>>><<<
A Sunday morning, a new baby boy lay in his mosses basket as his family quarreled with each other in front of him.
"Honey, listen to me," she begged, clutching at an older boy's shirt forcing him to look at her. "I know I've made a few mistakes in the past."
"What do you mean? Outfits? Wallpaper? Drugs? Alcohol? Try being a little clearer Mother," he snarled.
"Relationships," she quivered, trembling at her son's severity. "But this guy is good, Hudson. He's different. He'll pay it all back, I promise," she pleaded, begging him to understand.
"Yeah, you say that every time Mother," Hudson spat the words out in her face, his tongue cruelly curling around each word saying them individually to emphasize his despise for her. "Every time you expect me to sit back and watch another one of your asshole boyfriends use you and then finally leave you. I can't let you put Levi through that either. He's the only thing that's keeping me from kicking your drunken ass outta here. There's only so much I can take! I won't let you screw up my life and that little baby's! Think of Levi, Mother. Please, think of my baby brother," Hudson appealed, pointing to the child crying.
"H-H-Hudson," she breathed, staring at him crazed, clutching tighter and tighter onto him. "Hudson all we need is a few hundred bucks. Please, Hudson."
"Get off me!" her son raged, unraveling her frail hands easily from his clothing. He pushed her away for him and she fell to the ground, weeping hysterical. He watched her as she remained lying on the floor grasping at her chest, unable to breathe through her bawling. Hudson hunkered down on his knees beside his mother's feet and took hold of her arms holing her upwards. "I'm not going to give you and that man any more of my money. Dad didn't give me it to waste it on your boyfriends'."
The woman then lifted her hand and smacked her son across the cheek with all her might. SLAP.
SLAP.
SLAP.
>>><<<
"Levi wake up or I'll slap you!"
"Pleeease," she moaned. "Wake up Levi, wake up!"
I flung my eyes open, trying to discard my recent memory from my old life, my mother's desperate snivel, and my brother's hatred towards her.
"W-w-what's wrong?" I asked blinking, sitting upright while my eyes adjusting to the light. She sat down on the floor, sobbing lightly, tears dropping from her eyes to the cold ground. She'd found out about what Jefferson had done. Crap.
"Epiphany, what's wrong?" I asked accessing her. No, I thought, Epiphany wouldn't get this upset over an idiot like Jefferson - well, if she did she'd never show it to me.
"Was it a nightmare, is that it?" I asked awkwardly.
She closed her eyes and cried silently. I watched her a little vexed and when she didn't reply the silence slash me. I clasped her arms and dragged her onto the bed so I could see her better. Her eyes were red from crying, I soothed her lightly, wiping her tears away with my fingers. Alarm and confusion crossed her face. "It was just a nightmare. You're fine now." I swooned; pulling her closer, just wishing I could stop her from weeping.
"No, Levi, she's gone. She's gone back," she flinched, whispering repeatedly. Her eyes gazed in distraught. She began sobbing hard, sucking in the air like her lungs couldn't process it. I didn't understand any it, who was gone and where? She watched me wildly, demanding me to understand with her pained eyes.
"Epiphany," I spoke, continuing in a tone I hoped was comforting. "You need to calm down."
"Levi, she's gone back to them!" She sputtered strained, still gasping for the oxygen around her. "Tora's gone."
