It's Not as Easy as it Seems.

Childhood.

     "Honey, dinner is ready!" Mom yells from downstairs. I get excited because she made my favorite, stroganoff. I smile with glee as I bounce down the stairs. I get to the kitchen, pour myself a glass of milk, and sit down in front of my bowl.
"Thanks, ma. I've been waiting for this forever now." I chuckle.
"You're welcome babe, just don't eat it like a kid, you're almost fifteen now."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah.." I dig in and immediately regret my choice, I flinch as I burn the roof of my mouth. Mom laughs at me and sips her wine.
"Ma, you drink every night." I get a cold, dead stare, and I can feel my spine turn to ice.
"So?" She doesn't say anything else, and gets up and leaves. She doesn't take her plate in to the kitchen. She goes into the bathroom. I quietly try to rush through the last bit of my food, I know what she's doing and I don't want to see her come out of that bathroom. I speed-walk to the kitchen and rinse my bowl. I start to the bottom of the stairs, and she crawls out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.
"Where are you going, we didn't finish dinner?"
"I'm tired, ma. I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight."
"You don't want to spend time with me? What's wrong?"
"You know what's wrong with me. Don't play stupid. I'm not three years old. Goodnight." With that, I head upstairs and lay down.
     It's 2:00 in the morning, and I can't sleep. I'm pissed at mom. She won't stop doing that shit. We're literally fighting with an eviction notice, and she would rather shoot up than take care of herself and her child. I decide to roll over and go to sleep.
     It's 4:56 now. I'm dizzy. I feel like I'm going to puke. I'm shaking. What's wrong with me? I get up and go downstairs. Mom is on the couch just like I knew she would be. Beer in one hand and remote in the other.
"Mom..."
"What, Joey?"
"I don't feel good."
"Yeah, I figured."
"What?" Im sweating now.
"I put something in your food." I go light headed. My legs give out and I fall to the floor. "I'm gonna take you to the emergency room, and you're going to give me your pain pills."
"N-no I'm not.." I grumble.
"Yes, the fuck you are." She pushes me into one of the kitchen chairs, and puts her shoes on. "Go get in the car." She gets the keys and walks out. "I don't even know if I can drive right now, but I'm definitely going to risk it." She laughs, throwing her head back and starting the car. My anxiety shoots through the roof.
     I have an idea. I dial 911 and put my phone on my lap.
"Mom, please don't do this."
"Do what, son?"
"I don't want to do this."
"Do what?"
"Ma, you know. What are we doing right now? Why did you drug me? Why are you doing this?"
"Because I want those pills, Joey. Why the fuck else would we be doing this?" She scoffs.
"Mom..I don't want to do this.."
"I really don't give a fuck if you don't want to do this! And if you tell anyone about this, I swear to God; you will never see the light of day again. And I mean that." I swallow and gag on the lump in my throat.
"What hospital are we going to right now..?"
"Why does it matter?"
"..I want to take a nap if we're going to be on the road for a while.."
"Oh, okay. We're going to the emergency room, here in town."
"Oh..um..okay." I go silent. We sit in complete, heavy silence for ten minutes. When we get to the hospital, there are three cop cars in the parking lot. When mom and I get out, I can't stand on my own. My body is numb. I can't deal with this... I take a deep breath. "I'm the one who called! Please!" I fall and everything goes black. I hear boots and grunting.
"Get on the ground!"
"Go get a paramedic!"
"You're being restrained, ma'am, stop resisting!"
Then, silence.