Remedy | Harry Styles

01

"Alina!" I hear the sweetest voice call as I shut the front door behind me. I turn the lock and face my head forward, a smile and a sigh of relief as I see my brother, Daniel's, face. He's a small thing, always covered in sweatpants and long sleeves that he drowns in, even in the summer months.

"Hi, amor," I greet him. He wraps his pale arms around my waist, his head just resting above my belly button. "How was your day, baby?" I ask as we walk over to the couch, him still embracing me.

"It was okay," Daniel says to me. "Mami's been in her room all day," he tells me in a quieter tone. He says it like it's a secret, as if he didn't even want me to hear him. I smile sadly, but grab his chin and give him a big kiss on his cheek.

"I''ll check on her, okay?" I try to reassure him. "Don't worry about mami. She's strong, you know."

He nods. "Can you make me mac and cheese? If you're not too tired from working..."

"Of course, baby," I tell him. I know that if my mom hasn't been out of her bedroom all day, then Daniel definitely has not had a real meal today and it was already reaching 4PM. The thought of it makes my stomach feel heavy. I gently stroke the top of his head before giving him a sweet smile and getting up.

I walk five feet from our couch to mom's room which was just by the tiny open kitchen area. I knock a few times. With no response, I just let myself in. It's pretty dark in the room because the shades are closed, and I can tell mom is laying down with her blankets covering her. The only light in the room is coming from the tiny old television in the corner, playing an old re-run of How I Met Your Mother. The volume is so low I could barely hear it.

I walk over to the side of the bed. "Mami," I say once, hoping she's awake. I sigh in relief when she moves the covers from off of her face. Her black hair is in a matted bun at the top of her head, dark circles under her eyes are extremely prominent and her lips are super chapped.

I sit down on the side of the bed, gently moving the hair out of my mother's face. "What happened, mami?" I ask, knowing that this was one of her worst episodes. She chokes out a sob when I ask her the question, and then reaches for her phone. She unlocks the phone and then hands it to me. I can already see that her Facebook app is open. The app is open to a profile that reads: Ariana Reyes is married to Ramon Ramirez.

I take a deep breath, but I don't know why she was so surprised. "Mami, they have two kids together. What did you expect at this point?" she begins to
sob a little harder and then takes the corner of the blanket and wipes her face with it.

"Your father is a no good son of a bitch," she cries. I nod, grabbing her hand. "He doesn't give a shit about Danielito, Alina. How can he watch his own child suffer?"

"I know, ma," I say. My chest feels tight, almost like the air is getting thinner in the room. But my mother could not keep herself together, and Danny needed me to survive. If mom couldn't handle the news of my father finally marrying the woman that he abandoned us for, then I would have to handle it. "He's not our dad anyways, you know?" I tell her. "You know what I always say, you're my mom and my dad."

She cracks a little bit of a smile. "I'm so sorry, mama," she tells me, softly stroking the side of my face with her tear stained hand.

"It's okay," I try to reassure her and myself. "Danny doesn't need anyone except us." I rub the back of her hand with my thumb soothingly, trying to give her some sort of comfort, but I could see the pain in her eyes. It was killing her.

"Can you make dinner for Danny?" My mom asks softly. "I'm just so tired."

I nod. "I'm gonna get the shower going, okay? Just take a shower, have some water, and then you can get back in bed." At least if Daniel saw her up and out of her room, he wouldn't be as worried. And at least she would had completed one small task for herself today.