Her Savior

9.

PSA:(I changed Nate's age to 15 because some of my plans for the story and for him makes 13 just too immature. Thank You!)

Nate POV
"Oh, Momma. Hey. Where you been?" I ask her, trying to not let her realize that I wasn't prepared to see her.
"What you mean where I been? Who you think you is talking to me like that?" She says scratching at her arm. Fuck, is she really shooting up now? I knew something was up.
"Ma, ian mean it like that. But why you scratching like that? Are- Are you using needles?"I ask her. I was expecting another snap of her attitude but all she does is just sigh and sit down on the couch, which is an obvious sign of defeat and the truth.
"Nate I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out this wa-"
"Yeah of course you didn't Ma! You never meant for me to find out! You know, I thought it was something different like you needed some time away or you went to Grandma's, but no, you went and started shooting up and you're probably a fucking addict now. I would never expect shit like this from you." I yell. Yes, yell. I was so pissed off and my kindness had already worn thin from her letting Aliana leave like that. She didn't even try to call Momma V, or even Aliana to apologize and tell her to come home. She went and started shooting up. No concern for me or Ali.
"Who the fuck are you talking to like tha-"
"You! I'm fucking talking to you! I am tired of you treating me like a fucking kid when me and Ali do stuff around the house and at work by ourselves than you would ever do in a lifetime! That's exactly why Ali is on the way to come pick me up. I'm moving out! You've pushed all of your kids away and we're gonna be living life to the fullest while you end up staying in some junkie house. Next time I see you, I may not even be able to recognize you honestly. You look so different from just 3 days ago. And you have the nerve to yell at me about my voice. I can't fucking believe you." And with that, I turn and walk away to finish packing my bag upstairs. I hear her footsteps coming after me as I'm halfway up the stairs. I hear a thump and see that she's at the bottom of the steps. She can't even make it up stairs.
"Nate, please come back down so I can explain." She says, obviously defeated.
"How about you come up here?" I just want to hear her say it. That's all I need and that's the last string connecting me and my birthgiver. Yeah, she's lost the title.
"I can't and I'm not about to try when I know what the result will be."
That was it. That was all that I needed. That was my clarity. The thing is that what she said wasn't just about her coming up the few stairs. It was about her ability to not only take care of her children, and sadly, herself.
"Fucking pathetic." I say as I turn around and go upstairs so I can leave this place full of memories. It's not even home anymore.

Ali POV
As we pull up to the place that I used to call home, I get this weird yet familiar feeling that something is off. I thought I was done feeling like this. Jabez parks the car as Momma V and Rocky park behind us. I get out and run to the door because I hope that this feeling isn't because Nate is hurt. The door is a little cracked and that makes my stomach turn even more. I walk inside and look around the kitchen, living room, and dining room before I head for the stairs. Once I walk up them, I look into Nate's room and see him pacing across the room.
"Nate? What's wrong?" I ask because surely he would've heard me come up the stairs and had things in his arms ready to go.
"You didn't see her down there?" He asks and I'm lost as hell.
"Who? Ma?"
"Yes. Is she not next to the stairs?"
"No. Nate why would she be next to the stairs? I thought you said she's been gone since I left."
All he does is punch the wall and I watch as the the force of his fist send a hole into the drywall and a crack down to the floor.
"Nate, tell me what the hell happened."
"She fucking gave up on us." Is all that he says before gathering his bags and stuff from the nightstand. He begins to walk towards the door before I stop him.
"What do you mean?"
"I was at the top of the stairs while she was at the bottom. She couldn't even come up these few steps but she could go back to whatever crack house she had been staying at for the past 3 days." He says, breaking down more and more as each word escaped his mouth.
"She had the choice to stay and say something when I came back down, even though I probably wouldn't have even listened, but she still could have done it. She could have tried, but she turned back to whatever she's doing now. That's what she loves now. She loves drugs more than she loves us." I pull him into a hug because I know that this has to hurt. I am now numb to her actions, and so is Laniyah, but Nate? Nate was the one that always had a belief in him that she still had the old her somewhere inside. But now that she lost him, there's nobody else she can try to hold on to.
I soon realize that Nate is crying into my shoulder and all I can do is be there to comfort him. That is until I hear his little but deep mumbles into my shirt.
"Ali, why doesn't she love me anymore?" And that's when I break into tears.
"I don't know baby. I don't know."