When I got home, I saw that my mother wasn’t home. I sighed and went in the house. I got the laptop and started searching for babysitters in my area that could watch Troy during the night. Turns out there aren’t very many services that are 24 hours and the ones that are, are too shady. I sighed and closed the lid and put my head back and closed my eyes.

“What am I going to do?” I asked myself.

Obviously, I didn’t get an answer. I shook my head and dragged myself up out of the couch and went into the kitchen to make some breakfast. I opened the cupboard and found nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“God mom, can’t you even manage to go grocery shopping?” I said out loud.

I sighed and went up to my room and pulled out a shoe box that I kept all of my cash in and started to count. I had a little over 3 thousand dollars saved up from working. I took about one hundred and tucked the box back in its hiding place and went to the store.

After about an hour of shopping and almost a whole hundred dollars spent, I pulled back into my driveway. To my delight, my mom still wasn’t home. I smiled and went in to put the groceries away. I made some breakfast and plopped myself on the couch.

“Shit.” I said to myself as I heard my mom pull in.

I jumped up and cleaned my dishes and tried to sneak upstairs.

“Kyle, where are you?” She called for me.

I closed my eyes and sighed and walked down the stairs.

“Right here.” I said.

She was smiling and holding a bottle. Well, at least she’s in a good mood.

“Are you hungry?” I asked her.

She shook her head and took a pull from the bottle.

“Where’s Troy?” She asked me as she stumbled into the living room.

“He’s at school mom.” I said.

“Why the hell is he there?” She slurred.

I rolled my eyes.

“Mom, he has to go to school, he’s 9.” I said.

I shook my head and went into the kitchen.

“Hey! Knock off the attitude.” She shouted at me.

I raised my eyebrow and faced her.

“I don’t have an attitude mother.” I said.

Her eyes narrowed and she stood up from the couch. She took a long sip from the bottle, then threw it. It hit the fridge and shattered everywhere. I screamed and covered my face. Shards of glass scratched my arms.

“Mom! What the hell!” I shouted at her.

She stumbled over to me and raised her hand and swung hard. She knocked me down to the ground and onto the broken glass. I screamed as I felt the glass cut me.

“You are so ungrateful! How dare you speak to your mother that way, you little bitch!” She shouted.

I slowly pushed myself up off of the floor and backed away from her.

“You are nothing but trash! I should’ve gotten rid of you when I had the chance!” She shouted as she went to the fridge and took a bottle of beer out and went back to the living room.

I backed up into the corner and covered my mouth as I started to cry.

“Quit your crying and go get me some liquor.” Mom said from the couch.

After taking a few deep breaths, I pulled myself together and left the house. I didn’t even get in my car, I just started running.

*ZACKY*

I didn’t stay too long at Brian’s. I just didn’t feel like hanging out with them, which was strange because they were like family and usually I could tell them anything. But I knew I couldn’t talk about this. They all hated Amber so mentioning her would just piss them off. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was feeling right now but I knew it had something to do with her.

Reading her letter and talking about her to Kyle brought up feelings that I thought I buried. Maybe I still loved her? I groaned and rummaged through my liquor cabinet and found some vodka and started hammering it down. It didn’t take me long to pass out.

When I came to, the sun was glaring in my living room and Icky was whining. I groaned and rubbed the back of my neck.

“Alright, let’s go out.” I told him as I put his leash on.

He yipped at me and we went outside. I’m sure I looked like death itself but I didn’t really care. I took Icky down to a park and walked him around until he finished his business. I got a lot of stares from people. I rolled my eyes and looked down.

“Come on, let’s go home.” I told Icky. He barked at me and we headed back to my apartment.

As we were coming up to the building, I wasn’t really watching where I was going and I felt myself collide with someone.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” I said as I bent down to help her up.

As I looked harder, I realized it was Kyle.

“Kyle?” I said. She looked up at me and I gasped slightly.

Her face was red and I could see a bruise forming on her cheek and she was bleeding from her hands and arms.

“Kyle, what happened? Are you alright?” I asked her as I gently pulled her off the ground.

She didn’t say anything, she just burst into tears and clung to me tightly.

“Shh, it’s alright. It’s alright.” I tried to sooth her.

I put my arms around her and helped her walk into my building. She was shaking so badly, it was difficult for her to walk. When we got to my apartment, I led her to the couch and set her down on it. I went to the kitchen and got a glass of water for her and set it on the coffee table. Then I went to the bathroom and got some rubbing alcohol and bandaids and a towel to clean up her cuts.

When I got back to the living room, Icky was curled up beside her and she was quiet. She picked her head up and looked at me. I shrugged and half smiled.

“I know, I know. I look like hell.” I said. My voice was raspy and she smiled a little.

“I’m sure I do too.” She said in a small voice.

I shook my head.

“Nah, you look beautiful.” I said quietly.

I felt her tense up and she just looked at me. I blushed and cleared my throat.

“What happened to you?” I asked her.

I opened up the bottle of alcohol and poured some on the towel. Kyle sighed and looked away. As gently as I could, I dabbed her cuts. On her forearm, I saw something shiny in one of the cuts.

“Shit, there’s glass in here.” I said almost under my breath.

She groaned and I held her arm up.

“Okay, I gotta take you to the hospital to get this glass out.” I told her.

Her eyes got big and she shook her head.

“No, please. Can’t you take it out?” She pleaded with me.

“Kyle, no. I need to take you to a hospital.” I told her.

She sighed and nodded and I helped her up. We hurried to the parking garage and got into my car and drove off. Thankfully, the hospital wasn’t too busy so they took us quickly. The doctor didn’t even ask questions as he pulled the tiny pieces of broken glass from Kyle. When she was bandaged up, I drove her back to my apartment. We sat down on the couch in silence for a few moments. I cleared my throat again and looked at her.

“So will you tell me what happened?” I asked her.

She closed her eyes and pulled her legs up under her.

“It was an accident.” She said softly.

I shook my head.

“No, it wasn’t. Someone hurt you Kyle. I want to help.” I told her.

I could see tears in her eyes and she looked away from me.

“Please.” I said.

She sighed and hung her head.

“I live with my mother and she’s an alcoholic. She has been since I could remember. Sometimes she gets a little rough and throws her bottles at walls. Today she was pissed off and she hit me and I fell onto the glass. It’s no big deal.” She said in a quiet voice.

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“Kyle, I’m sorry.” I said.

I reached over and put my hand over hers. She shrugged and wiped the tears that spilled from her eyes.

“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal.” She said.

“Yes it is. Why don’t you move out?” I asked her.

She sighed and stood up and started pacing.

“I can’t. It’s complicated.” She told me.

I raised my eyebrow.

“What’s complicated about it? Just pack up and leave.” I said.

She sighed.

“I can’t. She can’t work so she needs my income to survive.” She said.

I rolled my eyes.

“Kyle come on. You can’t live like this.” I told her.

“It’s not that simple, I can’t just leave Troy.” She stopped when she said Troy.

I looked at her strangely and tilted my head.

“Who’s Troy?” I asked. She shook her head.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said quickly.

“Is he your boyfriend?” I said through gritted teeth.

She smiled slightly and shook her head.

“No, he’s not.” She said.

“Well then who is he?” I asked.

I watched her think about it for a moment before locking her eyes with mine.

“He’s my son.”