I groaned softly as the abrupt sounds of yelling interrupted my dream of being trampled by little puppies. Fluttering my eyes open slowly the sunlight streamed in softly and my phone told me it was only nine in the morning. I huffed under my breath before I sneezed into my arm. God I hope I wasn't getting sick. They yelling seemed to only get louder as I cracked my door open.
"You don't pay your rent by tomorrow then I'm kicking you out, Jenna!" The owner of the apartment spat.
"I told you I'd get you the money, Kevin! Get off my ass about it!" My mother grumbled as she rubbed her temples.
"You've said that the last few times and you always pay late!" Kevin sighed in frustration.
"At least I pay don't I?! I got a kid to take care of and I work shitty hours."
Kevin sighed once more as his broad shoulders slumped and he shook his head, "Yeah, you take care of your kid really well."
"Fuck you, bastard!" My mother growled.
"Rent. Tomorrow. If you don't pay it then I'm going to have to kick you out, Jenna. I'm sorry. Have a good day."
Kevin left quickly after and my mom slammed the door, huffing and puffing as she pulled at the ends of her hair.
I decided to make myself known, my door creaking as I pushed it further open.
"Is everything okay, mom?" I asked softly.
My mom rolled her eyes, "Fucking Kevin is all."
I hummed, "What did he want?"
"Nothing important." My mother mumbled as she plopped down onto the couch and blindly reached for a day old beer on the floor. I grimaced when she chugged it down in two gulps.
"I have to work later so I won't be home till late tonight." I said when I remembered I had a shift as the small coffee shop downtown.
"Whatever." My birth giver grumbled as she leaned forward and started scraping together a line of cocaine with her credit card.
I scratched the back of my neck as I awkwardly shuffled on my feet, "Do you have to work this weekend?"
"FUCK!" My mother yelled as she sniffed the line up and grabbed her purse and shoes and running around trying to get her work uniform on. My mother ran out of the apartment, shutting the door only for it to bounce back open again and I shook my head sadly.
It was only a matter of time before she was fired from her job and then I'd be the only one supporting us. That is if I decided to live with her any longer. But then where would she go? Out on the streets most likely and I didn't want that for her. I tried to convince myself that deep down there was still a good part of my mother still in there, the old her was still there. But every time she snorted a line, the more I saw her disappear and depend on the drugs.
I decided to take my mind off things by cleaning up around the apartment. It was disgusting and just because she chose to keep things like this, didn't mean I had to. I started in the kitchen and made my way around.
[...]
"Hey, y/n." Kevin smiled as I walked into the lobby.
"Hey, Kev." I smiled back and we did our little handshake. Kevin new about my situation and was always there for me considering I didn't talk to my friends at school about anything. I didn't want them to make fun of me or feel bad for me.
"You doing okay?" The bald man asked sincerely.
I nodded, "Just a little stressed I guess. Nothing new."
Kevin smiled sadly before handing me a sack, "Well, I hope this makes up for it. I didn't know what your food situation is like so I made you some dinner."
I took the sack full of food thankfully, the smell of freshly cooked potatoes and steak wafting under my nose, "Thank you Kevin. This really means a lot."
"It's not big deal." He shrugged, "You're always welcome for dinner. Mary wouldn't mind at all."
"I'll have to take you up on that offer sometime." I smiled, "I have to get to work before I'm late though. It was nice talking to you and thank you again for the food."
Kevin nodded before we did our handshake again, "Chin up, kid. It won't always be like this."
I sure hope not.
[...]
Quietly I entered the apartment, seeing all my hard work of cleaning and making things look nice gone to shit. I locked the door behind me as I tiredly rubbed my eyes. I couldn't wait till I could go to my room and get out of my coffee stained clothes and go to sleep.
"Where the hell have you been?" My mother fumed as soon as I entered the kitchen to get a glass of water.
"I had a shift down at the coffee shop. I told you this." I said calmly, too tired to even get into an argument.
"Since when do you even work?!"
I clenched my jaw in anger as everything started building up, "Since I had to be the responsible one and take care of us!"
"Don't start that shit young lady! We still have a roof over our head and food in the fridge." My mother spat.
"We won't have a roof over our head for much longer because you can't bother to pay the rent! You just go and spend all your money on drugs! I would probably be dead if it wasn't for Kevin and my father!"
"Your father left! He didn't want you and he didn't want me! He didn't want to be a family so don't go and look up to that dick now!" My mother fumed.
"Don't talk about him like that." I gritted my teeth, "He tried to help you and you refused. You're the one who lost your family. Now Jason is going to grow up without a mother and someone's going to have to tell him she was an addict who only cared about getting high!"
My head whipped to the side as my skin started to sting from where she had hit me. My eyes welled up with tears as I clenched my jaw. Hot angry and sad tears ran down my cheeks as I glared at my mother.
I shook my head sadly as I sighed, "I tried. I really tried to help you but dad was right, you're too far gone for help."
I sobbed quietly to myself as I ran to my room, shutting and locking the door as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my dad.
"Y/n? Are you okay?" He panicked into the phone and I sniffed, "Whats wrong? Did something happen?"
"I'm fine." I lied as I whipped the tears out of my eyes with the back of my hand, "I need you to buy me a plane ticket for tomorrow morning. I can't stay here any longer, dad."
I began sobbing as I gasped for air, trying not to cry but at the same time I couldn't help it. Everything that had built up over years just came out.
"Why doesn't she see she's killing herself?!" I sobbed as I pulled my knees up to my chest, "Why can't she just see we just want her to be better?"
"I don't know, baby. I wish things were different, I really do." My dad mumbled sadly on the other end and I could tell by how hoarse his voice was that he was trying not to cry.
"I'll buy your plane ticket and send it to you over text, okay? I love you y/n and until then I think you should get some sleep. We can talk more when I see you in person."
I nodded and mumbled a small 'okay' and 'I love you too.' After ending the phone call I finished whipping the rest of my tears off of my face and grabbed my suitcase from the closet. I didn't really have a whole lot mainly because I didn't really need a whole lot. All of my stuff fit neatly into my suitcase and my room looked really bare. The only thing left we're my flannel sheets covering my bed.
Yawning, I stripped out of my work uniform and got into some sweats and a tank top and climbed into bed. I set an alarm after my dad sent me my plane ticket, letting me know I had to be on the plane at eight am tomorrow morning.
Part of me felt good and excited I was going to be living with my dad and have this fresh start while the other part of me felt bad that I was abandoning my mom. I was just going to leave her and not look back.
Was I a bad person? Was I doing the right thing? I shook the thoughts from my head and buried my face deeper into my pillow and took a few deep breaths to help calm the anxiety.
I needed this.
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Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have a great day or night loves ❤️