Misfortunate Molly: Would Heartbreak, Break You?

Chapter 10 Visit

As the morning creeps in through the open living room, I feel a stiffness in my neck. I try to sit up but it hurts. I very slowly roll over onto my back and notice my dad is still on the couch, with his snoring echoing through the house. I look over to the side and see that Dre is still in the chair with his head back. Wait. Is he? I laugh to myself. Dre and my dad are competing with the loud rumbles. When one stops, the other begins. Sherrie must have been woken up by them and decided to retreat. I do not know how I can sleep through such noise, but I can. I try and sit up again and succeed this time. I roll off the couch and pull the blanket from me. I fold it and put it back on the couch.

I walk over to my dad and wake him with some shaking, telling him to go to his room. He snarls at me, stands up, kisses me on the head, and goes over to Dre and repeats what I just did to him. Dre takes a few more tries to get up than my dad did but he wakes up looking a little dazed, like he is trying to remember where he is. Once he figures it out, he stands up. Him and my dad walk up the stairs and I hear one, then two doors close. I go into the kitchen to get a drink of water while trying to walk out this tension in my neck, rolling my head left to front, right to back. After a few minutes, the tension in my neck begins to fade away.

I get my drink of water and head to my room. I climb into bed, still with my mess from my sketching everywhere. Adjusting and readjusting the pillows so my neck is comfortable. I hear the pencils move against each other as I settled in. Once my neck is content, I curl my knees closer to my chest in fetal position, tucking some of the blanket and sheets between my knees and thighs, and begin to descend into the abyss of my inner thoughts.

I am in and out of sleep when Dre comes and taps on my open door, which I have yet to close. "Molly, there is someone here to see you." Dre says to me while filling the doorway with his stature.

"Who?" Who would be here to see me? I do not want to talk to anyone.

"I believe her name is Mrs. Garrett," he answers me.

My stomach drops. Shit. Am I ready to see her? I do not think so but I have no choice now. I push the covers over causing some of the stuff to fall off the other side of the bed. He hears it and looks at me, then walks away from my room. I get up and pull my messy, unbrushed hair into a messy bun on top of my head. This takes a few attempts because my shoulder is still very sore. I rub my face with my hand and wipe the crust from the corners of my mouth. I sigh a lot before I make it out of my room.

Mrs. Garrett and Sherrie are talking in the area between the kitchen and bookshelf when they see me. Sherrie smiles and walks away to her room. I do not see Dre anywhere. I wonder where he disappeared to. The house is quiet. Too quiet.

Mrs. Garrett looks to me, "Hi Molly. It's good to see you, dear." She is still sad. I can feel it and see it in her eyes. I do not even want to know how hard this has been for her. "I came to see how you were doing and to talk to you for a minute." She is in front of me now coming in for a hug. I give her one and it takes some time before she lets me go.

When she releases me, "Hi. How are you doing is a better question." This is her son that I just...

"This is not a competition to see who is hurting more or doing worse. We all are feeling it and deal with pain differently." I feel like she is yelling at me but her voice is far too soft.

"I know, I know. But still." I walk her over to the couch. We sit at the same time, facing each other at an angle. "So, what's up?" I am trying to be casual.

"The main reason I came by was to discuss Curtis's funeral with you." She must feel the look on my face due to the fact that I am looking down at this point. She tips my chin up to mzke eye contact. "I want to go over some things with you."