I should have seen it coming.
The pacing, the gifts my mother didn't have the money for. She was high out her mind, but never before had she been this considerate, this nice. She cried everyday the previous week, and this week she was sucking up. I admit I liked it. It wasn't her typical behavior. When she was broke and couldn't afford a fix, she was angry and hateful towards me. When she was doped up I didn't exist. That was fine by me, I couldn't care less.
Or so I thought.
"So where are we going mom?" I asked as she egged me into the car. This past week we had been to the mall three times, the movies four and she'd bought me an all new wardrobe today, which was still in the trunk.
"You'll see when we get there." She said climbing into the car. She glanced at me nervously and pulled out from the curb in front of our building. We didn't quite live in the middle of nowhere, we live in a town on the edge of nowhere. Specifically in the cheapest, smallest rundown apartment this town had to offer. We weren't the only ones. My two best friends, Charlie and Leeann, lived there too. I guess we all bonded over the mutual suckyness that was our lives.
Leeann was the daughter of an alchoholic. Her mom spent all of there money on booze and gambling, leaving her daughter to fend for herself. He father had been shot six years ago, when one of her mothers boyfirends had desided that he wanted her ten year old daughter instead of the old bag. Leeann wasn't raped, only because her father had come in just in the nick of time. After beeting the shit out of the dude, he called the cops and had him arrested, only his friends hadden't liked that very much. A week later, a policeman showed up on her doorstep saying he was so sorry, but her father had been involved in a hit-and-run and that they would do everything they could to find the perpetarator. They didn't. A few weeks later, her mom had moved out of the hous they could nolonger pay for and into the apartment, right across from mine. The first time I saw her she was storming down the steps her blond curly hair wipping arond her like it had a mind of her own, and it was pissed. He expression was plain. If it wasn't for the red eyes and tear marks, I never would've taken a second glance. She narrowed her light green eyes and brushed pass me like I had insulted her somehow. She was interesting. Not long after that we bcame fast friends and best friends.
Charlie, on the other hand, had the most normal life out of all of us. He had both parents and they loved each other. That is, before Charlie was born. You see, Charlie's mother is a natural bleach blonde with a California tan and dark brown eyes. She was probably even a looker back when she was young. Which is most likey how she got involved with Charlies dad. He was a very large man, spent alot of time at the gym and used to be in the army before he was honorably discharged. Now he was like a drill sargent. When he got back from Iraq he was greated by the site of his wife who was six months pregnant with another man's baby. He would've left her if she haddn't been knocked up, so he stayed and did the "right thing" as he liked to say anytime the subject was mentioned. The only problem is, Charlie wasn't his son and he made sure Charlie knew it. Charlie wasn't big like his father, he was lean and fit from the training he had to do, but without steroids he would never have the broad shoulders and god knows he would never be that tall. He had dark brown hair with a redish sheen to it and pale skin that never seemed to burn or tan in the least. I usually thought pale guys were kind of gross, but managed to pull it off. His father a short brown hair, light forest brown eyes and a deep tan that never seemed to fade. He did have brown eyes like the two of them, but his were dark and had flecks of lighter brown all throught them.
We were inseperable and cared about each other more than anyone ever had or would.
They are so not going to belive this, I thought. Then I looked out my window and saw where we were. It was the slums of Butler where crack heads lived on every corner and graffiti was the only paint job any of the buildings had gotten since they were built. She pulled down an ally way and I felt my expression get cold.
"Honey, you know I love you right?" My mother said to me her voice comming out slightly paniced.
"No." I said shaking my head angrily. "I'm not going with you to get another fix." I snapped. "Why didn't you just leave me at home? Did you want to me to drive while you got ll doped up? Forget it." I said glaring at her from the passanger seat. My mother just shook her head and glanced around. Looking for her hook up no doubt.
A man seemed to appear out of nowhere and she gulped looking at me with tear filled eyes. "I'm sorry, so sorry, but I had to. You have to belive me, I didn't have a choice." She pleaded while I looked at her confused and angry. The man knocked on the hood and she turned getting out.
"You will keep your promise, right." She asked glancing at me. What the hell are you going on about now?
"Yes." The man answered, then glanced at me. "She's the girl?" A shiver ran down my spine.
"Honey, get out of the car." She said looking sown at me. The man moved so he was on my side of the vehicle. "Please, Cora, get out."
I looked at her and said, my voice like ice, "What did you do?" It came out lower and more threatening than I had planned.
"Cora." She said her voice getting harder, "Get out of the car right now." Oh, so now you want to play prent, screw that.
"No." I said, narrowing my eyes at her. Her eyes flicked away from me and over the hood a moment before the door was lung open and the man ripped me from the car by my hair. I twisted around and tried to knee him where it hurts, but he grabbed my by the throat and slammed me up against the wall of the building, knowcking the ir out of me and making my head spin.
"You said you wouldn't hurt her!" My mother yelled from the other side of the car. He just grunted and pulled the cap off a needle with his teeth. I tried to suck in air thew the hold he had on me and jabbed him in the stomach, just under the ribs. I heard an Oof and then he stabbed me in the arm. Almost immediatly my limbs felt like lead. I had to fight to keep my eyes open and even that didn't last long. He let go of me and i slid to the ground, focausing on hearing and staying awake.
"As per our deal, you get to live." The man said.
The last thing I heard before the drug completely over took me was my mother sobbing, "I'm so sorry Cora, I had no choice."
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