Lucy POV
“OOOOH sometimes. I get a good feeling, yeah” we were jamming out in the car when we pulled up to Bella’s condo. She turned off the car and I got out helping her with the groceries.
“I’ll be right back guys, no worries” Bella said through the window to Cara and Kayleigh who were in the back seat playing ‘slap’. We walked into the house and I could smell the smoke from Carl’s cigars. He smoked them all the time and they stunk up the whole condo. I smiled at Ryan who was playing Legos on the floor and Heidi who was reading 'The Hunger Games' on the couch. Bella and I went into the kitchen to swiftly put away the groceries when we heard a crash in one of the upstairs bedrooms. We stopped what we were doing and looked at each other before running up the stairs. Bella came to the door of Carl and Rene's room and knocked.
“Mom?” she asked through the door “Carl? Are you guys in there?” we waited a second for a response, but when there wasn’t one, she flew open the door. We both gasped.
“MOM!” she called and ran to the floor. Rene was face down in the carpet with a bottle of Jack Daniels in her hand, now spilling on the floor. I grabbed the bottle and put it on the night stand as I helped Bella get her mom up to the bed. Bella checked her pulse and realized that she was still alive. After the initial shock wore off. She was pissed.
“She knows better than this shit.” Bella said through gritted teeth. “They’re right down stairs! Lucy, they’re six and seven years old!” she was almost yelling now. We heard the pitter-patter of feet running up the stairs.
“fuck” she muttered. She ran into the hallway and told Ryan and Heidi that everything was okay as I put a blanket over Rene and placed a trash can by her bed, in case, ya know. Ew. I heard Bella ask where Carl was and Heidi respond, not knowing. Apparently he left a little while after Bella did, in a frenzy over something Rene had said to him. Bella sent them back down stairs after giving them a little hug. She went to the phone and called Mrs. Foster (Kayleigh’s mom) to see if Ryan and Heidi could have a play-date with Katrina for a little bit, while we went to visit Sadie and Zayn. She gladly approved and even offered for them to spend the night. Bella gladly accepted the offer and we helped Ryan and Heidi pack overnight bags. Kayleigh and Cara walked up the stairs and scared the shit out of us. I thought it was Carl.
“Hey, what’s taking so long in here?” Cara asked coming around the corner, smiling at the kids. Her smile disappeared when she saw Bella angrily writing a note to Rene about what was happening. They immediately knew what was happening. We’d all seen Bella this way before.
“Your toothbrush is still at my house, love” Kayleigh said before turning to Bella’s room to pack an overnight bag for her. She always knew what to say. (Let me just take a minute to explain these girls to you; in a nutshell)- Kayleigh was the responsible, wise one for sure. I was the most immature, but I knew it, so it was okay. Bella was clearly the most damaged. Sadie was the dramatic one, but we loved her very much for making us laugh all the time. Cara was the free-spirit who loved too soon and fell head over heels too quickly. They were my sisters and I have absolutely no clue what I would do without them in my life. Seriously. (That goes for the boys too, but I could talk about them all day). Anyway…
Cara was downstairs, putting away the rest of the groceries and Kayleigh was packing Bella’s clothes while I helped Ryan and Heidi with their things. Bella set the note on the nightstand along with a glass of water. Business as usual… We all crammed back into the car and put the bags in the trunk. Cara sat with Heidi on her lap with Kayleigh and Ryan next to her in the back. It was a quiet car ride to Kayleigh’s, where we dropped off Ryan and Heidi and their and Bella’s bags. Kayleigh’s mom gave Bella a hug and a kiss on the forehead before we got back in the car for the thousandth time that day to drive over to Sadie and Liam’s. She turned on ‘Drake’ to the highest volume and let out a huge sigh and I started to see the hint of a smile on her face. She always cranked ‘Drake’ when she was trying to force away the bad times. ‘Drake’ really helped her through some tough times, lemme tell ya.
