Ardamin Tales: Number 3 - Viridian.

Viridian came in from the backyard with her little sister Candice in tow. Both of the children knew not to wake mommy before 10am lest they wore her wrath. They had moved from motel to motel after their mother left their father. He finally put his foot down and refused to feed his wife's, Destiny, drug habit. He had wanted to take the girls but two children under the age of 5 was too much for him to handle. Besides he would probably get full custody after or during the divorce.

Destiny and the girls were constantly on the move more out of spite than love she hadn't wanted to give him the girls. If they couldn't find them, they couldn't take them. Constant hiding and moving, living in cheap dives and borrowed cash, occasionally selling sex for both drugs and cash. She hated her former husband for leaving them. She knew he had wanted custody of the girls so she did her damndest to keep them from him. But she didn't really want the girls either, it was a paradox that she rarely thought of.

After a year he had given up trying to find his former wife and his children and just moved on with his life ignoring the fact that he was still married. A little after a year of hiding with nowhere to live and nobody to support her habit, Destiny decided to go back to her hometown, Gallup, New Mexico. It was a small town about two hours west of Albuquerque. She considered it to be hell but it was where she grew up and it made sense to her to return there with her children.

Destiny was strung out and her mother was only willing to give them a place to sleep because of her grandchildren. It seems that addicts always seem to find other addicts, mainly because they know where to look. So Destiny found a free ride, a guy she knew in high school a grade above her. Kelvin fancied Destiny at school but he never had the time to date, his old man left and he needed to take care of his mother. Now he was free of his mom and when she passed he inherited the house and a small amount of money which he was shooting into his arms.

Within an hour of meeting he was sharing his stash for sex. An hour after that he was sharing his house with Destiny and her two kids. Now over two years later Kelvin was in "love" with Destiny and the girls went to school most days. Their grandmother, Debbie, would pick them up and feed them before taking them to school. The weekends were the time the two girls would play outside and wait until they could come inside and wake mom.

At the age of seven Viridian was already adept with handling the mood swings of her junkie mother. Today was just another Saturday and her sister was hungry. Viridian got the cereal out from the cupboard and milk from the fridge. She opened the milk and sniffed the bottle, what was left in the container had gone bad. Now she had to wake her mother. The main bedroom was dark, the clock with its red display read 9:45. Viridian thought about waiting but her sister tugged at her sleeve.

"I'm hungry, Ridian." Candice complained quietly.

"It's only 15 minutes to wait, Candy." Viridian whispered, turning Candice around. "You can eat it without milk or you can wait for mom."

"Who's in the room?" A croaky voice asked.

"It's the girls." Another croaky voice replied.

"I'm sorry Mom, we're leaving..." Viridian said quietly. Pushing her little sister in front of her, towards the doorway.

Candice broke away from Viridian's grasp. "The milk's bad, Mommy."

"Awe, the milk's bad. So you thought that's a good enough excuse to wake Kelvin and I." Destiny said very sarcastically.

"Don't Des, they're just hungry and it's nearly 10." Kelvin said, trying to keep Destiny from getting angry.

"Then you deal with them." Destiny said, rolling over and closing her eyes.