Shackles on the heart (Book #1)

3. Enough is enough

(Third person's POV)

1 week later

Carine had finally gotten up out of bed; she had ran out of vodka. She was finally sobering up. She didn't remember what she did to her daughter, RaeAnna didn't bring it up either, she wanted to forget.

Carine felt somewhat bad for laying in bed for pretty much three weeks straight. Not enough to apologize, but she did go to the grocery store to buy some bacon and eggs to make the kids some breakfast. When she returned RaeAnna and Dakota were straightening up the kitchen. "Hi babies" Carine stated. "Hi mama!" Both of the kids said. "Y'all want some breakfast?"

"Yes, please." RaeAnna said.

"Kota?"

"Yes, please." He mimicked his sister. They sat down at their small kitchen table to eat. RaeAnna had a question she had been wanting to ask for a while. It was weighing heavy on her mind. She didn't know what her mom's reaction would be."Mama?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I want to take some self defense classes. Can I?" She asked, with hope pouring off of her. "Now why in the world would you want to do that?"

"To protect you and Kota." She looked down towards her plate. "No." She stated plainly.

"But-"

"I said no. That's final, young lady. I'm the parent. What I say goes. You let me protect you, not the other way around." Carine stated, getting a bit agitated.

"You never protect us! I'm the one who cares for Kota. You might love us, but you don't protect us. You can barely protect yourself." She mumbled the last part quietly but her mom heard every word. "That's it, breakfast is over!" Carine said grabbing all the plates and throwing them into the garbage can. "I wasn't done!" Dakota whined.

"You can thank your smart mouth sister for that!" Carine left, locking herself in her room for the rest of the day, letting the kids fend for themselves. "Don't worry baby, I'll make you some more."

"Okay" Dakota stated happily.

Next day

It was Monday. It would be the first time RaeAnna went to school for almost a month. She was almost happy, but there was a little voice inside her head worried to death about her brother. She tried not to let it get to her too much. Hopefully her mom could handle being responsible while she went to school.

RaeAnna had showered and had gotten dressed. It was a little bit chilly outside so she wore long sleeves. It was a pretty light blue sweater with a rainbow butterfly on it. She has always loved butterflies. Something about them mesmerized her, how they could grow into something so beautiful after being locked away for so long. She wore her old torn up blue jeans. They almost didn't fit. Then she put on her black sneakers which had a hole in one, her toe being visible through the shoe. They didn't have a bunch of money like other kids at school. They rarely got new clothes. If they did it would be from somewhere like Good Will. She didn't let any of that bother her. All she cared about was Dakota and keeping him safe. "RaeAnna, are you ready?!" Her mom shouted. "Yes!" She replied. "Let's go then!"

25 minutes later

She said bye to her mom and went to her first class, Science.

"Miss Sallow, where have you been?"

"Home." RaeAnna said plainly. "We will talk after class." Mrs. Halbore stated.

40 minutes later