“What are you thinking!!? Sneaking out at night while high!”

“Why does it matter?”

Streetlights flashed in and out of the car the two were in. Inside, a slight smell of cigarettes lingered in the still air of the convertible.

“Just let me do what I want. I’m a grown adult.”

“Don’t get me started with that sh*t! Grown adult, my ass.”

“…”

“You didn’t seem like a grown adult while dropping out of college!!”

“Tch!”

“I had a good life set for you. the hours I worked just to provide, and this is how you repay me!?”

“…”

“Getting high every day and cuttin’ your damn hand for pity? That isn’t the type of daughter I raised!”

“Raise? Exactly what part of me did you raise? In my earliest memories, you were never there.”

“I was working my ass providing for you and you’re mother! That’s where I was!”

“It’s always the same excuse.”

“Just be quiet! Don’t talk anymore.”

“…”

The two sat in silence for minutes as they drove through a suburban neighborhood. Grabbing and rubbing his head, the big-bellied man sighed deeply as he continued to stare at the road. Then, a moment later, they pulled into a relatively normal house toward a cul-de-sac. The driveway had deep set cracks that grass and weeds crawled out of. The house had one garage door that opened, showing a relatively clean garage. Slowing down, the convertible car parked inside the garage and shut off just as the garage doors closed. They were blocked from the world, isolated in this miserable place they called home.

Stepping out, the woman’s eyes looked lifeless as she closed the convertible’s door and walked towards a passage way leading to the inside of the house. However, before she could reach this, her father stopped her in a cold voice.

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“Next week… I’m sending you to a rehabilitation center.”

“What!?”

The woman’s eyes widened as she turned back to look at her father. Seeing his look confirmed all that she needed to know. He was serious.

“You’re getting out of hand. I don’t even know what to do with you anymore. This is all I can think of.”

“Dad. I don’t need to-”

“Yes, you do! Look at you; you’re obviously addicted to that sh*t! I’ve done all I can with you.”

He shut the convertible’s driver door and walked towards the woman. Not without hearing her retaliation, though.

“Dad. I’m not gonna go!”

“Yes, you are! It’s either that or you’re on the streets. I just can’t deal with you anymore.”

The big-bellied man looked exhausted. Deep-set wrinkles scattered around his eyes and forehead. One could even see small bald spots on his head which anyone would notice at a glance. It was certain the woman noticed it as well; she only chose to ignore it.

At that moment, although her closest family member was right next to her, she felt absolutely alone. It was as though everyone had turned their backs on her. Her mother, father, friends, and boyfriend had all now left her. She had always thought she could count on her father, that he would be there for her no matter what. Now he wanted to send her away as though she were a psychopath?

“They’ll help you more… I’ll pay for everything; all you need to do is stay there. Maybe then-”

“Just what the hell do you think I am, some fucking murderer!? You want to send me away to some mental asylum!?”

“It’s not like that! They’ll help you.”

“With what!! There’s nothing wrong with me!! I’m completely fine! It’s not my fault I was kicked out of college!”

“Everything is wrong with you! Look in the mirror; I can barely recognize who you are anymore. That shit…”

Tears flowed out of the man’s eyes as he covered his face in an attempt to hide it. Yet they continued. Seeing her father cry, the woman took a step back in disbelief. There was only one other time that she had seen him cry, and after that, she prayed to never see it again. Not even in her wildest imagination did she believe she could eventually become the cause. Pushed by the situation occurring, an ounce of common sense finally infested her mind. She processed thing’s at a sober level and realized how much pain she had caused her father. She hated this outcome, rather dying than having this occur, but maybe. Maybe for her father… she could go.

“Alright… I’ll go. I’m sorry for causing this, Father.”

Looking up, the big-bellied man gazed at her daughter with a face full of tears. Her eyes were lifeless as she smiled softly and stepped to comfort her father. Her face moved and acted as though a puppeteer stringed all her muscles together and manually moved them. Her father did not seem to notice, he never did. Together, they walked into the home they had lived in for all their lives.

The same home that had seen the two at their worst and, consequently, their best. This was a new low, one in which the two would have to navigate together. Unknowing whether they would come out of it.