Consumed

Chapter 13: Meri

"Mom?" I step into her dilapidated, darkened bedroom.

Broken beer bottles cover the floor, and my shoes crunch over them loudly in the silent space. The shades are drawn, and no sunlight makes it through them. The bed is rumpled, and the whole room smells of stale alcohol and vomit.

Milan's comforting presence helps a little. He stays close, his fingers entwined with mine to provide reassurance. I glance over at him, and he smile encouragingly. He gently tugs me toward the bed where my mom is lying.

"Mom?" I say again, swallowing back the fear.

She opens her eyes and squints up at me. Her hair fans out over the pillow, a dark fountain streaked with grey. It used to be so thick and luxuriant, but the years of drugs and alcohol have taken their toll. Her hair is now thin and scraggly with more grey than anything else. Her once bright smile has become brittle, and her teeth are yellowing instead of the pretty white they once were.

It's worse right now. She hasn't bathed in days. That much is obvious. She's got a wedding band around her finger though, and I realize with a jolt that Petre wasn't lying. They're married now. She really did marry him.

Her eyes are rheumy as she stares up at me in the gloom of the room and a chilling laugh gurgles out of her. "Now you decide to come back, you wretch."

I still, wondering what she means. I thought she was sorry. But Petre's a liar. Always has been, and doubtless he lied about this too in order to get me back here. It worked, but not in the way he wanted it to.

"I'm sorry I didn't make the wedding, Mom," I try, the guilty feeling washing over me as it always used to. The self-loathing returns. I'm such a horrible daughter. She got married, and I couldn't bother to be there. You didn't know, my conscience whispers. I still should've been there.

"You would've ruined it anyway, you ungrateful child. Be glad I'm bed-ridden. If I wasn't, I'd beat the living daylights out of you for leaving like that. Petre said you ran off with some boy," she sneers. "Just give me a minute with that boy and a brick... See how he likes it."

"Mom," I say, trying to stop her. A tear slips down my cheek. "Mom, he's trying to help us."

"We don't need anyone's help. We're just fine, and we have Petre. He'll take care of both of us, Meri. Now shut up and go fix dinner."

"Mom, no," I finally force the words out, reluctance simmering through me.

"A week away with some boy and you already talk back!" she shrieks. "Can't you see how bad he is for you? Anyone who tries to steal my daughter away from me is evil."

My gaze lifts to Milan, who's standing by the window. My mom still hasn't seen him. I struggle to hold back the rush of tears. "He's not evil, Mom. He just wants to help us both. You'll see... I brought him to meet you."

"You did what?" my mom snaps, raising a bony hand to point at me. "Get rid of him. If he ever comes back, I'm going to kill him."

For a long moment, I stay quiet, unable to decide what I should do. I've been free from her for a week and a half now, and already I can see just how bad my life was. Before, I bore it and believed that it was okay because I had my mom. Now I see the truth. This isn't my mom. She's a paranoid, twisted version of my mom.

I haven't been living with my mom for the past seven years. I've been living with this stranger, and this stranger has been abusing me every chance she gets. Finally I realize that I'm tired of it. I want to be free and happy like I was before she got sick.