She stumbled her way down the steps, and slipped on the last step. She wasn’t as bad as she’d been in the past, but she was pretty lit up. Suddenly, it was as if I was the adult, caring for two troubled teen girls. I knew why it was happening, but it didn’t make it any better. The week before, I actually had to carry her up to her room and put her to bed. I tried not to get on her about it, but it has gotten worse over the past few months. It was obvious that she had been drinking, something that was also becoming a regular event. I was in the basement working out when my mom stumbled in. I was home alone, which has become a regular occurrence over the past few months. It was about eight O’ clock on a Friday night. I used to try to reason with Jamie, to help mom, but it was just useless. She says she’s afraid that Jamie will turn out like her, or worse. My mother has been taking it hard for the past year, and blames herself for the way my sister turned out. She doesn’t spend much time at home anymore, and neither my mother nor I have any idea what she’s up to, but I’m sure it’s not good. I don’t think I’ve spoken more than two words to her in the past year. Both my mother and I have just about given up on trying to reason with her. She’s 19 now, but from the time she was 17, she was impossible to even talk to, much less get along with. I wish she had taken more time to enjoy herself.ĭespite all my mother’s efforts to be a good mom, my sister Jamie turned out to be a rebellious pain in the ass. She’s 43, and looks very good for a woman her age. It’s not that she didn’t have opportunities, I’m sure. She rarely dated, at least that I know of, and except for the occasional “night out” with some of her friends from work, barely had a social life.
She kept a decent job, and spent most of her free time taking care of my sister and me.
My mother worked hard all our lives to try to make our situation as easy as possible. My mother was pregnant with my sister at the time, and to the best of my knowledge, he doesn’t even know that she exists. My father left when I was young, too young to remember him. I still live at home with my mother and my younger sister. I never would have thought that I would be telling a story like this.