Growing up in a strict religious household, Aaliyah Jackson knew she would have a rude awakening on her 18th birthday. Knowing so, she got job, two of them. Becoming independent in her new adulthood so quickly, Aaliyah struggles. After saving money...
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Aaliyah's POV: (yes her again to make the future chapters make sense.)
I scan the last item in my cart at the self-checkout line in Walmart. I'm buying some more decor for my living room because it looks too bland color-wise. All I found at Walmart were small plants that I wanted to put on the wall shelves I got from Amazon. As I put the bags in the trunk of my car, I decided that it was time to eat because I'd been out since 9:00 AM and it's around 12:30 PM now. I get in my car and shuffle my playlist. I put in the GPS to Chipotle and see there's one right by an At Home decor store that I want to go to. I opened the Chipotle mobile app and put in a pickup order. I get a burrito bowl with half chicken, half steak, white rice, no beans, pico, corn, cheese, queso, and extra corn and sour cream. Once I finished putting it in and paying. I head to Chipotle to pick it up.
After eating half of my bowl, I pull into the At Home store parking lot and get out of the car. As I walk into the store I feel an aura feeling that something is going to happen. I shake it off and ignore it, heading to the living room decor section. Walking down the aisle I see some small wall mirrors that I think would look good behind the couch. "Aaliyah?" I hear someone in front of me saying. I look up from the mirrors to see the one person I least expected. I quickly turn around and walk away. "Aaliyah wait." I feel her grab my arm to stop me from walking away any further. "What do you want?" I say not looking up from the ground. "I wasn't expecting to see you. How have you been?" She says. I look up at her. "You want to be friendly now? Act like nothing happened? Like you didn't kick out your own daughter?" I say to the woman I call mom. "I didn't kick you out Aaliyah, you left." She says. I roll my eyes, sucking my teeth. "Not like you gave me another option. Please leave me alone." I say trying to walk away but am once again stopped. "Stop being immature and let's talk." "Immature? No, I'm not immature. Immature is treating me like a punching bag for YEARS and expecting me to smile in your face like nothing happened. I yell at her. "Like I said, please leave me alone," I say waking away and leaving the cart I had there. I walk fast out of the store trying to get my breathing under control. I head to my car and my hands shake while I try to unlock the door. Once I unlock it, I get in, lock the door, and break down crying. No matter how much I try to calm myself I keep crying. I start my car and head straight to my apartment. I walk fast to my apartment door and lock it behind me. I go to my pantry and grab the bottles of vodka and Hennesey that Asia bought when I first moved in. I open the vodka and drink as much as I can before the burning in my chest starts to hurt more. I can't believe I saw her, I thought to myself. Then she wanted to act like she didn't do those things to me for years. Like she isn't the reason I have those nightmares or think the negative thoughts I have. I purposely moved to this side of the city so this wouldn't happen. I know it's inevitable for me to not see her since we live in the same city but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon.
(Time skip. A week later)
I sit on the bathroom floor thinking. I still can't understand what I did to deserve the pain she put me through. That everyone in my life has put me through. Sometimes I wish I wasn't like this, a disappointment to her and everyone else. I grab the empty bottles next to me and throw them against the wall and they break causing crying more. I hear knocking at my door and I ignore it like I have been for the past week. I called out of work and haven't been on my phone either. I know Asia and Jacie are probably worried. But I don't want their pity or coddling. I want to be left alone like I was for years at that house. I close my eyes feeling sleepy. "Aaliyah?" I hear someone call out after hearing a loud banging noise. "Aaliyah." I open my eyes to see Jacie standing in the bathroom doorway. I close my eyes back and I hear crunching, meaning she's walking into the bathroom over the broken glass bottle. "Go away Jacie," I say drunkenly. "Come on ma we gotta get out of here before you hurt yourself okay?". She says grabbing me. "No, leave me alone," I say trying to get out of her arms and pushing her. "Liyah come on." "No" I begin to cry more. "Please," I say quietly crying as she puts me on my bed. I lay down on my bed as I felt my head start to spin. I feel my mouth starting to water and I sit up looking around gagging. "Shit" I hear Jacie say as she grabs the trash can out of my bathroom running to my side as I throw up in it. I cry more, "It's okay ma keep going." I throw up more until I feel lightheaded. I see Jacie has a water bottle and pills in her hand. "Drink this and lay down. Ima clean everything up okay ma?" I nod my head sniffing.
I wake up and my head is pounding. I slowly open my eyes and see that my bathroom is cleaned up, looking like normal. I look down at myself and see that I'm in different clothes than what I was wearing before. I turn around slowly in bed and see Jacie lying on her back softly snoring. "Jacie" I whisper out as my throat hurts. "Aaliyah, are you okay?" She says sitting up fast. "I'm fine," I say turning around. I feel tears beginning to pool in my eyes. Jacie pulls me into my arms as I begin to cry. I turn around and hug her tightly as I start to cry harder. I feel her rubbing my back and whispering 'It's okay' and 'let it out' in my ear over and over. Once I begin to calm down I sit back in her lap as we are in a sitting position and I'm straddling her lap. "I saw my mom," I say quietly reaching over to grab the water bottle and pills on my nightstand. "When?" Jacie says. "About a week ago. The day I went to get decorations for the living room." I hug Jacie feeling cold. "Sorry, Ma. I turned the air on because you were sweating badly when you were sleeping." I nod my head. "What happened when you saw her?" Jacie says rubbing my body. I sigh, "She tried to pretend like nothing happened. That everything was okay between us. She wanted to talk to me and I yelled at her and broke down in the car." I say sitting up to look at her. Her eyes show so much worry in them. I grab her face and peck her lips. "I'm so sorry," I say. "Aaliyah it's okay. I was worried and Asia got my number from Ant and she asked if I heard from you, I said no and she didn't. So I may have broken it BUT it was for a good cause." I do a small smile. It's nice to know they were worried but I feel bad because I ghosted everything for a week. "I'm okay now, thank you. Do you know where my phone is so I can call Asia to let her know I'm okay?" I feel her reach in her pocket. "Use mine. Yours was dead on the floor." I nod and dial Asia's number. I get up and head into the living room to talk to her about what happened.
"Will you stay with me?" I ask as we eat the pizza she ordered. "I already packed a week-long bag. You wasn't getting rid of me anyway mama." Jacie said as she ate her slice of pepperoni pizza. I smile at her, "You missed me?" "Yes, ma. I was really worried about you especially since I came by here about two times a day and you didn't answer and every time I came back to the complex from work I saw your car. I thought you were ghosting the kid." I pout sadly. "I'm sorry," I say, getting sad again. "Mama, please eat. You need to eat. And stop apologizing. I understand you wanted space to deal with he situation. But now you have people who care about your well-being so you aren't alone anymore. I got you forever and Asia does too." I smile at her words and begin to eat the wings that she got me.
AN: 1593 Words
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Two updates in the same day.. getting back on schedule.
