Cigarettes, Kisses and a little bit of Mischief

Frankie's Morning

(Frankie POV)

     I woke up to a pounding migraine at 6 this morning but that's nothing new. It's what I get for drinking so much last night. I tend to overdo myself and then regret it in the morning, especially when school is in swing. Oh no! School starts today and I'm not at all prepared.
I throw my hoodie off of my legs as I sit up on my twin size mattress. I don't have an actual blanket because my mother thinks they take up too much space so I use my hoodie. I'm honestly lucky I even have a bed. It sucks because I'm 17 and still sleeping on a mattress that can barely hold a 10 year old. I sigh as I look over to my sister. As you've probably guessed, yes she's 10 years old and I share a bed with her. She's the only good thing I have in life right now. If I didn't have her, I probably wouldn't be here. Chances are I'd be in jail or worse.
    I get off the mattress and stumble to our bedroom door,well what we call our door. It's just a piece of wood propped up against the doorframe. I move it and slide past into the hallway which is piled high with clothes,who knows if they're clean or not, and slip into the tiny room we call a bathroom. It's honestly not even big enough to earn that name. It's more like a supply closet if that consisted of a non-flushable toilet and a broken sink. I brush my teeth and attempt to flatten down my hair, it doesn't help that I have extremely curly hair and it almost always tangles up. I rummage around the bathroom to find a brush but fail miserably .
As you can probably tell, we are extremely poor and our mother doesn't care about us. She never has and never will. Our mother is almost never home and when she is, she's passed out on the sofa in the living room or she's in jail. She's been like this since dad died in the accident in 2010. I'm used to not having a mother figure around but katie isn't so I'm trying to be a mother to her. She's young and needs to be protected. I look into the broken mirror and attempt a smile,yeah not today. I try to force myself to smile so I can convince myself that everything isn't so bad but today is not one of the successful attempts.
I just roll my eyes and decide I should  try and find some food for katie.I don't care if I eat or not, I'll just steal some food from the school tomorrow, might be able to stash some away for katie when she gets hungry at night.
    I push my way out of the bathroom and make it to the kitchen.I notice that there are dishes in the sink,which I had done last night.

    "Great,just another mess for me to clean up."

I open the fridge door and a bottle of whiskey falls out onto the floor and shatters.

"Fuck!"

I sigh frustrated with the mess.The only reason it would have fallen was because mother didn't put it on the shelf the right way and it dropped between the slot.
I grab a rag off of the sink and begin to clean up the whiskey and glass.I jump as I feel a sudden hand touch my shoulder.

"Frankie?"

I turn around to see katie crying.
I stand up and put the rag in the sink.I pull her into a hug.

"What's wrong babygirl?"

I feel her tears soak through my shirt as she tries to talk to me.

"I thought- I thought you and mom were fighting again."

I put my hands on her face and gently wipe a tear from her cheek.

"No honey, I accidentally dropped mom's bottle out of the fridge.It's okay. We're not fighting."

Katie and I both jump at the sound of our mother coughing.
I grab Katie's hand and guide her to the bedroom.

"Get your jeans and hoodie on,I'm taking you to school."

She looks at me with tears in her eyes.
I can't help but feel like I'm the reason she's so sad,and that breaks my heart.

"I promise K. It's going to be okay."

Katie goes into the bedroom and I head back towards the kitchen but am stopped suddenly by mother blocking my way. She looks horrible and I mean that in the most honest way possible. Her hair is knotted, and she has vomit on her shirt which I'm pretty sure is from last night. Her makeup is smeared all over her face and she smells like she took a bath in alcohol.
I wait for her to say something, anything that gives me permission to speak.
She gives me a grin and then glares at me.

"Do you go to school today?"

I can feel the mood shift from awkward to still which in this case is absolutely  terrifying. I never know what mother will do when she's in these moods so I keep my guard up. I try to keep my distance but she closes in on me. I block the bedroom door so she cant make it through. The last thing I want is for Katie to get hurt.
She grabs my shirt and tries to pull me out of the way.

"Where's your sister?"

I push her off of me. She doesn't realize that I'm a lot stronger than her right now due to my adrenaline rush.

"She's getting dressed. Leave her alone."

My voice cracks when "alone" leaves my mouth. Mother can clearly see I was regretting saying it.

"What did you just say to me?"

I step forward knowing I probably shouldn't.

"I said leave her alone."

Mother gets a look on her face and I can tell that she's not in the mood for a fight.
She backs up and throws her hands up in defeat.

"Whatever, I don't even know why I had you kids."

She goes back to laying on the sofa and I sigh, I knew she wouldn't lay a hand on me but I also knew she wouldn't hesitate to hurt katie. That's why I stand in the way when I can.
I walk into the bedroom and grab my hoodie to throw on. I also grab my phone and bookbag.
Katie looks at me as I put my converse shoes on and she smiles.
I look up and smile back because I know that sometimes a smile is the only thing that can keep us going.
I stand up and grab her hand.

"You ready?"

She looks up and smiles at me even though I can see the tears in her eyes.

"Ready when you are Frankie."

We walk through the door and hallway to the exit and I cant help but think
maybe this will be the year we get help.