Page 95 of Give Me Love

“Fucking bitch,” he slurs. “Fucking heroin.”

“Dad, you’ve got to get up. Come on. Let me get you in the shower.”

He looks up at me, his dark eyes red as fire. “I love you, son. I’m sorry we do this,” he says sadly. His shoulders start to shake, and he covers his face with his hands. He sobs like a small child, and I lean against the door behind me and look to the ceiling. The front door opens, and I hear whistling. I look down the hall.

“Yoo-hoo. Anyone home? Where the hell did all this glass come from?”

My eyes shoot back to my dad, and I catch him wiping his face quickly so she won’t see.

“She’s home, boy.” He jumps up as best he can in his trashed state and walks down the hall to his sick love. Here comes the fighting.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he barks.

“Now, John. Don’t start with me. I went to get the boys some groceries. We never have anything to eat in this house.”

“You saying I don’t work enough?” he says.

“I didn’t say that. I just said I went shopping. Now move so I can unload these bags.”

I hear a cabinet door slam shut. “Those can wait. Where’s the new house?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about, Mary. The new drug house. Where is it? You’ve been gone for five days!” he shouts.

I open the bedroom door and find Jace under the covers. I shut the door behind me and walk over to him.

“Want to listen to some music?” I ask. He nods from under the blanket.

I turn the stereo on to drown out the yelling. “It won’t always be this way, Jace. One day we’ll be out of here. I promise.”

I look back toward Mom and see she’s lying down away from me. Her plate is now empty, and I grip the arms of the chair and stand, leaving the room quietly. I pull my phone from my front pocket and see a text from Kat. I rub my forehead and exhale before sliding the phone back and heading down the stairs. Lou is wiping the counter when I hit the bottom step.

She looks up. “You need some rest,” she says.

“I’m fine.”

She sighs and folds the dishcloth, putting it on the edge of the sink. “She all right?”

I shrug. “She doesn’t want to be here.” I reach for the bottle of liquor in the cabinet and a glass and pour a few swallows before offering it to Lou.

“Why not,” she says. I remove another glass and fill it, too. Sliding a chair out from under the table, I take a seat and set the glass down, staring at it like it holds answers I’ll never know. Lou sits, too.

My eyes shoot to hers. “Am I doing the right thing here?”

She takes a sip and winces. “You know how I feel about the situation. But I don’t think anyone is a lost cause.”

I bring the bourbon to my lips, enjoying the burn as it travels down. I rest the glass back down and stare at the table as I second-guess everything I’m doing. “Maybe I should take her to a rehab. Get her set up somewhere else.”

“You’ve done that, remember?”

I blow out air and lean back in my chair as I rub my throat.

“Does Jace know about your mom being here?”

I dart my eyes over to her. “No.”

“And why are you keeping this from him?”

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