Somebody I Used to Know

Chapter 1

I can still remember that night, that awful horrible night.

The noise and the sirens.

People screaming to run and hide or else we would get caught.

I remember losing him and then seeing him in handcuffs being forced to the back of a cop car.

I remember saying to myself, "God, why didn't I just stay home, we're so stupid"

I remember my friends taking me home an hour after the cops cleared out. Me walking in and both my parents sitting at the breakfast table looking worried. I remember the headache and my mother commenting about how I stenched of alcohol and drugs. Then my father got up, looked me over, shook his head, and went up stairs. As my eyes followed him I saw my sister sitting in the shadows of the night. I don't even know how many times she's witnessed this, me coming home at odd hours of the night and getting into fights with my parents.

When my mother was done fussing about how bad I smelled, she looked up and said, "If you can't stay sober, we're going to put you into rehab. Do you think I'm kidding this time, you need help".

I looked at her in total disbelief. She wouldn't lock her own daughter up, would she?

"Go to your room and don't come back out until morning", my mother said.

"Yes, oh mighty one", I said as I curtsied and stumbled up the stairs and knocked a picture off the wall.

"Amelia"

I heard a soft whisper

"What, Ariana", I replied back to my eight-year-old sister.

"Amelia, are you going away again?", she replied.

"Oh, my little bumblebee, I couldn't ever stay away from you," I said, "just promise me, that if I do go away, that you're going to help mommy and daddy and do exactly what they say".

"I promise", she said as she wrapped me in a hug and went to her room.

As I went to my room I heard my mother and father talking about how I was out of control and needed help. That was also the night my father left. He left. Because of me.

I don't think I'll ever forget that night.