Beauty and the Beasts

My life used to be normal. I had normal parents, went to a normal school, and had normal friendships. Never had a boyfriend, or skipped class, or even stayed out past curfew.

One person, in one accident, one fateful night, changed all of that. Because one person, decided it was okay to drink and drive. Because of that one person, and their stupid one-time decision; I lost my father. My mother lost her husband, and my grandparents lost their son.

After that night, everything in my normal life changed.

And became one hell of a life.

My mother sank to depression, and took whatever love knocked on her door; even the ones that tried to break them down. She started dating a younger man, who at my age of 16 was closer to dating me than her, but he liked the older woman.

Or should I say, the older woman who had money.

My grandparents were wealthy, and though we had decided as a family to live off our own income, they had left a large inheritance for my father, for when they had passed. The plan was to use part of it for my college, and the rest was to go towards my parents' retirement home.

But he was taken before they were, and we were given the money to help survive off one pay-check, tossing her dream retirement home out the window, and all her other plans for her future, and mine.

She thought she had found love in this young man, Jeremy, but only after a few months of dating him, she discovered he was a drug addict. Mostly addicted to coke, but dabbled with a bit of everything from time to time. My mother tried to look the other way, saying that he is 'sick', and she needs to help him.

But no matter how hard she tried to fight him to stop, he chose the drugs over her every time. And every time he came crawling back, because he was out of money and drugs, she would take him back with open arms. He would promise to get help in the morning, and then they would start their vicious cycle for another few months.

Those few months turned into two years, and things got way out of control. I thought my life had changed before, because of one fateful night.

I had no idea what else fate had in store for my mother and I.

Or how much death we would endure.

One summer night, Jeremy came home late, and he was distraught. My mother had stayed up waiting for him, and tried calming him down and asking why he was so upset, but he ignored her and demanded money. She said she didn't have much money left, and what she did, was to buy me new school supplies and clothes for my last year of school, which was supposed to start at the end of the summer.