A beautiful storm *COMPLETE*

Unwanted gifts

I was preparing dinner for the night. Spaghetti again, but this time I had made my homemade garlic toast. It smelled absolutely mouthwatering. Mom finally came out of her room, all dolled up for tonight, in a short, tight black dress. You’d think that it was her birthday with the way that she was dressed. “Did you make the bread?” she asked excitedly. I smiled and nodded. “Thank god. I’ve been craving it and you haven’t made it in forever.” she snarked. I just turned around and walked back to the stove, checking on the state of the spaghetti. I don’t think that she ever thought about cooking anything herself. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. She was like a toddler in that respect. I was pulling the bread out of the oven just as f**k boy walked in the front door. He walked straight past my mom, who was standing there waiting on a compliment, and into the kitchen. “God damn Madeline. You know how to make a man’s mouth water.” he winked. I tried to hide my disgust. He pulled me into a tight hug, holding onto me for longer than I was comfortable with. He leaned down whispering into my ear “Happy 18th beautiful.” I pulled away, rushing back to the stove, trying to pretend like I wasn’t repulsed by his behavior.

I genuinely wish that he hadn’t come today. I don’t understand why my mother thinks that having her drug dealer boyfriend here would make me happy on my birthday. Either she was completely oblivious to my dislike for the guy, or she was just selfish in her need for his company. I’m leaning towards the selfish. My thoughts were interrupted. “Mads, how long until dinner? I’m starving.” my mother asked. She was almost whining. Her rushy attitude has me irritated. I took a deep breath “Almost done mom. It would help if you could set the table.” She looked at me like I’d grown two heads. “I’ve got things to do before dinners done, Mads. Just call for us when it’s done.” She rolled her eyes, as if I should have known. She pulled fu*k boy down the hall and into her bedroom, whispering in his ear. I heard her giggling as the door shut behind them. I just stood there shaking my head.

I set plates out on the table, placing the spaghetti and bread in the center. Mom came back hanging off of f*ck boys arm. They sat down opposite of me, my mom scooping food onto both of their plates. After they finished, I added some to my own and began eating. My mother took a bite of her bread and moaned seductively, looking at f*ck boy. “Really mom? Can you save that for when I’m not sitting right here?” She squinted her eyes at me. “You’re an adult now. You can handle a little harmless flirting. I wish you’d quit acting so immature” she responded. I rolled my eyes and continued eating. I was enjoying my meal silently. This might have been the most perfectly cooked meal I’ve made in a long time. I ate my bread slowly, enjoying every bite. I looked up and into the eyes of none other than f*ck boy. He was watching me. He smirked when I noticed him. Standing up to reveal a bulge in his pants. I excused myself, running to the bathroom, and vomiting the contents of my stomach into the toilet. So much for enjoying my delicious dinner. I brushed my teeth, exiting quickly to go clean up the kitchen.

Mom left with f*ck boy after dinner. They’d slipped out while I was doing the dishes. I could finally breathe. Ever since I caught him getting turned on watching me eat my dinner, I’d felt nauseous. F**ker had ruined the most amazing tasting dinner that I’ve had in so long. After finishing the dishes, I decided to spend the rest of the evening alone, reading a new book that I had picked up. I was so engulfed in the story, that I didn’t hear the door to my bedroom open. “Reading a book on your birthday? Why don’t you come out here so we can enjoy this cake. Peter wants to sing you happy birthday.” I take back what I said, mom was definitely oblivious, clearly. I placed a bookmark in my spot, climbing out of bed, and following her to the kitchen. There was a small pink bag on the table next to the cake. “You didn’t have to get me anything, mom.” She smiled and looked to f**k boy. “I wanted to get you something, but you know money is tight, so Peter helped me out.” God, no. I didn’t want anything from him. I faked a smile “That was awfully nice of you both. Thanks.” I had to bite my tongue. I wanted to tell him to take his gift and his cake and shove it up his a**. I hesitantly sat down at the table, grabbing the pink gift bag. I pulled out the card first. I peeled the envelope back to see cat wearing a birthday hat. I smiled at my mom. She knew my love for cats. Opening the card, I found a 100 dollar bill and the generic “Hope your birthday isn’t a ‘cat’tastrophe. I giggled. Very punny, I thought. “This is too much, I can’t accept this.” My mother waved her hand “Nonsense. It’s yours. Buy yourself something nice.” I nodded and thanked them quietly. I started removing the tissue paper, seeing black lace. I squinted into the bag, realizing that they bought me lingerie. I couldn’t hide my disgust. “I genuinely hope this is a mix up.” I didn’t even want to pull them out of the bag. I have nothing against lingerie, but I most definitely didn’t want it from my own mother and her disgusting boyfriend. “Madeline. You are an adult now. No need to act like a child. Us adults wear lingerie.” she scolded. I widened my eyes at her. “I have nothing against lingerie, I just don’t particularly want to receive it from my mother on my birthday. And I wish that you would stop suggesting that I’m acting childish and immature. It’s pissing me off.” I huffed angrily. Her eyes went wide and she scoffed “MADELINE. Don’t forget that Peter made this happen. You can be so ungrateful.” she seethed. Standing up and leaving me at the table with f*ck boy. He quickly stood, following her, and not saying anything to me. I grabbed the bag and took it to my room. I could hear my mom apologizing to him. What is she apologizing for? I threw the bag in the corner after removing the money, and flopped onto my bed.

After about an hour, I decided to tip toe out of my room. I was shocked to see my mom, shooting up right there on the couch. I think my jaw hit the floor. She looked at me unphased. My eyes widened as she pulled the needle from her vein, discarding it into the trash can. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m doing. Now that you’re an adult, I don’t need to go hide every time I need a fix.” She said calmly. Was she out of her mind, like, beyond the influence of the drugs. I wanted to scream at her. Remind her that I was perfectly aware of every time that she shot up. Every time that she was passed out. Every time that she was near death. She had a lot of nerve. I was fuming as Peter came out of the bathroom and behind me. He linked his arms around my waist and whispered in my ear “I think that you might owe me an apology for being so disrespectful over my gifts.” I tried to get out of his grasp, only for him to tighten his hold. I looked to my mom for help but she was only smiling. “I agree with Peter. It was incredibly rude for you to be so angry about the gift that he so graciously bought you.” What in the hell was happening here. I felt my hands tighten painfully. I could feel the trickle of blood from my nails digging into my palms, but I didn’t care. “You are disgusting. You both are disgusting.” I screamed, fighting tears. I pushed Peter away, running to my room. I felt disgusting. Shocked. My own mother just suggested that I pay him the way that she does. Suggested that her own daughter should take care of her boyfriend’s hurt ego. She’s even further gone than I thought. I was so angry that I couldn’t form tears. I wanted to cry, but my mind was clouded. So many times over the years my mother had pushed boundaries. So many times I’d ignored her behavior. I never said anything, even when I should have. She’d put me in situations that no child should have to experience. But this, this was a new low for her. I’d never wanted to be out of here more than I do at this exact moment. At some point, I passed out, wishing that today was over.