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Chapter 17

The next day comes all too quickly. As mornings go its calm. Max stays in his bedroom. Since it is Sunday, Chloe is not here but she will come back. Probably around lunch, however, it is nowhere around lunch time. It actually feels early. Really early. I would not have gotten up had it not been for my growling stomach.

I know that it is probably pointless but I get up anyway and go into the kitchen in search of breakfast. Looking in the fridge, I only see hot dog condiments and milk. I check the date on the milk to find it has expired. Just my luck. I put it back in the fridge and search the cabinets. It only has canned food that I would get in trouble if I try to cook it so I slam the door shut and go into the living room.

I plop down on the couch where Momma had been sleeping last night. Since she isn't here I assume that she is in her bedroom. Matt is awake in his chair as usual. He is always awake. He was leaning over his chair looking for something under the nightstand. He pulls out that same small metal box. I recognize it from the party that they had.

He grabs a book and a pack of cigarette papers and puts it in his lap. He opens the box and begin filling up a paper. The awful smell from last time filled the room. There is no doubt in my mind that this must be the "dope" Momma yells at him about.

Out of nowhere he starts talking to me about school. I politely answer him but I am still a little stunned at the sight of what he is doing. He licks, rolls, and lights it. The smell intensifies. All I want to do is leave. The smell offends all of my senses, but I don't let him know that.

"I am going back to bed," I calmly tell him. I am relieved to find the smell hasn't seeped into my bedroom. I was afraid it had. I shut the door and shove dirty clothes under the door crack. I pack them as tightly as I can before I get back into bed. My stomach growls again, but I curl up into a ball and drift off into a peaceful sleep.