Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine NKLC Summer Edition | Page 62

Dee heard a rustling sound coming from the kitchen . She peered out of the door and grimaced . Her dad was retrieving one of the cans she had tossed out . She closed her eyes against the anger settling in her soul . He was probably half drunk when he administered her mother ’ s pain meds . But whether or not he was sober didn ’ t matter ; all that mattered was that her mother wasn ’ t alone .
Nipsey should be more grateful . Her mother ’ s illness had brought him out of the shelter . Her mother needed someone 24 / 7 , and the insurance didn ’ t cover all of it . So the on-call nurse taught Dee and Nipsey what they needed to know . Evidently , the nurse failed to mention that he might want to lay off the bottle long enough to get the job done .
“ Did you need something , Mom ?”
Her mother laid her head back into the pillow and smiled again . “ I was waiting for you to come home . We can watch The Wiz on your new television . Your dad can set it up in here .” Her smile widened . “ As I was lying here today , I realized we hadn ’ t watched it in a while .”
“ Aw , Mom , the DVD is scratched ,” Dee said from the edge of the bed . “ I can run out and get another one .”
The disappointment in Ilene ’ s eyes broke Dee ’ s heart . She shifted to the doorway and braced herself on the frame .
Two hours . She could ’ ve given her mom those two hours . She had so little to look forward to that it made Dee feel twice as guilty about the fact that she had sold the television , the DVD player , even the artwork off the wall . Choosing between electricity , food , and medication had become a familiar thing .
Her mother ’ s sensitivity to generic meds that Medicare covered meant Dee had to find the money to upgrade to ones that her frail body could tolerate . She feared what her mother ’ s life would be like without the brand-named pills that kept her pain-free . That fear drove her on a daily basis . Drove Dee to sell weed for Big Rock to the very people she called friends at one point in time .
10 From Behind the Curtain
62 Naleighna Kai Literary Cafe Magazine July / August 2017