before, but I truly think he lied about that and just wanted the check. He definitely wanted the checks provided to the little ones.
Our sister, Ruby, followed in our parent's footsteps. She was in and out of rehab and was on some bender most of the time. I'd find her with Blaze's brother, Fox, from time to time. They weren't an honest item, just junkie buddies and the occasional lay. Opal and Emerald had steady jobs, with Opal being a manager at a local bakery and Emerald going to cosmetology school. I was a library assistant at Avery High, but already had my associate's in communications because I wasn't sticking around after graduation. Being duel enrolled was challenging, but worth it. I had to take care of my nieces and nephews most of the time. The kids kept me going, though. I didn't want to resent my family, but I was too young for this shit. I always tried to look on the positive side of life.
I always wondered why this was my normal. Was there something better out there for me? I never seemed to be at true peace unless I was with my books. It was the main reason I worked at the school library. I could be around so many books all day long. College wasn't too far off and I'd worked hard for the scholarships in writing and journalism. It's the only reason I'd worked on the school paper and yearbook committee because I truly despised Avery High.
Sunday was a day I'd usually take the kids to the park or something, but I had to go to the body shop to check on the minivan. With six kids, we needed this hunk of clunk and it had been acting up for weeks.
Emerald dropped me off and who the hell do I see standing in the middle of the lobby?
Blaze fucking Baxter.