𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓, Miguel Diaz

S01:E03

•~3rd person P.O.V~•
"A Halloween party?" Rachel sighed, hearing her mom slur her words. What her mom was on this time, Rachel didn't know, but she went to see her every day that she could. If it weren't for her, Rachel was sure her mom would be dead by now.

"Yeah, at school," Rachel answered as her mom stroked her hair. Elaine played with some of Rachel's old toys from when she was young, the ones her mom said reminded them of her.

"But you're suspended." Rachel shrugged.

"They're letting me go since I bought a ticket before I got suspended." Rachel's Mom bolted up, a sudden bolt of energy seemingly coursed through her.

"I have some of my old costumes, would you like to wear those?" Rachel started to protest, but her mom was already pulling out an old trunk out from under her bed.

Rachel had seen old photos and old videos of her mother before she started doing drugs. Of course, Rachel always thought her mom was pretty but she used to be so beautiful. She wanted nothing more than to like her mom back then.

"I thought you said grandma never let you celebrate Halloween." Rachel watched as her mom carefully laid out different costumes, some of which still had a price tag.

"Me and my friends would sneak out and go to the Halloween dance at our school. My dad would give us money to buy whatever costume we wanted." Rachel didn't really remember her grandpa from her mother's side, he died when she was eight, but she remembered that he was a nice old man and whenever she came to visit he slipped her five dollars. "Elaine, which one should I wear?" Elaine quickly stood, her face scrunched as she pondered which one to choose.

"This one."

~

"I'd like to know where you're at and what you're doing," Johnny argued. Had Rachel told him she was going to visit her mom? No, she hadn't, but he wasn't home and she knew if he was working then he wouldn't have answered his phone. So what was the point?

"You've never cared before," Rachel muttered, putting a plate in the cupboard.

"What was that?" Rachel clenched her teeth, staring into the kitchen sink. If she opened her mouth, she'd say something she'd regret.

"Elaine, can you go to our room?" Elaine looked up from her coloring page.

"But Mommy-"

"Elaine." Rachel had practically nailed her stern mom voice by now, and it tended to work. Elaine stood up and quickly went to the room she shared with Rachel. "You've never cared where I was or what I was doing before, so why do you care now? Why do you wanna be a dad now?" Johnny quickly stood, appalled by Rachel's words.

"I've been a dad, Rachel." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Do you have something to say, Rachel?" Of course, she did, she wanted to say so many things, but how did those words come out?

Through anger. Through punching holes in the walls and smashing plates and glasses, and every time it never resolved anything. Her dad would try his best to calm her down, no matter how many punches to the chest he got, and in the end, Rachel and her father would hug and it would be just like old times for a couple of days.

"Rachel, I asked you something." Rachel dug the nails on her thumbs into the palms of her hands.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Rachel felt tears clog her throat, of course, her dad had always been a father. Why had she said that?

She remembered when she was about seven or eight, how her dad would take her to baseball games even though he hated baseball. She remembered when she knew he was tired from work, but still found the time to cook for her and spend time with her. Most importantly, she remembered the day he'd made the biggest decision of his life. Leaving her mom.