Anger Management [Meloghia]

Chapter 24: Coping

TRIGGER WARNING

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Time was ceasing to be a concept that Isabella understood in any capacity. She'd been put out by Terra a number of times and had no idea how long she'd been in this room tied to a chair. It could have been a week for all she knew and based on her stiff muscles and back pain, that wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. She'd eaten twice though that she could recall so perhaps it was actually a shorter amount of time than that.

Anxiety was taking its toll. The girl had been in a few times and Isabella found herself on edge. She didn't know what information they wanted out of her and no matter what she said, it didn't stop. The dark fears inside her continued to play out in front of her eyes. Melone had come to her some of these moments, and the things he'd said to her and done in her presence would have left her sleepless had she not been put under by Terra. In short, Isabella was terrified. She had no consolation as to when she would leave, or if she would even make it out of here alive. What if they decided she didn't know anything? She'd seen their faces now, would they let her go free, especially since she was connected to Melone and Risotto?

Isabella had long since given up escape attempts. She wasn't strong enough to try to break free of her bindings and every time someone came in, Tulmine was always in tow to zap her stand. They were certainly prepared to detain her as long as they needed to. She could only hope that this hell would be over soon.

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She inhaled her second line of powdered euphoria and flipped her long hair back as she sat back on the couch. Andréa didn't let her take her meds again today. She wanted her stand to be extra powerful which meant Caramella would be in full force today. She knew she shouldn't but she just didn't want to hear all the degrading comments in her ear today, the ones about Andréa just using her for her stand ability. Being high made her feel more confident and it shut Caramella up.

Caramella had always been with her for as long as she could remember. She supposed there must have been a time when she wasn't but Angela had been so young then. Their father had gotten custody when their mother had been deemed unfit to care for them. Their mother had been committed to a hospital for paranoid schizophrenia when she was a child. Their father who had been a drug addict was strung out half the time and ignored when Angela began exhibiting similar symptoms. Tulmine who was six years older had gotten work selling drugs in the streets in order to take care of her and Terra. Angela was sixteen when she'd first tried cocaine. She'd heard all about it from her brother's friends and decided it might help her feel better. She'd been self-medicating ever since.

It was only recently that Andréa had gotten her hands on actual antipsychotics and began administering them to Angela. Even when she did take it, she still found herself here at the table, self-medicating. She much preferred the feeling she got this way. The meds stopped the symptoms but left her feeling dulled emotionally, so she would end up doing more coke to offset. It also helped her to feel more confident around Andréa. Her comments didn't hurt as much when she was high. Andréa could be demanding but Angela knew her girlfriend loved her. Andréa had helped them all by giving Tulmine such a high position in her gang. Terra and Angela were also offered similar securities, and then Andréa had taken an interest in Angela.

There was nothing subtle about Andréa's advances. When she wanted something, she took it, and Angela was quickly swept off her feet. She said all the things that Angela needed to hear: she was beautiful, that she mattered, that she wasn't crazy. Angela had always been scared that she would become like her mother. Their mother had been hospitalized after she insisted that Tulmine wasn't her son and attacked him. Angela loved her siblings, they did everything to protect her and shield her from the harshness of this life they now led.