Strip

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

My mom had always been gorgeous. If she had wanted to, she could have been a model. Or a movie star. I'd seen pictures of her from college, and she had barely seemed to have aged since then. Her skin was soft, and clear, her hair was a beautiful deep red that fell down her back in a smooth waves, and she had a smile that could out shine the sun, her teeth like pearls. I had always thought she was the most beautiful person in the world, and I hoped to someday look at least a little like her.

That woman was gone. Standing before me was a stranger, an old lady, who looked like she had been living on the street for the past month. She had dyed her hair blonde, but it had turned grey, and sour, with over an inch of her red roots growing in. Her skin was dry, and wrinkled, her eyes sinking. She looked at me, her face full of sorrow, and gave me the saddest excuse for a smile I have ever seen, her teeth rotting, and yellow.

"Hey sweetheart."

"W-what are you doing here?" I asked, inching towards her.

"I miss you," she said, her sad gaze never leaving my teary eyes. "I wanted to see how my baby grew up."

I could speak. The battle between happiness and anger was boiling inside me, and I was terrified that one of them would win, spilling tears out of my eyes.

"And God," she whispered, taking a step towards me. "And you did not disappoint. You look like an angel sweetie."

"Is Rick with you?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I haven't seen him in months."

"So he's gone."

"Of course. He was terrible, I'm so, so sorry I put you through all of his shit."

"Where have you been?"

She shrugged. "Around. Hopping from place to place."

"Why are you back now?"

"I already told you, I've missed you and James so much." She reached out as if she was going to touch my hair, but as she did, anger won.

I slapped the hand down.

"Stop it," I said.

Her face shattered, leaving behind hurt remains. "Honey-"

"How could you just leave like that?!" I yelled, enraged. "How could u leave me to take the responsibility of a parent, to do all of this by myself!? Because I'm trying to understand. Since the day you've left all I can do is try to figure out why you would hurt us like this!"

She was shocked, her mouth open, rotten teeth showing. "You think I wanted to leave you?"

"Well, you did!"

"I missed you with all of my heart! Every moment I was wondering if you were ok! I was praying you would be ok!"

"Then why didn't you come back!?" I screamed. "Maybe if you had come back after a week, or a month, then you could have just come back into our lives. It's too late for that."

"Baby, I'm trying. I really am, but you need to make and effort too-"

"You think I'm not making an effort? I have given up my entire life for you, and for James. I've given up my friends, my self respect, any possible chance of getting into college, and I have given it all away, because of you. You left us."

"I was not in a good place! I needed time, I needed to rethink things-"

"It's not just what you did to me, that, that I could live with. But what you have done to James... that's unforgivable-"

"I'm try-"

"He's just a kid! He doesn't understand why you left! He missed you with all of his heart, and if he finds out you're here now, he's going to get his hopes up way too high, and when you leave... he's going to be crushed."

"I'm not going to leave."

"Then you're going to do something else! You're going to get another Rick, or start drinking uncontrollably again, or hurt him in some way, and he may never get over that."

The anger inside of my was bubbling and boiling. I could feel it pulsing through my veins, hear it ringing in my ears, taste it in my mouth. 

"Thanks to you, he doesn't have parents, he just has me, and I try to be enough for him, but between school, and work, and fucking dancing on a pole-"

"What?"

"-I'm not done! Thanks to you, he is having a terrible life, and I am having a terrible life, and you, you've been out doing god knows what, instead of being a parent."

"I want to be here."

"It's too late for you to be here. I can't let you be here."

She had tears streaming down her face, shaking with silent sobs. "Please sweetie. I love you. Please."

"You have to leave. I need you to leave."

She looked at my through her teary eyes, begging, pleading. Then, she walked towards the exit, her footsteps echoing on through the kitchen.

"I've missed you so much," She whispered, as the door closed softly behind her.

Leaving me alone, with a tear streaked face, in an empty apartment, I was failing to make my home.

---

DRAMA!!!!

Hi! Thank you so much for reading! Please vote, comment, and follow me if you liked it!

And thank you for all the reads and votes Strip has so far! Lets see how many votes we can get!

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

Thank you so so so so much for motivating me to write over 30 chapters now! You guys are amazing!

I love you all!

XOX