My Sugar Daddy

Mom

Chanel POV

It has been a month since we first came to Santa Cruz and so far, life had been stable. I was able to get a job at a burger joint near a university, working three shifts a week. A few times I was hired as a baby sitter at a neighboring apartment. Thank goodness for the work coming in.

I have also gained a few friends, mostly from the nerd crowd, as most of what I was taking were AP classes. It had always been a cliché, that in every high school, there would always be the popular girls, the jocks, the nerds, and the ordinary ones. A few jocks had made a pass at me, but this made the popular girls, especially the queen bee, angry at me. I could challenge the queen bee with my looks, but prefer not to. I won’t stoop down to her level. Those jocks? I have rejected them. Kindly, of course. 

I got home after a shift, when I noticed that our apartment was unusually dark and quiet. Normally, my mom would wait up for me at the living area watching tv. But the only source of light that evening was coming from the kitchen.

“Mom?” I shouted. I locked the front door, and roamed my eyes around. Everything is in their proper places. Alarmed, I brought out my phone from my bag in case I would have to call emergency. Dropping my bag on the couch, I walked quietly to my mom’s room. “Mom?” This time I whispered. I placed my ear on the door to try to hear any sound coming from my mom’s room. Only that I hear small sobs.

I knocked on the door worriedly. “Mom? Are you okay? I’ll come in.” Not waiting for her reply, I opened the door. The room was dark, too, with only the bedside lamp on. I found my mom lying on the floor beside her bed. A bottle of wine and an empty glass not far away from her. Her hair was a mess, her face wet with sweat and tears.

“Mom, what happened?” I ran beside her and put her hair away from her face so I could see her properly.

“Chanel…” She sat down and hugged me.

“Mom, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. What’s wrong? What happened that you have to drink the wine all by yourself? How come you started a party without me? You should have invited me.” I tried to put humor, but it did not work. Mom just sobbed again, this time even louder.

“Your dad. That scumbag.” Mom’s speech was a little slurred.

“What about dad, mom?” I narrowed my eyes while I held her close.

“I have received a message from a friend from San Fo. She was in a client meeting over lunch when she saw your dad with another woman.” She took out her phone and showed me the photo of dad and a woman beside him going out of a restaurant. I was not surprised, because this was the reason why he left. The photo only showed a side view of my dad, but I knew that it was definitely him. Only that the face of the woman could not be seen. Only her back was captured in the photo. Dad’s hand was hooked around her waist. He looked so happy.

I could not say anything. What do you say to your mom to comfort her in this kind of situation? She was holding on nicely through the last months, but this was a new blow for her. She knew from the start that there was another woman involved, but seeing them together must felt like a knife was struck to her heart. It was devastating for me, too. But one of has to be strong.

“Come on. Mom, we can talk about this after you have cleaned yourself. Take a shower now. It will make you feel a lot better.” I gave my mom a tight hug. “While you’re in the shower, I will prepare us something to eat. I bet you have not eaten dinner yet.” I kissed her wet forehead then wiped her tears with my thumb. I helped her stand up and ushered her to the bathroom. “Make sure to be done and dressed within twenty minutes. Otherwise, I will drag you out of the room.”

While waiting for the chicken noodle soup to be cooked, I took my school bag and arranged all the things I needed for my study time after dinner. Looking at the clock on kitchen wall, I proceeded to mom’s room to check on her. She should have finished by now. I knocked on the door and called on her. I knocked again when I heard no reply. I was beginning to worry and would have knocked again when the door opened. Mom was already in her pajamas.

“Mom! Please don’t do that again. I got worried.”

“I’m sorry, baby. Come on, I can smell the chicken noodle soup.” I felt a bit relieved when she smiled at me.

She might have felt a lot better, since she was eating the soup with gusto. The soup must be that tasty or that mom must be so hungry. I was waiting for her to open up again the topic about dad, but she seemed mum about it.

“Thanks for dinner, baby. You’re doing great with adulthood.” She gave me a teary smile. “Why don’t you start with your homework, I’ll take care of the dishes.” I tried to argue with her, but she just shushed me.

“Go now. I’ll be okay.” She kissed my forehead, then patted my arm.

That night I thought mom consuming one whole bottle of wine is a one-off thing. She said she will be okay. I thought she must have felt that there is no use pining for a man who is no longer in love with you, that she remembered that still has her daughter with her who needs her more than ever.

But I was so wrong. I got home every day finding my mom wasted on the couch, on the kitchen floor, in her room. It was already getting out of hand, when she started to call in sick for work. This needed to stop, but she would not listen to me.

Eventually, she agreed on visiting treatment facilities. She was doing great. We were doing normal mom-daughter stuff. We spent our weekends exploring Santa Cruz like tourists. We have celebrated and enjoyed each and every occasion like little kids. We were happiest when I got my acceptance letter for Stanford University with full scholarship!

But then she was back to drinking again. On the night before my graduation day. That was when I lost her to drunk driving.