Last match

Two

The pain that I felt last night tripled from what it originally was, If i hadn't called a taxi I wouldn't had made it from point A to point B, with the exception of an extra stop to the pharmacy, where I had to grab a few essentials. After what felt like forever, I was finally back to the shabby townhouse I called home, before opening the door I took a quick glimpse of myself by using the front camera of my phone, I had covered the bruises prior to last night using a cheap foundation I had luckily found while at the pharmacy only to apply with haste inside of a moving car it was blotchy do to not having anything to blend it out with, but thick enough to cover the bruises, my black eye that was swollen shut was now covered by black shades that I had also picked up from the pharmacy 'hopefully it's enough to fool mom', it should me seeing as though her vision isn't exactly the best. I walk into the house with my bags slung across my shoulders.

"What happened to you coming this morning?"mom asks from the top of the stairs startling me with the sudden noise. I briskly turned my head in the opposite direction facing away from her in hopes she couldn't see the state I was in.

"Me and Angela went shopping I forgot to tell you I'd come a little later" I held the plastic bag that was filled with makeup up, for proof even though it was a halfway lie, the truth is I didn't wake up until 2pm where I proceeded to rush to get here.

"I was up all afternoon you had me worried baby, next time please don't forget to update me. I'm going to bed now, I'll talk to you later", she sounded tired, a pang of guilt hit my chest

"Ok love you mom" she didn't reply, It kind of hurt being ignored, however I knew she needed time to cool off she seemed angry, without further words she left to her room, when the sound of the door shutting ricocheted down the halls, I finally relaxed my body I felt horrible, 'despite her sickness, she stayed awake waiting for my arrival'. I released the breath that I hadn't knew I've been holding in, rubbing my hands along my face in frustration, every time after a match I always end up overwhelmed with an abundance of guilt, in the days following after it mainly because I hated lying to mom.

I've decided I would spend all week with mom, I have enough money to spoil her, as of now its the least I could do after all the deceiving I've done. i hauled my way up the stairs to my room, shimmying the bags off of my shoulder next to the door.

My room was small but bare of decorations, making it seem larger than it really is, even though it was small, it had a cozy feeling to it, besides pretty soon I'll be able to afford a nicer house for mom and I, one that's more spacious and easier for mom to move around in. I take the money out of my duffle bag, hiding it under the floor boards beneath my bed, where the rest of my secret stash was located,I saved back a few bills to put in my wallet for necessities,
'And some for spoiling mom'

After hiding my boxing equipment behind a pile of dirty clothes in my closet, I decided it was time to remove my makeup , my cheek stung from where It caked on top of my gash,I hurriedly limped to the bathroom,washing the foundation off as soon as I hit the sink, mostly due to the fear of the cuts getting infected, I grab the first aid kit from under the sink pouring alcohol directly into the cut, and hissing when it made contact, I stared at myself in the mirror for a couple minutes, trying to build the courage, before i attempted at stitching the cut on my cheek.

every pull was painful, agonizing, and it took forever, three hours passed by just for me to manage what i would call a lazy sewing.'I'm pretty sure I did it wrong', the strings were loose, but it was the best I could do seeing as it was my first time doing this. I placed a bandaid over the sad excuse for stitches, I'll just pretend I scratched it yesterday 'technically it wasn't a lie, will it be enough to convince mom?'. Midway throughout figuring out a scenario I could conjure, I was brought to a stop, when I smelled something burning. I swung the bathroom door open, my eyes watered the instant i entered the hallway, it was filled with smoke.

"Shit!" I exclaimed running to moms room only to find her bed empty, and her no longer inside her room, I ran down the stairs, an unsettling feeling was already within my stomach, thick black clouds of smoke emerged from the kitchen letting me know exactly where the fire was, without thinking I ran straight into the direction where the danger lied.

"MOM" I yelled when I saw her sprawled on the ground in front of the stove unmoving .
There was a pan on the stove that had caught fire,the smoke alarms blared just as soon as I reached it, I sprinted to the sink while holding the burning pan, throwing it into the sink then running the tap over it. Without a second thought i grabbed my phone out of my pocket dialing 911 while running back to mom,i placed my phone to my ear, and scooped mom into my arms taking us outside of the house in efforts to stop us from inhaling any more smoke, the smoke couldn't have been good for mom, she didn't need more harm done to her . the dispatcher finally picked up after what felt like forever.

"Come quick my mom she's unresponsive please come quick 431 grovel lane" I drop the phone to the ground
'please be ok I need you'

The thought of losing her clouds my brain like a thick fog. Tears formed in my eyes and a metallic taste coated my tongue. I carried her to the sidewalk making sure to keep my gaze on her chest, making sure that her breathing doesn't stop, not for even a moment
'Where the hell are they'
'It shouldn't take this long for help'
'I have to do something'
I pick her up from off the side walk carrying her in my arms once again holding onto her tightly and take off into a sprint, my leg was still sore from yesterday, yet with adrenaline coursing through me I couldn't feel a thing.

Mom was light as a feather,her sickness has gotten so bad it caused her to lose an alarming amount of weight,and the worst part is that I'm just now noticing, all this time I've been too ashamed to look at her, I couldn't lie to her while looking her straight in the eyes, yet every time I looked away it made me oblivious to her declining health , all the money I earned to get her medicine and treatment didn't mean anything, if I could've just spared more time to look after her then this probably wouldn't have happened , I run as fast as I can 'I let you down before I won't do it again mom'

running with her was terrifying she was frail, and seemed easy to break her breathing was getting more shallow as the seconds moved on, 'please please stay with me' I begged to no one in particular, it seemed as if my prayers were answered when the ambulance was finally spotted in the distance, the sirens grew louder the closer it got,I jump up and down doing my best to signal them with mom still in my arms , when they showed no indication of stopping I jumped into the street right in their line of view, causing them to break harshly,nearly getting ran over in the process.

"It was me who called pls hurry" two men rushed out of the ambulance bringing out a gurney, they gently placed mom down on it putting her in the back of the car. i stayed right behind them every step of the way,
getting inside grasping at moms dangling hand.

the workers pushed me away to start treatment on her, I stayed silent watching them put her in an oxygen mask. My nerves were all over the place. I was shaking tears were still streaming down my face, part of me couldn't believe everything that was happening right now, it was as if I was in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.