pink pills - matthew espinosa

chapter xix.

   Mrs. Espinosa and I rushed back to my car before anyone could show up at the grocery store. She jumped into the passenger seat and I began to drive off.

   "Where the hell are we going?" She asked, pulling off her mask. She had wonderful jet black hair and full pink lips. She was such a goddess, no wonder Matthew is so attractive.

  "I'm taking you to the institute to see Matthew, it's the only way he'll get better, remember?" I reminded her. Her eyes widened and she tried to unlock her door. 

  "No, stop, let me go!" She commanded.

  "I'm driving! I'm not letting you out of the car until we get there!"

  "Pull the fuck over!"

 I sighed, pulling over on the side of the highway. She took a breath, running her hands through her hair. We didn't say a word as she tried to calm down, and I honestly didn't see the point of her doing all this. Maybe she's preparing herself before she sees Matthew.

 "You can't take me there, Cleo, you can't, leave me here on the side of the road," She begged.

  What the hell?

 "What are you talking about? You're literally the cure to your son's insomnia and you don't even want to see him? What kind of sick person are you?" I shouted. Mrs. Espinosa cocked her gun back and directed it towards my face and I immediately shut up.

  "He can't see me like this, I'll just make this worse for him," Mrs. Espinosa explained, "Look at me! I almost robbed a grocery store. I lost my job, I'm in debt, I'm going to lose my apartment, everything is falling apart! He can't know that his mom is still struggling, Cleo, please just leave me here," Mrs. Espinosa asked one more time.

  Her face was covered in tears and I didn't even want to think about what would happen if I let her go here. She was so desperate to not make her son worry about her financial situation, she seriously just wanted him to believe that she was doing good. 

  I pulled out my pen and wrote my cell phone number on her arm. "You can go, Mrs. Espinosa, but please call him, let him know what's up," I asked. She nodded, and I unlocked the door before letting her out. She gave me a small nod before shutting the door and running back towards the street.

  I got back onto the road and began driving back to the nearest Panda Express, knowing that I couldn't show up at the institute without the food I promised Matthew, Prince, and Keyanna. I went through the drive-thru as my phone began to ring again.

  Dani.

  I ignored it, knowing that whatever was happening could wait until I showed up at the institute. She's probably changed her mind about telling me where to get Mrs. Espinosa's information or something of the sort.

  I felt like a let down, I let him down completely. I promised him his mother, I promised him that he would see her and that I would fix everything. Matthew had put complete love and trust in me, and I let his damn mother go on the road. I would most likely never see him again, and I don't even know if he will even speak to me again after today.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the institute before grabbing the bag full of Panda Express and my backpack (I was never a fan of purses) and walking inside towards the elevator. Dani wasn't even at the front desk at usual, so I decided to go see everyone upstairs.

  "Keyanna?" I knocked on her door before opening. Keyanna was sitting on the bed, her face a bright red, and his eyes flowing with tears. She gasped when she saw me, before running into the my arms. Prince was nowhere to be found in the room.

  "Where the hell have you been?" She yelled at me, bawling into my shirt. My face scrunched in confusion when another pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, which happened to be Prince's. His sobs disappeared in my shirt, and I ran my fingers through his soft hair to help comfort him. 

 Deborah then rushed into the room, frightening me. "Where the hell have you been?" She screamed in my face, as I attempted to put the bag of food down on the desk. I have never seen her so angry - her fists were clenched, and there were lines in her forehead from stress. 

 "What the hell is wrong with you all? What did I miss? Why are you all crying?" I asked, tears threatening to spill from my eyes. I had no idea what was going on, obviously, and Deborah's eyes seemed to widen at the fact I was so clueless.

  "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm so confused, I don't know what went down earlier, I have had a pretty shit day already!" I announced. Deborah sighed, wiped her eyes, and waited for the sobs from Keyanna and Prince to subside.

  "Cleo?" She asked. 

  "What?"

 Deborah couldn't even bear to look at me any longer. She turned and took a breath before looking at the ground with her hands on her hips. 

  "Matthew is in the hospital, he stopped breathing."