Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dani -

I woke up to her groaning, again.

She leaned over the bed and emptied her stomach into the trashcan below.

I reached for the water bottle and opened it, holding it up for her to take when she was ready.

She rinsed her mouth and spit into the trashcan.

She rolled to lay on her back, sighing loudly.

I rubbed her arm and squeezed her.

‘What can I do?’

She just shook her head.

‘I'm so proud of you. Three days, cold turkey.’

Mimi: ‘When will it get better?’

‘Could be tonight, could be another week and a half.’

Mimi: ‘Did I tell you, I never wanted to try anything but smoking?’

‘No, you didn't.’

Mimi: ‘I see now, with your help, how bad it got, but I didn't fall in love with an abusive asshole. I fell for the older guy next door, who picked up the pieces when my parents died. He helped me emancipate myself, and moved us away, because living in that town was too painful.’

I pulled her to rest her head on my chest, and scratched her back.

‘Sounds like you had something special.’

Mimi: ‘He had dinner with my family at least a few times a week. It wasn't a forbidden romance. We were best friends, for the longest time. He never made me feel embarrassed, that I was afraid of thunderstorms, and never got rid of my stuffed animals. After my parents died, I was at a loss, we would drink now and then, but he saw I was trying to stay drunk, so instead, we watched cartoons, and I didn't feel like I needed to drink. That's how we discovered what we had, how I started calling him Daddy.’

‘That sounds pretty beautiful.’

Mimi: ‘It was, he was my rock. I dated, when I was younger and explored puppy love. I had a few boyfriends for a week or two, even a few girlfriends. He was always my best friend though, as weird as it sounds, he was my protective big brother for the longest time.’

‘No I get it. You never plan to love someone, not like that. Life, brings us people, or they just are with us, and we really find them, when we need them.’

Mimi: ‘He got a new job when we moved away, he worked hard, and said I had to finish school. It was great for the longest time, we never had more than we needed, but definitely never had less than enough. When I turned eighteen though, I got the money from my parents life insurance. We said we could each take a break, to enjoy it. A semester for me from school, to have my Daddy home with me. There were issues, I guess you could say. As soon as he started working again he got hurt. He gave a few friends his pills, because he didn't need them. He said he didn't want to live off me, that I was the one to lose my parents, but he missed the pills. I trusted him, with my life. I guess it's a mess after that. I get more money when I can legally buy my own booze. What we had, it started getting gone fast, so he wanted to I guess, protect that. We started doing things different, he would work for his fix, and eventually, I found out I did too.’

‘Sounds pretty messed up.’

Mimi: ‘Everything got messed up.’

She squeezed me tight, shaking.

‘I know. I had something before, that got really messed up.’

Mimi: ‘I can tell. Why do you care so much? You could have left. Left me there.’

‘No, I really couldn't. I saw signs of you and thought there was a child in the house honestly, but when I found you I knew it was even more serious.’

Mimi: ‘Still, you didn't have to take me.’

‘But I did.’

Mimi: ‘So what are we?’

‘I'm still only here to help you baby girl. I just want to take care of you.’

Mimi: ‘I don't understand though. You have been so great Dani, it's confusing. You don't want me to do things for you, but you're still taking care of me.’

‘I had a girlfriend, she was my entire world. She became my baby girl, but she's gone now. She's why I'm where I am now, how I met you.’

Mimi: ‘I'm glad I didn't try to run.’

‘I'm glad you didn't, Mimi. I'm glad to help you.’

Her entire demeanor changed.

Cameran: ‘Dani I'm not in that place now, you can call me Cameran.’