Charlie's Web

Charlie

"I knew it," Vivian shook my shoulders excitedly, pointing her bony finger at the television. We watched intently as the gang of stoned teenagers pulled the head off of a zombie, revealing a scowling old man within the monster suit. "It's always the mayor! They could never fool us, could they, Cookie?"

My eyes widened at the nickname, she hadn't called me that in years. Still, the familiar moniker stirred a feeling of warmth in my chest. I laid my head in her lap, relishing the feeling of closeness that we so rarely shared. We hadn't spent quality time together in years, the deeper she'd fallen into her addiction, the less time she had to spend with me. It was a feeling similar to death, knowing that my only parent had chosen a substance over me. I'd convinced myself I was invisible when I was younger, Vivian would simply walk past me, unfazed, as if I didn't exist. As if she couldn't see the stains on my unwashed clothes, couldn't hear my stomach crying out for sustenance. It wasn't that bad anymore, I'd gotten used to taking care of myself, but there would always be a part of me that longed for that nurturing side of her, if it even existed.

Jesse hadn't replied to any of my texts the past few days, and I still wasn't used to that sinking feeling I got whenever I checked my phone and realized he still hadn't gotten back to me. That was the first time in my life that I'd ever felt like that, it was annoying but it made me empathize with C even more. No wonder she always seemed one second away from bursting into tears. If he ended up ignoring me for good, I would be swearing off dating until my twenties. It seemed pointless, and it wasn't that fun, especially when I was the one being rejected.

It must've been my lucky day, though, because as soon as Vivian walked through the door she had a skip in her step. I couldn't remember the last time she'd cooked a meal for us, but she prepared a huge spread for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, even french toast. All of our favorites. Normally meals like that were reserved for very special occasions, but I didn't question it.

The whole afternoon we'd sat on the couch, laughing and watching cartoons, talking shit about some of Vivian's ex-boyfriends. She'd even listened to me whine about my nonexistent love life.

"Don't you ever cry over some silly boy," her light blue eyes bore into mine as she gave my wrist a stern shake. "You're too beautiful to let some stupid guy hurt your feelings, men will come and go throughout your life, but don't you dare lose yourself because of one, ever."

She definitely wasn't one to practice what she preached, but her advice helped immensely. I seldom got any sort of guidance from Vivian, it felt nice, almost as if we could become the type of mother-daughter duo that painted their nails together and watched girly movies every sunday. Maybe we could eventually work through our issues, restart with a clean slate. She was the only family I had after my father left us. And even though she hadn't necessarily been the best mother, at least she'd stuck around. That had to count for something, right?

She stroked my hair as I laid in her lap, barely registering the light buzz coming from her pocket. Immediately, she jerked me off of her, standing up she walked away, leaving me alone on the couch. I sat there for a moment, slightly annoyed at the sudden neglect. Her voice was muffled through the kitchen wall, and I wondered who she could've possibly been talking to. Her and Jake had hit a rough patch. I'd heard them screaming at each other a few days ago, but he was her dealer, so it was possible that she still answered his calls.

She popped back into the room with the biggest smile on her face, she was practically shaking with excitement.

"Oh, Charlie. You won't believe it. I've met a wonderful man," her eyes sparkled as she spoke. I raised a brow. Knowing her track record, he most likely wasn't a wonderful man. "He's tall and handsome, like a silver fox type, you know? He owns that little drug store a few blocks over, and he oversees the pharmacy! Isn't it perfect?".

I felt so stupid as soon as the word left her mouth. Pharmacy. Of course she'd met a man that owned a pharmacy, she had to get her fix somehow. Less sketchy than the operation Jake was running.

"Well, that just works out great for you, doesn't it," I scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her cold eyes narrowed as she ran her manicured talons through her thinning hair.

"Finally got tired of sucking Jake's filthy dick for your klonopin? I don't blame you," I spoke coldly, crossing my arms. The familiar feeling of rejection flowed through me. She hadn't been thrilled to spend quality time with me, no, she was running on the high of sinking her claws into another human pill dispenser.

"You are such an ungrateful little brat. I guess this is the thanks I get for cooking you breakfast," her once beautiful face darkened, her wrinkles deepening as her features set into a grimace. "All you ever do is judge me, and you wonder why I never want to spend any time with you," she snapped.

"Whatever, I'm leaving," shaking my head, I made my way into my room, a few rogue tears slipped down my face, I promptly wiped them away. After throwing a few essentials into my bag, I stomped through the living room and swung the front door open, my heart clenching as frigid air whipped my face. I looked back, almost hoping that she would say something. Beg me not to leave, say she was sorry, but she had already forgotten about me. Her face was buried into her phone, probably responding to Mr. Pharmacy.

My legs shook as I walked, my outfit was definitely not adequate for a freezing November night, but I continued to trudge forward. There was no going back now. Vivian had made it quite clear that I wasn't welcome. Maybe I'd been too harsh, it was just so disappointing, though. For one day it seemed to be just us two, no men, no pills, just me and her. But she always gets bored of me in the end, and then has to go retreat into her little drugged up world and forget all about me. I guess I should've known, it wasn't like Vivian was full of surprises. She liked to stick to what she knew.

My head snapped to the side as I heard the rumbling of an engine next to me. A dark truck had slowed to a stop, a shrill squeaking noise sounded as the window rolled down.

The face that stared at me through the window made me take a step back. It was that weird man again. What was he doing here? Had he been following me?

"Hey, d-do you need a ride somewhere? It's pretty cold out tonight," he asked anxiously, quick puffs of cold air escaped his mouth as he spoke. The question caught me off guard, surely he knew I would decline his offer after our last encounter.

"No, I'm just taking a walk. I don't need a ride," I stated plainly, not bothering to sound polite. I continued forward, my pace quickening as I heard a car door slam. I looked back in horror, Ryan was trailing behind me with a sickening look of determination on his face.

"Get in the car, Charlie."