𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄¹ ⸻ hawk

𝟬𝟬𝟭 'rhea

CHAPTER ONE,  
'RHEA

꧁꧂

       LIFE FOR SCARLETT BAILEY was almost always dull. The red-head was inside the prisonous walls she called school for up to eight hours a day for nine months, and it was almost always unbearable. She never put effort into assignments, and as expected, she failed almost every single one. But her behavior would last all year because, at home, she had a mother who couldn't care less about her daughter's grades.

       Her mother was an alcoholic who couldn't keep a job and made no income. But, somehow, she would always find a way to turn in rent on time. However, Scarlett had been soaking up all the alone time she could get, considering it was the last few days of summer, and then she would have to go back to attending hell itself, as she called it.

       Most days, Scarlett would sit on the same couch in the living room for days. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. From the same couch, Scarlett could hear the faint voice of her mother calling for her. The red-head blew a strand of hair out of her face and lugged herself off the couch.

       Once she reached her mother's room, the sight of Carla smoking a cigarette with beer bottles stacked beside her bedside came into her view. Scarlett rolled her eyes, "What do you want?" Scarlett seethed, standing in the doorway with her arms folded.

       Carla scoffed on the other side of the room, eyeing her daughter. "Lose the damn attitude and go get me a four-pack." The blonde woman barked as she puffed cigarette smoke out of her mouth.

       Scarlett couldn't stand her mother. Sometimes she even thought she could be adopted, but in some ways, Scarlett was just like her mother, and she couldn't stand it. Having the same attitude toward one another was very dangerous because they both were hotheaded and could get into physical and verbal fights.

       But while the two were home together, Scarlett tried to keep her distance from her mother to avoid getting into arguments. However, avoiding Carla became inevitable because almost every night, she sent Scarlett to the convenience store down the road to get her a four-pack of beer.

       Scarlett watched as her mother reached over to the ashtray lying on her bedside and used her fingers to push the cigarette down into the glass tray, which put out the cigarette. Carla looked up from the ashtray, catching sight of her daughter still in the doorway. "Go on now, get." She shooed, using her hand for visual effect.

       The stubborn red-head stood in the doorway, her arms folded, ignoring her mother's orders. "I need cash, dammit." Said Scarlett, beginning to step into her mother's room.

       Carla reached for a ten-dollar bill that was laid out on her bedside and extended it out to her daughter. The red-head reached her hand out to grab ahold of the money but jolted forward when Carla grabbed ahold of her forearm.

       "Watch your mouth," Carla said lowly as Scarlett winced, her mother's nailbeds digging into her forearm. "And don't ever talk to me like that again. Now go fetch me that four-pack and make it quick." She seethed, finally releasing the grip she had on Scarlett's arm.

       The red-head ripped her arm from her mother's grip as she quickly found the front door. She left her mother lying sprawled out on her mattress as she continued to light a smoke. Once the apartment door was closed, Scarlett pressed her back against it, breathing in the poisoned Reseda air.

       Carla used to be sober. Years ago. It was a rare occasion to see the mother sober, but when she was, she had always tried to fix things, but Scarlett could never forgive her. And at the end of the day, she would always be her drunken self, who couldn't stand being around her only daughter. Scarlett always stood by the saying, "A drunk woman's words are a sober woman's thoughts." And by the time being, her mother always was drunk.