Runaway With My Heart [Complete & Revising]

A Piece of Me

"Did you find everything okay, ma'am?" I asked as I checked out the mother of three in front of me.

Seeing her with her children made me miss my mother a lot. My mother used to be my friend. I could tell her anything and confided in her about my life. I couldn't remember when our relationship changed so much, but I knew it was about two or three years ago. Three years ago I met him. He came in like a knight in shining amour, little did I know, he was a snake in sheep's clothing. It wasn't me he was evil with, just everyone else. No matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn't completely blame him for the deterioration of my relationships with my family members. I played a huge part in letting him do all of the things that he did. I thought he loved me and had my best intentions in mind. Boy was I wrong, wrong and stupid.

Even though I missed my mother and father a lot, there was no one I missed more than my older sister, Charlene. She was my best friend; my only friend. If she saw me now she'd be so disappointed. My sister used to worship the ground I walked on and vice versa. It didn't get any better than Charlene Mounds. She was so sure of herself. Nothing got in her way. If it wasn't for Charlene I wouldn't have made it through middle school and high school. She had my back like no one else in this world. Charlene was my heart.

"Good. Don't touch that, Cici," she said to the young girl beside her.

"Your total is $43.21," I said.

She handed me the money and I quickly gathered her change.

Work was going well. Mrs. Shaw was impressed by how quickly I got the hang of working around the store. Even though I was only earning eleven dollars an hour, I really liked my job. I didn't have to talk to others too much, and I got to cook some nights with Jim. 

Jim was really nice. He retired from the military with one hundred percent disability and wanted a job so he wouldn't be home all day. His wife taught music classes downtown and both of his sons were grown and out of the house. He often talked about his sons with me while we prepared breakfast. Unfortunately, Jim was the only coworker who talked to me. Mrs. Shaw's daughter hated me. I didn't know what the problem was, though. She had never said more than two words to me, and all of the other girls at work seemed to follow along with her. I mean, I'm sure if they got to know me they'd still hate me. I'm awkward, weird, lack social skills, and I'm a quiet person. If I had a group of friends, I'd be the quiet one in the group. But I wanted them to determine if they liked me based on their own opinions, not Amanda's.

Work was finally over and I didn't know what to do. Gregory was gone and wouldn't be back until Sunday night. I didn't want to spend my entire weekend cooped up in my motel room simply because my only friend in town was gone.

I decided to walk to the bar and have a drink. Just one. Mainly because I still had to walk home alone. Another reason was that I didn't like having multiple drinks in one night. Even though I was in my work clothes and smell liked raw dough, I still wanted to go to the bar.

As I walked towards the bar, I got a text from Gregory.

Gregory: Hey! Just made it to my grandmother's house. I wanted to check on you. How was work?

Me: Hey! It was good, going to the bar.

Gregory: Without me? :-(

Me: How about when you get back on Sunday we go get ice cream? My treat.

Gregory: Okay, sounds great! Have fun at the bar. Text me when you make it back to the motel. Stay safe.

I smiled down at my phone as I passed through the bar doors. Not too many people were there, but I had a feeling they'd trickle in soon. Making my way over to the bar, I said hello to a few strangers before sitting down and waving Dave over.