Nothing But Trouble

01/prison year #12

ch1: prison year #12
blake ren

There was nothing I despised more than the first day of school. You jolt awake to the sound of an alarm clock that you haven't had to set in months, your heart rate sky rocketing, and the realization of why you were awake before noon hitting you square in the face like a bag of dog shit.

You grip the covers in your hands as you listen to the alarm, trying to decide if that piece of paper you get at the end of all this is worth it. Sometimes it was really just a piece of paper to you, and other times it was the only reason for living.

"I could become a stripper," I voiced my thoughts, staring up at the ceiling. "Madison on the floor above me became a stripper. Of course her name is Sugar now but she's paying her bills."

"Technically her pimp is paying her bills," said Riley and I frowned. She rolled over and turned off the alarm, stretching her body and letting out a big yawn as she did it.

   "Probably can't become a stripper then." I sighed.

   Riley got up from the queen sized mattress on the floor and shuffled into the bathroom to start getting ready. For as long as I can remember we've always had a sleepover before the first day of school so I wouldn't have to ride the bus. Even now that I have a car, a little beat up 90s Toyota Rav4 model with a god awful blue paint job that I paid for with my own money and I love with my entire being, the sleepover tradition is still alive. As a kid, though, it was necessary for me to sleepover. A ride to school from my parents was never an option.

   You could say I didn't have the 'Dad reading the newspaper with a cup of joe and Mom sending you off with a belly full of breakfast and a packed brown paper bag for lunch' kind of childhood. It was more like not even knowing Dad and trying to wake up Mom after she knocked herself out with sleeping pills for the third night in a week kind of childhood.

   Riley's living situation wasn't completely ideal either. Her parents were gone for most of the day working at their Persian restaurant which left Riley to take care of her four younger siblings. There was Bella, an innocent little fourteen year old that Riley says was her parents' second chance at a perfect Persian daughter because Riley definitely didn't hit that mark. Then came Amin, a twelve year old boy that fit the description of such. He could be a serious pain in the ass.

   The last two were Nita and Sam. A nine and seven year old. Sam was to turn eight in a few weeks and he wanted a birthday party at the rollerskating rink. He wanted a soccer ball and new headphones and would not shut up about his birthday and wasn't going to shut up about it until two weeks after it passes. Nita had a mouth on her too, got it from Riley, and then gave it to Sam but they were cute when they wanted to be.

"Hey, did you bring that black denim skirt with the rips?" Riley appeared in the bathroom doorway, speaking through a mouthful of foamy toothpaste and a toothbrush that never stopped moving.

   I ran my hands over my face and rubbed at my eyes with my fingertips, trying to wake myself up but ended up making my vision blurry. "Uhh, I think so."

   "Okay good do you mind if I borrow it?" Riley has been my best friend for years upon years, she was basically like a sister to me, and yet she still bothers to ask. I just take her clothes without asking because I know she doesn't care. I don't care if she uses my stuff either but she's always been nice enough to check in every time. Maybe that's just a difference in our characters.