Neriah

5

Jaques

I drank the last bit of my sprite trying to avoiding talking as much as possible.

"So you not gone speak to me?"

"What you want me to say?" I sat the cup down and looked up to see my mom looking at me with a plate full of food.

Has she been staring at me this whole time?

"Explain to me why you leave here at the ass crack of dawn and don't get back home till the sun about to come back up again?"

"Mom you treating me like I'm some little kid and I'm not going for none of that. I'm 21 years old".

"I'm treating you like the disrespectful dumbass little boy you are". I took a deep breath.

"See this is why me and you don't get along. You always trying to say hurtful shit like that's going to make me cry or some shit".

She scuffed and finally picked up her fork to eat. "Stop being a pain in my ass for a second and tell me what I want to know!" She threw the fork at me but it flew past my head and onto the floor. I'm so used to her throwing shit at me I didn't even flinch.

I shook my head and got up from my seat and headed upstairs. "I'm not doing this with you tonight".

She picked up her plate and threw it my way. Then her glass, then the vase in the middle of the table, then the chair that sat closest to her.

"Chill man! Chill!" I ran up and grabbed her wrist before she could throw her knife.

"You need to get the fuck away from me!" She was to quick. She punched the shit out of me with her free hand.

"Ah fuck!" I let her go and felt my face.

Blood wet the palm of my hand instantly.

She hopped up and charged at me. I ran to kitchen and found her purse sitting on the counter. I knocked it over and the bright orange bottle of pills rolled out.

"Mom you need to take these, okay. They'll calm you
down remember?" She crept around the corner slowly.

I held my hands up with the pills in my right to show her on not trying to hurry her. "Just calm down and let me help you". I stepped towards her one foot at a time. What I don't need is for her to take my eye out or some shit.

She lunged for me but I grabbed her neck and put her in a headlock.

"Mom calm down". She elbowed me in the ribs trying to get free. No matter how bad it hurt I couldn't let go.

I used my teeth to get the cap off and struggled to get one out.

She screamed and hollered which allowed me to shove the pill down her throat.

She of course coughed that one up.

"Mom let me help you!" She bucked around and head butted me in the same place she punched me. The pills fell out my hands and scattered all over the floor.

"I'm tired of you disrespecting me!" She kicked over the trashcan sending a week and a half worth of garbage across the room.

"Stop! Take your medicine mom, please". She put her hands in her hair and yanked on it. "Please mom let me help you". She fell down to the floor crying.

I grabbed the closets pill that laid on the floor. Getting down on the floor with her, I handed it to her and she took it from me with shaky hands.
She took it down dry and laid her head on my chest.

"It's okay ma. It's okay". I wrapped my arms around her and rocked her back and forth.

My mom suffers from bipolar disorder and short term memory loss. My mom has had it my whole entire life and we go through this almost every night.

Sometimes I can just go to my room and let her scream and holler from the other side of the door. And then there's nights like tonight; where I have to fight her off for a few hours. With her short term memory she forgets to take her medicine or forgets who I am and flips out on me like she did here just a second ago.

I try to keep as much information to myself because sometimes certain things set her off.

Like for example talking about the weather for some reason makes her really sad. Her personality doesn't switch as must as others do. She'll be really cool and be my bestfriend for weeks and then for months she'll become this evil person who wants to throw dishes and punch me. Her therapist has been telling me to be patient as it gets worse and just to leave her alone to herself so she can reflect on things in a more personal way...... Which I don't quite understand.

Her snoring let me know the medicine had kicked in but I refuse to get up. I don't want to startle her and she starts back up again.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I slowly reached into my back pocket and got it out successfully.

Coach Blatt: don't forget to be up nice an early. Remember we're getting on the bus to head to play the Pistons in Detroit at ten tomorrow morning.

I sighed and set an alarm for myself. I guess I'm spending my night on the kitchen floor.

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