The game | Calum Hood

Alcohol, Perfume and Cigarette Smoke

"Do you two want to go and watch Spongebob whilst I tidy up the kitchen?" I smiled as I took Minnie and Logan's plate from the table. Excitedly, they both ran into the lounge, leaving me hunched over the sink washing the dishes.

The clicking of mums heels on the hard wooden floors became louder and louder, before eventually she came into veiw, fixing her large hoop earrings.

"Riley, I'm going."

She picked up her bag and fumbled for her lipstick, applying a dark red layer to her naturally candy floss pink lips. Dad used to say that's why he fell in love with mum, or one of the reasons anyway.

When I was younger, my mum was always some beautiful barbie, perfect in every way. Now she was a low drunk, who held onto none of her pride. Her skirt was shorter than anything that I had ever worn, her boobs exploding out of her low cut top.

"Goodbye gorgeous."

She placed a sloppy kiss on my cheek before strutting out of the front door. I spun back around and carried on scrubbing at the plates aimlessly, wishing with everything that I had that I could just fly away. Wishing that I was curled up on the sofa with mum like the good old times, just wanting nothing more than that moment, instead I was looking after the twins as mum was out, drinking away all that we had.

I felt a tear roll down my cheek, but I quickly rubbed it away, there was nothing that I could do about it now. I dried the dishes and walked into the lounge where the twins were sitting on the floor watching spongebob innocently, they had no idea.

"Right you two, what film do you want to watch?" I asked as I sat between them, placing my arms around them both.

"Nemo!" Logan squealed, running to get the DVD from the stand, but as if it was in slow motion, he tripped over the rug and fell into the corner of stand, cutting a deep gash into his head.

"Logan, Logan!" I cried running towards the boy who lay still on the floor. "Logan?" I picked him up and placed him on the sofa, his eyes were closed, but he was breathing, blood trailing down his tiny face. "Hang on buddy, I'll go grab the plasters and I'll make it all better, yeah bud?" I cooed as Minnie just sat staring in silence, watching her brother get paler and paler. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed our medical box and ran back into the lounge, where Logan was now slumped on the sofa, but now his eyes were open and he was screaming in pain.

"Shush Logan, Riley's gonna clean you up."

I cleaned up the cut, which was not as bad as first thought and dressed it with a plaster before cleaning up all of the blood from his face.

"Logan all better?" He tilted his head to one side and looked at me with his big blue eyes.

"Logan all better." I smiled, kissing his head lightly before slipping the DVD into the DVD player and sitting the two kids on the sofa.

I snuggled up in between them and laughed along to Finding Nemo, before lifting them both upstairs to bed.
-
I wandered into my bedroom slowly, and climbed the ladder into the loft. I grabbed my phone and turned it up to full volume and played mine and Poppy's playlist, making me dance wildly around the loft, not a care in the world. I flipped my hair up and down to greenday, I slow danced to Ed Sheeran, I rocked out to Queen, I basically just jumped around randomly to years and years.

It didn't take long for me to tire though, and I fell flat out on my beanbag, lying with my arms outspread singing loudly to 'shut up and dance' by walk the moon, using my hairbrush as a microphone. I jumped up and spun around, collapsing on the beanbag again when the song ended. For whatever reason I had found somewhere in my brain, I couldn't stop laughing. My mouth physically couldn't stop laughing at full volume. "BUT NOT ME!" I shouted along to 'teenagers' by My Chemical Romance.

I soon stopped as Sad Song by We The Kings began to play from my phone. I jumped up and snatched my phone from the side and pressed stop. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and climbed down the stairs back into my room. I threw my phone onto my bed and shut the loft hatch.

Just a normal night routine.

Grabbing the fish food from the side, I dropped in a few flakes and just watched. I just watched them fight over the few small flakes that I had given them. But it was all they could have if they didn't want to run out, because I couldn't afford anymore until pay day. None of us could.

"Shut up! My kids are upstairs, and I bet prissy princess is still awake!" My mum shouted as I heard the front door slam. I glanced at the clock, 12:55, a new record.
This one sounded even more creepy that the rest, "well we'll have to keep it down then." He growled, making mum's piercing laugh shoot through the house.

Like I did when I was a little kid, I hopped into my bed and pulled the quilt up above my head and closed my eyes, hoping that it would all just go away. But it didn't.

I crossed the landing to go to the toilet as I heard mum's bedroom door shut. I remember a time, when I was younger, mum used to smell of flowers, she used to smell lovely. That was all for Dad, I remember. Now, all she smelt of was alcohol, tonnes of sickly perfume and cigarette smoke, and it make me sick. All of those smells, I couldn't stand. They made me want to vomit. Her stench had lingered on the landing, and it broke my heart.

She wasn't like this, my mum. My mum was beautiful, she was kind and loving, she smelt nice and gave the best hugs. My mum was the best. This woman wasn't my mum.

-A/N-
If you want me to create Riley and Poppy's playlist on spotify, leave me a comment and I might just do it 😉