I whirled around to face the frail, withered woman I had once respected. Before our father went to prison, he was a car salesman, and our mother had been an ER nurse. When I was younger, I looked up to her and always thought I would become a nurse just like her. She was my superhero. Now, she was my worst nightmare.
“Really? That’s what you’re going to start off with?” I stood there glaring at her with no feeling. I was done with emotion when dealing with this woman. She was my mother, and I guess somewhere deep down, I loved her, but I couldn’t keep rescuing her.
She lit a cigarette and squinted. “Well, I’m sure you’re here to lecture me about something or other.” There was a surprising amount of sarcasm in her words, which I found ironic. She was the mother; she was the one who should be giving the lectures.
“A lecture? How about telling you something about yourself that you won’t accept? You are weak and selfish. I get that something awful happened to this family, but as a parent, it was your duty to rise above that and look after your daughters, who needed you more than ever.” I choked on the last few words.
“Listen here, Miss High-and-Mighty. My world crumbled around my feet; if I had seen what was going on and had been paying attention, I could have stopped him. Those women are dead because of me,” she said, her voice getting raspier.
“You’re still harping on that? It wasn’t your fault, Mom. Dad was an adult, and he made those choices, not you. You need to accept that and move on.” I looked around the room and contemplated cleaning up, but I took a deep breath in.This isn’t my problem. She isn’t my problem anymore.“I don’t expect you to understand. You never did. I needed your support, and all you ever did was care about yourself.”
“How can I go on knowing I'm the reason four women are dead?” She took a few puffs on her cigarette, staring down her nose at me in contempt.
“How long are you going to try and get sympathy for this? Grow up, and get your life on track,” I told her, crossing my arms.
“It’s easy for you to judge me, isn’t it? You just look down at me from your high horse, mocking me.” She shook her finger at me, sneering.
I lifted my hands up in front of my face. “I give up, Mom. I can’t talk any sense into you when you’re not ready to listen. You can fuck up your life, but you will not take Addison down with you.”
“Addison? Where is she?”
“You’re just wondering that now? She moved in with me, where she belongs,” I told her.
“Bring her back, Darcy. She’s my daughter, and her place is here with me,” she said as her eyes darkened to match the tone in her voice.
“Why? So, she can do all the house chores and wait on you?” It was harsh but well-deserved.
She put her hands on her hips. “Young kids need to know how to pitch in when it comes to family.”
“Young kids? Mom, she is an adult. She has dreams and a life to live now. Besides, you just use her as a personal servant, and you know it. You don’t care about anything other than where you’re getting your next drink or your next hit.” I put it out there for her to mull over.
“If you think you can do better, thenyouraise her!” She swayed again and tripped over the coffee table, falling to the floor. “Fucking hell.” She closed her eyes to brace herself against the pain as blood ran down her knee from the gauge. “See what you made me do!” she snarled.
“I already raised myself and Addison. You were just too drunk and high to notice,” I shot back at her as I walked to the door. “I’m done rescuing you. You’re on your own now. Clean your act up.”
Some may think I was heartless to leave her on the floor bleeding, but even if I picked her up and cleaned the blood off her knee, she’d likely just end up on the couch, passed out from the next slew of drinks and drugs. There really was no point trying anymore. I shook my head and left, tears threatening to spill.
I heard the bottle hit the door as I closed it. I flinched. It had been on the table’s edge, and I knew she pitched it. When I got in the car, I was shaking.Damn her!I was halfway home and many tears later when something popped like a gunshot and then the car swerved. Reflexes kicked in as I maneuvered it to the side of the road and killed the engine.
Shit!
I got out of the car and walked around it, looking at the tires. The passenger side one was flat. I clenched my teeth and groaned.For fuck’s sake!I kicked the tire as if to show it how much it pissed me off.Now, what am I going to do?I reached into the car, got my phone, and found Remi’s contact. When she answered, I explained the situation.
“That sucks, Darcy. I’ll round someone up to help you. Hang tight.” She hung up before I had a chance to say anything else.
I leaned against the car. At least the weather was nice, but some gray clouds were overhead, rolling in my direction. I hoped they bypassed me. About an hour later, a car pulled over and parked in front of me.
I froze.Thane? You’ve got to be kidding me!Why on earth would Remi send me Thane? I did a quick mental check to remember if I’d pissed her off recently. I was sure I hadn’t.
Thane got out of the car and looked at the tire. “Phew, that’s a doozy. I brought a spare in case you didn’t have one. What happened?”
“I was at my mom’s and was on my way back when BAM! What are you doing here?”
“I’m surprised you asked for help. You usually do everything yourself. No one’s ever taught you to change a tire before?” The sarcasm in his voice hit a nerve.
“You know what? Idon’tneed your help, actually. I will just figure it out myself. Sorry, you had to driveallthe way out here, but you can go home now.” I dismissed him and pushed past him.
Thane stood up and shrugged. “Okay. If that’s what you want, then. See you back home, whenever that may be.” He started walking back to his car, carrying the spare tire with him, and he didn’t look back once.