Internal/External Battle

Chapter 4

Sophia: Good morning Logan! Why haven't you returned my calls?

Sophia: Oh, I see how it is. You got what you want and now you're done with me? Wow.

Sophia: I know you skipped my class on Friday. I seen you like four times prior to my class. Can't believe you had the nerve to not show up.

Sophia: YOU ARE ONE PHONE CALL AWAY FROM JAIL AND YOU WANT TO AVOID ME?

Sophia: I'm sorry for that last text. I love you Logan. You're a really good kid.

Love?! What the fuck? This whole time I thought we just had some type of lust thing going on. That had to be her whole reason for coming on to me.

Shaking my head, I got out of my car then went into Walmart. Yet again, grams forgot to pay the gas bill, so I have to. To kill two birds with one stone, I paid the light bill too. The line at the money center wasn't that long, so the process was quick. While I was there I figured I may as well get some food. The twins' snacks were running low.

I was extremely close to being out of Walmart when I heard my name being called. If she wasn't in front of me, I would have continued walking like I didn't hear her. She had her daughter with her. Only reason I knew it was her daughter was because she used to substitute teach at the school I go to.

Damn this bitch just texted me less than thirty minutes ago. Something tells me this isn't just a coincidence.

"Good morning Ms. Livingston. Hey Veronica."

Veronica was too into her phone to even notice me. She got with an ex pro football player then she quit working. At least that's what Sophia told me her reasoning was. Don't really care. She was a complete bitch to us for no reason. I'm glad her ass quit.

"Why are you out so early?"

"Umm, paying bills." I said as I showed her the stubs. "My grandma forgot to."

The smirk on her face replaced itself with a light frown. Couldn't tell what the next thing out her mouth would be. No telling with her.

"Why would she forget something she's had to do for almost a century?"

Did this bitch just take a shot at my grandma? What the fuck is wrong with her?

"Well Ms. Livingston, if you had Alzheimer's too then you might understand." I tried to be as polite as possible. "Now if you will excuse me..."

She grabbed my arm as I walked past her. She was able to effortlessly pull me back.

"Is that why you haven't been answering my calls?"

I was about to say something, but a group of girls called her name. She told me to wait while she talked to them, but I was back in my car in no time. Damn near turned a thirty minute drive into fifteen.

I got all the groceries out then went in the house.

Instantly, a certain odor hit my nose. I dropped the bags then ran in the kitchen. A thick cloud of smoke came from the stove. I turned it off then did my best to get rid of the smoke. I turned the fan above the stove on then I opened a window.

"Logan, what's going on in here?!" Grams asked with widened eyes.

At least she knows who I am for now.

"I have no idea. I went out to Walmart this morning and came back to this."

"YOU STARTED COOKING THEN LEFT?! How can you be so careless, Logan?"

Me?! Careless? Who in their right mind would start cooking then go somewhere like Walmart? I don't care what you go in there to get, you're bond to stay in there at least twenty minutes. It never fails.

"No gr-"

"Logo!" The twins said in unison. I didn't even see them when they came in.

"It's way too smokey in here for y'all."

I made all three of them go into the living room. Still kinda smokey, but not like the kitchen.

"What's that smell?" Liyah questioned as she pinched her nose.

"Did you two touch the stove while I was gone?"

They looked at each other then back at me before shaking their heads. Usually when they do that, it's a dead giveaway that they are about to lie. Just because they are cute doesn't mean they get to lie their way out of this one though.

"This is serious. The house could have burned down. Liyah, Lailani, did you two turn on the stove."

They frowned at my tone and shook their heads again.

"We woke up at nine something." Lailani spoke.

"Yeah, because grandma woke us up. Then she gave us a bath. She said something about breakfast cooking." Liyah continued.

Sounds legit. Their hair is wet. Well that's fucked up. Grams tried to blame me for it, but apparently it was her. Liyah just told me so. Not only that, but now that I think about it, the girls are scared of fire. They probably wouldn't want to be around it unless they know what they're doing.

"Please be careful grandma. You could have burned the whole house down."

"WELL EXCUSE THE FUCK OUTTA ME KEYON!" Tears ran down her face as she smacked the back of my head. "SOMEBODY HAD TO GET THE GIRLS READY FOR SCHOOL!"

She stormed away after that. It's so hard to speak to her these days. Any little thing I say will offend her. I don't mean to, I just try and remind her of things. And she hit me... it hurt my feelings more than my head.

At least she didn't punch me in the eye this time. One night she waited for me to get home and she just attacked me. She kept calling me her ex husband's name. That night was the night that I just knew something wasn't quite right with her. Then, the next day she cried to me. She begged me to stay and she told me that she had Alzheimer's. Honestly I'm afraid to be around her sometimes, but she doesn't have anyone else.

"Logie don't cry."

I looked down at them and they were both crying. I led them to the sofa and sat them on my lap.

"Don't cry girls. I'm okay. Umm the smoke is just bothering my eyes."

"What's wrong with grandma?" Liyah asked. "It's Saturday. We don't even have school on the weekends. She knows that."

She knows they don't go to school on the weekend, but does she even know that it is the weekend? Her mind has gotten much worse in the last month. I'm at the point where I don't know what to do. I'm afraid that she might end up having an episode and hurting the twins. She can do whatever to me, but the twins don't need to experience that.

"Umm. Well... Grandma has a condition that causes her to forget some things. She is okay, just forgetful."

They still looked so confused, but there wasn't much more I could tell them.

One of the nurses at her doctor's office mentioned the option to put her in a nursing home. I've been trying to avoid that, but it seems like a logical choice now. I really don't know what to do at this point.