No Good Nick (Part 3)

Part 15

Nick sipped slowly at her lemon-honey tea. She tried to focus just on the tea. 

She was just so tired.

Liz and Ed were both sitting by her, snuggled up as if protecting her. She appreciated it. They were sitting on the couch together, Molly and Jeremy snuggled up in the loveseat. It had started to rain outside, and Nick felt calmer listening to the sounds of falling water hitting the roof and trees around her. 

They had been sitting quietly for some time now, waiting for Nick to begin the conversation... something the therapist had told them to do when she was ready to talk. Now that she was, it was up to Nick. 

Nick sipped a moment longer on her tea before swallowing and sighing. "I guess I should start at the beginning."

She straightened up and began her story.

"My mom gave birth to me on December 14th... 14 years ago," she began and Jeremey muttered,

"Dang, when she said the beginning she really meant the beginning."

Molly elbowed him.

Nick continued. "Mom and dad never... had a lot of money. Dad was just waiting tables back then and mom was working as a cashier in the grocery store. Dad said she spoke broken English, she immigrated here from Puerto Rico when she was 16... but she was determined, if anything stubborn, and she wanted to make sure I'd be a great student." Nick smiled faintly and her small memories of her mom.

Dancing in the kitchen while wearing her heels... embracing mom after she'd come home exhausted from work... playing with her makeup and her mom playfully teasing her...

Nick snapped out of the memory and cleared her throat. "I don't remember much of her. I do know she loved me very much... and worked so hard. She died when I was 4. She got... sick. We couldn't afford the medical bills." Nick shifted uncomfortably under the stares of the Thompsons. While they knew she had a difficult past, she had never disclosed what exactly went on.... and revealing this made her feel strange. 

Sweet Liz and ever-supportive Ed held her free hand, smiling and silently cheering her on. Nick slowly pressed on through her past and grief.

"Dad got the loan for his restaurant when I was around 6. It really saved us... and we moved into the apartment above the restaurant. We lived in Franzelli's... everything good in my life came from that restaurant. No matter how hard times got, or how tight money became, we were always happy there. Dad was good to me... and we were good to our customers." she smiled, memories flooding back of singing with customers, learning their names and their stories.

"But... I guess nothing lasts forever, huh? Once business started getting... hard," Nick felt Liz shift uncomfortably next to her, "Dad started getting irritated and angry. He... closed off. It was all about money then... and I was so worried we'd lose our restaurant and our home. Dad always told me not to worry about it but...how couldn't I? It was like watching my world fall apart, and all I could do was stand in the middle and stare."

The room was so quiet Nick feared she'd get sucked into the strange void of quietness. She struggled to keep telling them everything.

"Well.... after he didn't get.... get the loan," another shift from Ed, "he.... consulted the wrong sorts of people. I really wish he hadn't... but it's not like I could've done anything. Dad robbed a convenience store... held the cashier at gunpoint. He got arrested a few days later for second-degree robbery. He um..." her voice broke and she took a deep breath to still herself. "He's going to be there for 5 years... so... thanks dad," she muttered.