So Glad I Found You // M. Collins

2.

I pulled into our darkened driveway, lit by only one light coming from the porch. I sighed and took the keys out from the ignition. If Rosemary had called me about mom drinking, it must have been bad.

Now let me tell you - my mom has been drinking ever since she and my dad got divorced six years ago, when I was 17. I'm 23 now, and should at least own an apartment, but I'm too afraid of leaving Rosemary in the hands of my drunken mother. It scares Rosemary almost as bad as it scares me.

My parents were divorced due to my mom's unemployment. She used to have a job as an 8th grade social studies teacher, but was caught flirting with one of her students outside of the classroom. The principal instantly fired her. Ever since, she'd been in a large state of depression, and decided that alcohol was the way to go to make her happy.

My dad is a firefighter, and is payed really well. To be specific, he's chief of his squad.

But after my mom was fired, we started to lose tons of money. Bills weren't getting payed, and my mom rarely ever left the house to pay taxes. My dad ended up getting so upset with her, that he packed his bags one day and left without another word.

I haven't seen him ever since.

My mom's drinking problem has grown over the years. Sometimes she's very moody. She'll be happy one moment, and then be sobbing her eyes out, yelling my father's name over and over again. She could be angry about the stupidest thing, like not being able to reach the tv remote just a few inches next to her. She'd get so mad that she'd throw her beer bottle at the wall, causing it to break into a million little pieces.

Then there's the days where she locks herself in her room, and doesn't come out for many hours. It honestly doesn't do any of us any good, yet it's like she's forgotten how to care for us.

I snapped out of my thoughts as the front door opened, and out rushed Rosemary, dressed in her nightgown and all. I quickly realized that she was crying, and I stepped out of my car.

Rosemary barreled into me, her face pushed into my chest as she cried uncontrollably. I stroked her hair and let her get it all out. It wasn't good to let Rosemary hide her emotions, since all that would do was cause them to grow.

"Sh-She's so mehean!" Rosemary sobbed, pulling her tear stained face back from me. She was breathing unsteadily, and shaking hard. I could tell she was paler than usual as well.

"What did she do now, Rose?" I asked her softly, bending down to her own height.

Rosemary hiccuped a few times before speaking. "She told me that her whole family was a mistake to her. She said she wished that we were never born and that she never met Dad. She started cursing at me and she threw her beer bottle at the wall again, but it nearly hit me!"

She broke down again, this time falling to the ground. I embraced her into a hug, letting her calm down in my arms. "It's okay now, Rose. I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you. You understand me?"

She muttered a response that I couldn't make out clearly, but I took it as a yes.

I stood up and took Rosemary's quivering hand, giving her a little squeeze. "Let's go inside."

I led her into our house, moving around the broken glass that now lay near the fireplace in the living room. Mom wasn't in there, and I expected that she had gone to bed early like usual.

Rosemary gasped suddenly, and her grip on my hand tightened. "I can hear her in the kitchen!"

I froze and listened intently.

Sure enough, I heard the sound of glass clanging together and my mother's curses under her breath.

"Shh," I told my sister. "Let's head upstairs to my room. That way we won't need to talk to her."

Rosemary nodded and followed me quickly, yet quietly, up the stairs. She slipped into her room, grabbing a pillow and a blanket along with her phone to take into my own.

"I don't think I want to sleep alone tonight," My sister whispered to me. "I can't. Not after all that."

I nodded and grabbed my own pajamas, heading into the bathroom to get ready for the night.

I came back to see my sister had made a little fort of my old stuffed animals around her, her laying in the middle of them, covered up and her eyes closed.

I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Love ya sis." I said softly, brushing her brown hair out of her eyes. I climbed into my bed and turned off my lamp, just as I heard a sleepy response.

"I love you too, Dee."