Gus

Boat Trip

When I was young, 6 years old actually, my mother broke up with her boyfriend. She drained herself in depression and sadness in our bathroom.
Since she was in there for long periods of time sometimes, I taught myself to hold my bladder in for a long amount of time. The longest amount of time I've gone is 8 hours, I think.
Anyways, I overheard a boy named Jack Henders talking to his friends about how he was going to a cruise with his parents over the summer. I went home and told my mom, who was still wallowing in the bathroom when I got home, that we should get away for a while, that that would make her happy.
She agreed, and booked herself a cruise to the Caribbean. I had hoped she was going to plan the vacation for the both of us, but I guess she had different plans.

I was left in charge with a young woman named Tessa. However, I liked to refer to her as Tessa the Treacherous. She lived next door to us, but she was always throwing parties and causing chaos around our neighborhood. She had absolutely no respect for any of us neighbors. But she was only person over 21 who was available to watch me for this long, apparently.
She was a twenty-something young woman with long, blonde hair and very red lipstick. The shirts she wore never had sleeves except in the wintertime, so half the time I could see her bra.
Tessa also had a little sister named Kelly. I didn't know her that much; she was kind of afraid of Tessa and lived with their parents. Unsurprisingly, her parents and sister only come to visit during Christmas.

When my mother left, Tessa was quick to begin her relaxation. She slumped onto the couch and turned on the TV. I waved 'hi' to her, and she smiled and did a weak wave-like motion with her hand. Huh, I thought, maybe she isn't so bad.
But I was quickly proven wrong. That night, I woke up to the sound of loud music coming from the living room. I crept inside to find a large group of people jumping around the living room and kitchen. There were food and drinks spilled all over. A stereo from God knows where was blasting from the top of our TV. People were screaming and laughing and asleep. I pushed my way through the crowd until I found a drunken Tessa making out with a man who looked twice her age. When she saw me, she pushed away from him, pulled me close, smiled, and said, "Shh. He's not my boyfriend." She then continued to make out with him.
I ran into my mother's bedroom and found her telephone. I called 911 and told them my babysitter was 'acting weird' and having a party that my mother didn't know about. The police showed up 20 minutes later. Everyone was escorted out of my house and Tessa was arrested. The policemen then took me to their station and asked where my mom was. I told them on a boat. When they asked why, I said to make her feel better.

The police contacted my mom, but couldn't reach her. They decided to keep me in a cozy room in the station until they could find her or someone who could care for me.
The next morning, the station got a call from the ship my mother was on; she threw herself overboard in the middle of the cruise, but a sailor dove in saved her, and was at a hospital being treated. The police found my grandparents, my mother's parents, and set me up to be raised with them for a while. They told me that my mom would need to be questioned and 'tested' to see if she was really fit to raise a child. Hearing that made me uncomfortable, yet a little relieved.