A week later, Isis stumbled up the pathway to her front door.
She started digging in her purse for her keys and it took her forever to find them. Because she was drunk. She had gone to a party with some friends, and it was the first party she had been to without Jackie. Unfortunately “Riley Red” had a webcamming appointment.
She told herself she was having fun, but she was drinking to forget the pain she felt over breaking up with Roman.
She still didn’t know exactly what had happened but didn’t have the courage to talk to him. She ran away in the gym because she was so shocked and didn’t want to cry in front of him. She knew she was bottling things up rather than dealing with them.
Drinking made her forget the pressure building up in that bottle.
She might have gone overboard tonight, and she knew if Jackie had been there, she wouldn’t have let her get so wasted. But Jackie wasn’t there, and she was capable of making her own decisions.
When she finally pulled her keys out, her wallet fell out of her purse at the same time. Damn it. She bent down to pick it up and a wave of dizziness almost knocked her over. As she fumbled her key into the lock, the door opened and she went tumbling inside.
On the ground, she looked up and saw her dad standing over her.
“Isis, you don’t talk to us anymore. You don’t tell us anything about your life! We have no idea what is going on with you. You’re acting so irresponsible and this isn’t how we raised you.”
Her dad spoke sternly as she sat at the dining table with both her parents the next day. They had woken her up too early and demanded she come downstairs immediately. She was angry at the world. Everything was so unfair. She wasn’t making eye contact with her parents as they kept going on and on.
Her mom said, “We’ve given you everything, including our trust! You broke that.”
Her dad added “I can’t believe you’re out drinking! We’ve talked about that, Isis. At home is one thing. Going out… we just worry about you.”
Isis was still feeling woozy from last night and she was trying her hardest not to throw up.
Her mom slammed her hand on the glass dining table, rattling the decorative vase in the center. She said “Isis are you even listening to us?!”
That got her attention.
Her dad looked at her mom in shock and tentatively put his hand on her shoulder, saying her name calmly. “Trella.”
Her mom started crying and whispered, “I’m sorry.” She looked at Isis. “Honey, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m emotional, but I’m not angry at you. I’m scared and don’t know what to do. You used to be my little girl. I know you’re growing up, but I still want to be part of your life and know what’s going on with you.”
Isis heard her mom’s voice crack with emotion. She knew she was disappointing them, but they didn’t understand. Isis started to cry.
Her dad chimed in. “Isis. We don’t want to be punishing you or disciplining you. We just want to keep you safe. We can admit that we don’t always know the best way to handle things, but we’re trying.”
When she still didn’t speak a word, he added, “Since you clearly won’t talk to us, you can go to your room. But this conversation is not over. Your actions are hurting all of us and your mom is right. We know you’re becoming more independent and obviously don’t want to confide in us, but we need to come to an understanding.”
She got up from the table, sadness and guilt eating her up.
As she walked up the stairs she heard her mom let out a long sigh and say to her dad, “This is making it so hard to tell her.”
Isis wondered, only vaguely, what they wanted to tell her.
Author’s Note: Tell me you guys recognize the “drunk walk”! 😂
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