Take Heart by Smith Lauren

Author:Smith, Lauren [Smith, Lauren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Story Merchant
Published: 2014-09-23T07:00:00+00:00

“Are you okay?” I have no clue how much time has passed, but we’ve been in here for a while.

Mia turns onto her back and looks at me with a blank stare. Her nose is red and her eyes are puffy from all the tears she’s shed. “Yeah, I think so,” she says hoarsely.

I caress her jaw and face tenderly, searching for any sign to indicate how she’s truly feeling. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to, but I want to know; how long has this been going on?”

She lets out a heavy sigh and uses her hands to push herself up into a sitting position. She crosses her legs, Indian style. I follow her cue and do the same so we’re sitting face-to-face. Knowing that this is a vulnerable moment for her, and a tough subject, I give her my full, undivided attention.

“It started becoming a habit when I was around fifteen, but it didn’t get really bad until my dad died three years ago. His death sent her into a tailspin. It sent us both into a tailspin; she just never came out of it. Suddenly, the life that I’d always known slipped right through my fingers, like quicksand. My mom started to fall behind on the bills and couldn’t catch up because she couldn’t hold down a job. She’d either show up drunk, hung-over, or not at all. She was constantly getting fired. We were going to lose the house if we didn’t do something, so I dropped out of college and picked up a second job to help out. By that point, she had amassed so much debt, that there was no way I was going to be able to completely pull us out from under. But at least I was making payments on the house again, so the bank backed off. I was working myself into the ground and giving up my life. She’s a slave to her drinking, and because I was living under the same roof and taking care of us, I was a slave to her drinking, too. That thought scared me to death. I saw the next forty years flash by, and I pictured myself in the exact same place. It just felt like it was never going to end unless I did something to change my situation.”

“Is that why you left and came here?”

She nods and adjusts her legs. “We ended up getting into a huge fight one night before I left town. I gave a week’s notice at both jobs, packed my bags, and stayed with Hadley, while I finished out the remainder of my shifts. I called my mom and told her I was leaving to come down here, but I don’t think she actually believed me at the time. She’s been trying to pressure me into coming back home and giving her money ever since.”

“Do you feel guilty for leaving? Like you made the wrong decision?”

She ponders my question.

“Sometimes,” she admits. “It’s hard.

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